| Star Power |
Soap Opera Magazine
October 28, 1997
No one knows better than Anthony Geary that star power can burn so brightly, it can blind those awash in its light to the distinctions between fantasy and reality, between actor and character. "It happened (years ago) in Chicago when I made an appearance at a shopping mall. There were close to 10,000 people there, and when I came onstage there was this thunderous noise, a chant which was 'rape me, Luke! Rape me! (Editor note: Luke Spencer raped Laura Baldwin in 1979) It was terribly upsetting. I stopped them and said 'That's not funny. It doesn't flatter me, and you should think about what you are saying.' What was most disturbing was that the crowd was seeing me as some kind of an object of their...well, I don't know what. I couldn't feel complimented by that kind of attention; I could only feel that it was sick. I was so disturbed by the experience, it took me at least three or four years to not be terrified to walk into a room full of people again.
Why he made the list: Traditionally credited as the driving force behind the Luke and Laura phenomenon - which garnered the exclusive soap trifecta: Critical acclaim, unprecedented popularity (including the highest ratings ever recorded in daytime television history when the supercouple wed) and mainstream media attention-Geary, through both his performance and his popularity, helped to positively ensconce the soap genre in the mainstream consciousness. Geary commands an unapralleled level of respect in the daytime community - especially on GH, where he enjoys an unpresedented guarantee in his contract hwich allows him to rewrite dialogue at his descretion.
A realization of power: " I'd say its probably a toss up between the time Genie (Francis, Laura) and I were on the cover of Newsweek magazine, which declared GH 'TV's hottest show,' or, right around the same time, when I escaped to a secluded hotel room in Jamaica for a few days. When I checked in that night, I found there were two members of the Rolling Stones waiting to meet me."
Powers greatest reward: "I'd say that whatever power and influence I've achieved has resulted in the other people of power an influence listening to me. If you're lucky they listen with respect - and if you're really lucky sometimes some of them want to make creative partnerships with you."
Is there a personal price to power?: "Yes, it centers around the envy and jealousy - which for me results in social isolation. And when your stakes are higher; the risks are higher. Then there's also a kind of weird thing that happens with influence: once you have it, its a real battle to hold onto it You don't want to five it up because nobody wants to go back to where they were. I would rather leave he arena than move too far back. I don't know - call it pride. Maybe its a sickness that comes with power and influence."
Is it really lonely at the top? "I think you can be lonely at the middle and you can be lonely at the bottom. My social isolation has more to do with that you can't really be 'one of the guys'. Once you're not struggling anymore, the people who are struggling-while I can relate to their struggle-they cant relate to my perspective on it. So that's isolating to me."
His biggest battle: "That would have to be the return of Luke and Laura in 1993, and the difficulties with the series of writers that followed. I mean this in terms of holding on to who these characters were and are, as opposed to being redefined by people who don't have the investment in the couple that Genie and I have".
How
power has changed him: "Within the arena of daytime, its given me
a voice, in which I can speak softly - and not have to carry sticks. In
my personal life its give n me financial solidity. It's a blessing to grow
older with a feeling you have accomplished something with your career -
whether it was what you intended or not."
| The
greatest misconception about your power: "is that power corrupts. It needn't.
People either come to the table of power corruptible or incorruptible -
and if it comes to a choice between power and your own sense of morality,
and you chose power, then its corrupting, but not everybody else does that.
I see people make another choice all the time, because it would not be right for them to make the 'easy' choice." What is power?: "Power is a very subjective thing. I could be really poetic. I could tell you power is the dew that hangs on the leaves in the morning because if reflects light. I guess power is something you don't feel but you are perceived to have - and in the perception is the power. The reality is I don't feel very powerful. I feel like a guy who knows what he's doing, and is quite willing to let my blood run on the walls to let people know I feel strongly about it. If that's power; so be it. |
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