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"It's Like the Stepford Soap!"
Alec McIntyre, ALL MY CHILDREN
by Al Rosenberg
Daytime TV
March 1994

Three years ago a personal tragedy caused Grant Aleksander to rethink his life. His mom and dad, who were his dearest friends, died close together and it affected his life dramatically. Grant and his actress/wife Sherry took a sabbatical, but he's back now with a whole new outlook.

What was it like, not working for two years?

Grant: I didn't intend to take that long off. If you remember, my folks passed away in September and November of 1990 and I was just having a real bad time and I had a few months to go on my contract at GUIDING LIGHT as Phillip. I told them that I wanted to go. I planned on taking a year off and just do nothing. But, that year turned into 16 months, then 18 months, and I started to get real antsy. We returned to New York City around January '93.

Where did you spend your time off?

Grant: We have a house in Virginia and there were a lot of details to deal with regarding the estate and other personal stuff. We also spent a lot of time with Sherry's family who live in the same area.

Well, now that you're back, you must be chomping at the bit.

Grant: I do and I am! It's such a good feeling. You know, Thomas Jefferson once said, "The sun never caught me in bed." I had forgotten the good side of getting up really early in the morning knowing you have a full day in front of you. While I was doing all the shows in New York and had to get up in the dark most of the time, it was more a rat-race that I was caught up in. Now I remember the exhilarating feeling of rising early and I learned to appreciate it again.

There's also something to be said for waking up early and having your beautiful wife beside you and not having to rush to work.

Grant: That was such a great thing, because the last few years on GL I was working so much and it was such a long trip to the studio that I didn't get a chance to share much time with Sherry. Now we live closer to the studio. I can walk to work, I can go home for lunch, so even on days when I'm working and Sherry happens to be home, we get to spend a lot more time together. That was a big factor in my decision to come to AMC.

How are you getting along with your new castmates?

Grant: You know, in this business, you're bound to come across some monumental egos. I happened to be talking about the lack of that at AMC and they said that "Susan (Lucci) is our maven and she sets the tone. If anybody was going to be a pain in the butt running around with a huge ego, and trying to run thinks it would be her. She doesn't do it and no one else would dare to." You know, that's true, because you may see other people come to the set and "going up" (forgetting lines), but never Susan. She comes prepared. She's always ready, she sets an example. You know, it's funny, I was talking to Julia Barr (Brooke) the other day and I mentioned that nobody at the studio talks trash or dishes about each other. It's almost like "The Stepford Soap!"

At GL, as Phillip Spaulding, you had a certain amount of latitude with script and language changes. Will you eventually have such freedom at AMC?

Grant: I can deal with it either way. Sometimes a director will tie you up by giving you very specific directions, but that opens other doors for your creativity. You know, I discovered that these things are not such a big deal over at AMC. I was talking with Felicia Behr (producer) recently about that and she put it all in perspective. She said, "You know, we're not curing cancer over here."