From Soap Opera Digest, 1997
JUST THE FACTS
Playing Port Charles’s True-Blue Hero Is Just The Latests Break For Michael Dietz
How lucky is Michael Dietz?
"I went in to read, they brought me back one more time to test and that was it," he shrugs. "They called me two days later and told me I had the part." Of the actors who hit L.A. this year, 99% are still waiting tables - does Dietz realize what a break this was? "I knew it was a spin-off of GENERAL HOSPITAL and I knew they were going to kick it off in prime-time," he responds matter-of-factly. "The fact that I was the one who drilled Audrey Hardy’s head made me think, ‘Wow. This lady has been on [GH] for 30 years and here I am drilling her skull.’ So, I kind of knew Joe might be the lead of the show."
Dietz also struck gold with actor Jay Pickett, who plays his brother, Frank. "Jay is absolutely wonderful; I love him dearly. I didn’t have a car for a while and he was picking me up every day, being a real big brother. He’s cool." Dietz lucked out again by being paired with newcomer Jennifer Hammon, who was hired to replace Cari Shayne as Karen. "Jennifer is a very giving actress," he praises. "She is always willing to put it out there and really try."
Dietz admits, though, that the popularity of Joe and Karen came as a surprise to him. "I’m still kind of in the dark about that whole chemistry thing. I know Sonia and I didn’t have it," he says, referring to his GL wife, Sonia Satra, who played Lucy to his Alan-Michael. "I don’t even know what ‘it’ is. Maybe just a comfortableness with the other person. I don’t know how to really judge that. I think it helped that Jennifer and I came in together at ground zero."
Along with the elusive chemistry, Dietz credits the PC writers for the success of Joe and Karen’s romance: "The writing has been great." Added to that is a real-life friendship - early in PC’s run, Dietz and Hammon helped organize a lunch for the show’s crew. "None of us older people thought to do that," marvels Susan Brown (Gail). "The crew was so appreciative; no one had ever done that before. Not on GH, either. Michael and Jennifer were behind that. It was very sweet, and it added to the nice energy PC has."
"There were 45 people at this lunch," downplays Dietz. "Susan came and wanted to pitch in. She’s a doll." If you think PC is a lovefest, you should hear the folks back in Joizy. "My mom tapes the show every day and sends it to [Dietz’s relatives in] Pittsburgh," he smiles. (PC doesn’t air there.) "She’ll call and say, ‘I really liked today’s show,’ trying to get the scoop on what’s going to be happening," he laughs. As his love scenes with Hammon heat up, though, Mom may call for another reason. "If we do something really steamy, she may say something," he chuckles. "That would be funny."
Truthfully, Dietz is finding PC a lot funnier than GL, where he replaced Rick Hearst as the much-married corporate tycoon Alan-Michael Spaulding for seven months in 1996. "Rick was a lot older than me. I never got that," he admits. "I was flattered in one sense, that they thought I could do it - at least I pulled it off at the audition!" The recast didn’t take with viewers, and Dietz exited when Satra quit. "it was actually wonderful, because I learned so much," maintains Dietz. "I’d never done a soap before, so I learned everything.
He confesses he hasn’t kept in touch with his co-stars - except for Dicopoulos. "His mother and my grandmother are cousins, so I don’t know how that works," he laughs. "Twice removed? I don’t know."
Dietz had actually tested for GL two years before, which is when he first met Dicopoulos. "He knew I was coming to test, so he looked for me," smiles Dietz. "He gave me a big hug and showed me around. He was very cool. We talk every now and then. I called last after they had their baby, but I’ve got to call them. In fact, I’m going to write that down…"
Knowing Dietz’s luck, he’s got a pen right there.
Lucky in Love, Too
"We were like magnets to each other," offers Stafford. "The little things that happen in life, the little problems? We didn’t pay attention to them, because we loved each other so much. Finally, the little problems we weren’t paying attention to escalated." Stafford moved out, they worked things out, and are dating again. "We’ve learned to pay attention to the little things and work them out before they become huge," she says. "Michael is an extraordinary person, and I love him very much."
Dietz adds that the separation gave them some much-needed perspective. "We learned more about ourselves when we were apart, which helped us be better together now." Besides, he adds smiling, "We had to do it for the dog. He was at school for the breakup; we didn’t even tell him about it. He would have been really upset."
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Birthday: February 10
Hails From: Pennsylvania
What he likes about L.A.: "The sunshine and the freedom."
Has he ever watched PLEASE DON’T EAT THE DAISIES, starring PC mom Pat Crowley? "No, but Michelle was a big fan."
Who is Antonio Sabato, Jr.? "My competition."
His first time in Hollywood, he landed the role of Kelly’s doctor/beau on the Fox hit show BEVERLY HILLS, 90210. The first time he read for GUIDING LIGHT, he met Frank Dicopoulos (Frank) - who turned out to be his cousin. He went to a boring industry event last year and ended up meeting "the love of his life," Michelle Stafford (ex-Phyllis, YOUNG AND RESTLESS; ex-Joanna, PACIFIC PALISADES). And now, he is starring on ABC’s new soap PORT CHARLES, playing the show’s first breakout heartthrob, Joe Scanlon.
It was love at first sight when Michael Dietz met Michelle Stafford at an awards show in New York in the fall of 1996. A few months later, they moved in together in L.A. and even got a dog, Mason. But this summer, they broke up. "We tried some time apart," Dietz says carefully, "and we realized we couldn’t be without each other. We are now happily together again."