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The John J. York who General Hospital viewers- particularly those of the female persuasion- have come to know and love as the roving-eyed Romeo, Mac Scorpio, and the man himself may very well be daytime's grandest paradox. One might expect the dressing room of Port Charles' slickest, sexiest bachelor to be filled with girlie pictures, but that's not the case. York's room has a portable crib on one wall with an array of snapshots of his infant daughter, Schyler, above it. A photo of York's wife, Vicki, and their little girl is displayed on a table adjacent to a sofa. "Look," says York pointing to one of Schyler's earliest baby pictures. "Only three days old and she's already holding her head up. Can you believe it? She's amazing." Proud papa York is obviously the antithesis of the carefree bachelor bad boy he plays on GH. The things that make Mac Scorpio tick- "life, adventure, excitement, unpredictability," notes the actor- just don't cut it of York. "Family, babies, love..." he says, "that's what is important to me." York relishes playing the free wheeling Mac. "It's fun to play, because my life is so different," he says. "There's a very thick line drawn between the guy that's going to hit on women and get away with it, cheat and all that stuff, as opposed to me. So I'm literally living both fantasies. I have my wonderful life, but from an acting point of view, I also have this great character who's kind of a ladies' man, loves adventures and taking risks, and has been around the block more than a few times." This one-in-a-million role came up in York's life- one month before his wife was due to deliver their first child. With bills to pay, the missus out of work and a new baby on the way, York had to hustle to make ends meet. So he took a night job waiting tables at The Cheesecake Factory, a noted California eatery. "Actually, I was getting ready to put all my acting stuff on hold," he says, "I was just about to tell my agent that I needed to get a day job, too, aside from waiting tables. I was going to do whatever job I thought was necessary to pay the mortgage and the bills, because that was what was important at that point. There was no 'John York wants to be an actor,' anymore. There was, 'Schyler, fathering, the baby needs to be fed, and bills need to be paid.' Hollywood doesn't say, 'Well, John's having a baby. Let's give him a job.'" But in late December, York got wind of the role that was destined to be his. "My agent called and told me there was a big part coming up on General Hospital- Robert Scorpio's (Tristan Rogers) younger brother," recalls York. "She said [casting] wanted to knkow if I could do an Australian accent. I said, 'What the hell! I'll try it.' I knew I would get a dialogue tape and practice, but I didn't tell my agent that. As I hung up the phone I said to myself, 'I'm going to get this job.' If I meant it or whatever, I don't know. It gives me goose bumps to think about it now, but I honest-to-God said that." After an initial audition, York was summoned back for a meeting with producer Gloria Monty. "I went into her office, introduced myself and did my scene," he says. "At the end of it she looked up and said, 'Very good,' and then I left. There was no taking me to an outer office... no talking to me... So I was thinking, 'Is that a "don't let the door hit you in the [butt] on the way out" very good or a good very good?" he laughs. "I guess it was a good very good. She didn't need to see anymore or talk to me." And so York hit pay dirt and landed the role of Mac. Then it was just a few weeks before the next major event of his life- the birth of his daughter. The GH schedule turned out to be tailor-made for Schyler's arrival, York explains. "Tristan was off doing a movie somewhere. He had committed to it before I started on the show. So my first week on, I pretaped a lot. Then, I had a week off and worked the following Thursday and Friday. Vicki's water broke that Thursday. So I went through those two days wondering if I would get a call to meet my wife at the hospital. It didn't happen. Schyler was born that Saturday, and I had the whole next week off to spend with her and Vicki. I think Gloria had this 'in' with God. It was like she called him and said, 'I need John Thursday and Friday- just for a couple of scenes. Then you can have him for a whole week.'" So far, adapting to fatherhood has been a piece of cake for York. He isn't the least bit nervous about caring for his little girl. "Not at all," he smiles. "She's a baby. She's going to be fine. She's got milk. She's got Mom. She's got Dad. She's got a roof [over her head], diapers and lots of love." And Schyler's even got a father who doesn't mind getting up for her 4 a.m. feedings. "I'm a morning person," notes York. "So it works out perfectly. It just so happens that by the time I leave for work, Schyler's conking out again for her morning nap. So I put her to bed, kiss her goodbye and go on my way, and Vicki gets a few extra hours of sleep." Then York heads off to his other life as Mac, where in a matter of minutes he goes from feeding his baby girl to opening fan mail. For York, who once starred on Fox Television's Werewolf, fan mail is nothing new. However, he believes the letters he receives from soap viewers are quite different. "They're really die-hard. they know everything about everybody. They're very supportive of my dialect, for one. They think I do a really good job wit it. It's my family who says, 'I heard a little American slip out the other day.' They're a little bit more critical, but I love them for it. I need somebody to keep me in check," he laughs. Amid the complimentary letters are the "want to date me?" requests. "I got a couple of letters like that. The other guys get these, too. I'm not the only one," he quickly points out. "I think that kind of stuff is hysterical." Obviously, York isn't about to let those kind of letters or stardom in general ever go to his head. "No way," he states adamantly. "That's what's important," he says pointing to the picture of himself, his wife and child. "that's what I'm always going to have. Those are the people who are always going to know me and love me, whether I shovel coal or work on television." "For me this is working, and it's a great job. It's not like I have to sit at a desk in a office and do the same job every day. It's like playing cops and robbers and being a kid again. Only now I'm an adult and responsible for other people, and they're paying me to do this," he says. While York often can't believe his current picture-perfect life, he certainly knows who to thank for it all. "I've got to belive that somebody's been guiding my life," he states, "because I don't know what I ever did to deserve this kind of life that I'm living right now. But I always knew things would work out, because I'll do whatever I need to do to support my family. If I have to wait tables again, I'll do it. I always tell the people upstairs here [that] if I get fired tomorrow, I'll come back and ask somebody for another job. I'll carry cables... I'll work a camera... There isn't a job I can't do." Nor one that John J. York would ever be too proud to tackle." |
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