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 Mac Attack!
by Teresa Gerbino, Soap Opera Update
11/4/91?
"Since General Hospital's
never-ending changes have deluged viewers with lots of new leading young men, SOU thought
that the show's fans should decide who the next hunk should be. The winner- by a landslide
and no surprise to us- was John J. York, who plays Mac Scorpio. (Mac got 78% of the votes,
Ned 10%, Connor 7%, Paul 4%, Bill 1%, and AJ 0%). With such stiff competition like Paul
Satterfield, who portrays Paul Hornsby, the now ex-Ned, Kurt Robin McKinney, and newcomer
Gerald Hopkins, who is the fully grown A.J. Quartermaine, John still managed to pull it
off- and was it ever a shock to him, his wife Vicki and eight-month-old daughter
Schyler...
John's reaction to
winning General Hospital's hottest hunk poll was...
Oh Wow! How nice! (as he laughs with modesty
and relays the information to his wife). My wife Vicki is doing cartwheels, as she cleans
a baby bottle and throws a diaper away. She thinks it's great, but she just told me:
'Great! Now on with life.'
Do you like Mac
Scorpio?
Absolutely! He gets his hands involved in a
lot of things that most average, everyday working people don't, but on soap operas that
can always change. You can be an accountant or a spy for the Russian government. But I
know that with my character, the doors are always open because of my Merchant Marine
experience, and the days with the aborigines.
Is there anything
about Mac that you would like to change?
Mac sort of lost his foundation of who he was
because he went so head over heels in love with Dominique. It became all or nothing for
Dominique, and the hell with Mac. I've been getting the hell kicked out of me in the
process, and this is okay, except that I would like to win a fight now and then.
Is John anything like
Mac?
John's a lot like Mac in that I love life. I
like to have a lot of fun, but I guess the main difference between us is that I like to
spend time with my wife and my baby.
If you had the chance
to create the ideal storyline for Mac, what would it be?
Something I do want to avoid is this: I
understand that Tristan joined the show- I didn't watch GH then- that he was mischievous,
there was espionage, and now he is the police commissioner, and kind of conservative, and
everything is by the book. That is something that I'd like to avoid. I'd like to keep
busy. I don't want to become a cop right away.
Describe Tawny Fere
Ellis (Dominique)...
Tawny's a hard worker. I think she's
introspective. She works hard at what she does in terms of character development. We're
always working very hard on our lines together. She really is a lot of fun to work with.
What has been your
favorite scene so far?
When I first started on the show, I did a
scene with Finola where I was holding her hostage. During rehearsal, we did a scene where
I was feeding her breakfast. She pursed her lips together and the milk ran down her chin
just like it was scripted. But during the taping, Finola decided to spit the food out all
over me, and during that moment, the lines just left my body because she surprised me so
much. But suddenly, the original line came back to my head.
Describe Tristan
Rogers (Robert)...
He's a great guy and a lot of fun. He and I
have a great relationship both on and off the show. One of the days that we got the
closest was one of our first scenes together: They handcuffed us together, we had to tape
23 scenes that day, and it was on a saturday, so we got pretty close that day.
Do you have any
brothers and sisters?
Yeah, the girls are bookends: The oldest in
the family is Susan and the youngest is Donna. Then there are four boys: Michael, Rob, Tom
and John. Everybody is married and has kids, except for one of my brothers.
Can you compare any of
your brothers to your GH brother Robert?
That would be hard to do. What happens on the
show is that I'll tell Robert how I feel about him. I'm always telling him that I love
him, and 'you're my brother', and all that mushy stuff that I really don't do with my
brothers.
Is there any chance that you'll
work with Tony Geary (Bill)?
I think I'm going to be working with him soon-
the rumor mill is crazy, so who knows? Tony is such a dedicated actor. He is always trying
to improve his scenes. Whenever I see him, he goes through about four or five pencils
making notes on his script, and working with other actors. I can't wait to get into that
game!
Is there something about yourself
that fans would be surprised to know?
Probably, but I'm not going to tell you! Maybe
Vicki will write a book, or when Schyler's older, she'll write a book about me.
Schyler is just the coolest! Right now she's hugging me and reaching up for me. My life
couldn't be more perfect. I have the most unbelievable, beautiful, incredible, sexy wife,
and I have my beautiful daughter. I've got my Dick Van Dyke reruns, so I'm a happy
guy."
Tawny Fere Ellis- Straight
from Dominique's heart
Are you surprised to learn that
John won our hunk poll?
I am not surprised at all because I know that
the fans just love him. I would have voted for him!
What kind of reaction have you
received from fans about Mac and Dominique?
Some of the letters I've received say: 'I
almost quit watching until Mac and Dominique came on the show! I'm so glad that it's
working and that people like us together. I know that John is very popular, so I had to be
careful about being accepted. Most people want to know what all of Dominique's secrets
are, and they tell me that they hate Taub, and would love for Mac and Dominique to be
together.
Would you like to see Mac and
Dominique be happy for awhile?
I'm afraid that might be boring. They've been
through so much, sometimes I wonder, 'How long could this guy hang in there?' because she
just keeps freaking out.
Describe John York...
Lpts of energy, and he is always pacing! He's
very funny, even when we have serious scenes. He keeps it light on the set. I tend to get
drawn into the scene, but the minute that I go for rehearsal, John is there keeping things
light.
What would you like Mac and
Dominique to get involved in next?
I'd rather not know what's going to happen. I
really enjoy the guessing- it keeps me excited about my job. If we were like Romeo and
Juliet, that would be boring. I think that the public wants to see the different levels of
stress that relationships go through. Some of the obstacles I have to go through are
crazy, like stepping out from the 20th floor with a bungee cord! But I like Dominique and
Mac. I just go with whatever they write, and I'm supportive of that!"
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Scorpio
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