The Jackson Two

By Stephen Rebello
September Issue of MovieLine Magazine

Those of you not up to speed on the career profiles of brothers Jonathan and Richard Lee Jackson are probably not a) into daytime soaps, b) paying attention to things like Emmy awards and fan polls, and c) under 20. For the uninitiated, then, here's what the Jacksons aren't. They're not realted to heartthrob Joshua Jackson fron "Dawson's Creek" and they're not related to Michael, Janet, Jermaine, Marlon, or Tito. They're not even related to "Baywatch" hunk Jeremy Jackson or to talk show host Michael Jackson. Now, let's move on.

Richard's pinup, Leo-esque, vanilla bad-boy good looks have won him fans on TV outings like this' year's "Ally McBeal" season opener and the Showtime movie Prisoner of Zenda. His fame is presently (and, maybe, only temporarily) eclisped by that of Jonathan, who's also blessed with pinup, Leo-esque, vanilla bad-boy good looks. Jonathan won an Emmy for playing Luke and Laura's spitited son on "General Hospital" and got well-deserved stellar notices for his preformance as Michelle Pfeiffer's angst-y son in The Deep End of the Ocean. Such are the riptides of youth pop culture these days that Jonathan recently beat Leonardo DiCaprio in an E! channel poll asking who should star in the next Star Wars. But don't peg these two from their work or photo spreads as typical club-hopping, name-dropping, chest-thumping, cigarette-smoking, drug-taking, attitude-radiating Hollywood brats. Both still live with their parents in homes in L.A. and Washington, and both are exceedingly polite guys whose utterances tend to be peppered with references to God. That's right, God. Deal with it.

Richard and Jonathan, who simultaneously decided to try show business while on their first Univescal Studios tour, are happy to sound like anything but the teens favs they are. "There's so much selfishness among actors and actresses that comes out in superficiality, drugs, sex, and other things that don't exactely make for a sound mind," declares Jonathan, a public personality since his debut on "General Hospital" at age 11. "We tend to come from the point of view of putting God before self." Intergects Richard, "That puts us in conflict with a lot of what goes on here in Hollywood Babylon. You see so much bad behavior - performers who think it's OK to be rude to crew members, writers, and producers who crap on people who work for them. We're very selective about friends and we don't choose them based on what they look like, how old they are or what shows they've done." Richard's not kidding about being selective: "Jonathan and I do everything together. We're pretty much it." "Besides which," Jonathan adds, laughing with his brother, "we totally lack personality." Thousand of fans would beg to differ.

Although the brothers say they've come to terms with girls "staring, whispering, gigling, yelling and jumping," one wonders how they've fared dating Hollywood girls, so many of whom are on the prowl for the BBD- the bigger, better deal. "In Hollywood, you can judge if a woman likes you for you by how far she sticks out her chest," declares Richard, only half joking. "We're thinking of starting Actresses Anonymous. Actresses are incredible people, but if someone's an actress, it means she comes with her own bag of chips you have to deal with."

"It's a bag of baked, non-fat chips, of course," pipes up Jonathan. "There must be an actress out there with solid values, but with most of them - and I say this from experience - it's like they're acting 24-7. Career is more important that you. I want to be a young dad, though, so I've got to trust in God I'm going to find the right girl, and when I do, it's going to be like, 'Let's get this thing started.' There's no joy in dating for years and years."

Given their hefty commitments, it might take a miracle for either of these brothers to settle down. They're about to be seen together on the indie-film-fest circuit in True Rights, a tale about Hollywood's ruthless pursuit of real life stories. They worote the theme song for the movie in addition to starring in it. Richard just auditioned for slew of high profile projects, a new MTV series and plays (with Jonathan) in the band Scarlet Road. Jonathan, who was one of the youngest actors considered to plat Mel Gibson's son in the upcomming Rrevolutionary War epic The Patriot, just finished playing a heion addict in the upcomming TV movie Purple Haze. And the two have written a screenplay in which they hope to star later this year. "We've been making little movies and videos since we we're kids," says Richard. "Our goal is to direct 'A Jackson Brothers' Film ' within five years."

And what about Jonathan starring in the next Star Wars? "There have been some shouts about it and it would be a lot of fun," Jonathan offers. Then he casually reveals, "I've never seen the first three movies." Neither has Richard. "I tired to watch two of them on late night TV, but I fell asleep." And what if that movie or another movie were to turn Jonathan into the next Leo, as some predict could happen? "I don't desire a Titanic , because I wouldn't want that kind of fan hysteris," Jonathan replies. "Bono said something like ,'the media wants me to be a hero, but if I accepted the job, they'd kill me.' " (Anyone inclined to underestimate Jonathan's faith in Bono's wisdom would have to think again upon checking out the actor's U2-inspired silver jacket over a T-shirt and gleaming silver crucifix. "I just trry and make sure things match." he says of his personal style. Whatever Bono wears, I'll probably buy.")

As even a brief conversation with them reveals, Jonathan and Richard operate smoothly together. One wonders how they've worked out the tensions of sibling rivarly, whivh would normally be exacerbated by the ruthless competitivness of showbiz. Richard's got the answer on this one: "For a long time we didn't get along at all and we got physical about it. Finally our parents said 'Pretend you like each other.' It worked. If we're not married in a few years like we hope, we're going to get a place together."