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Why checking back into the HOSPITAL is Steve Burton’s prescription for success
In the stars-in-your-eyes, ambition-driven, fame-at-any-price paradigm that can be show biz, Steve Burton is an anomaly. He knows this. It’s just fine by him.
While most hot, young actors his age are desperately seeking stardom in the film industry, Burton is immune to such extremes. Part of it may have to do with the fact that after more than a decade on and off GH, he did go out into the big-screen world and land a hefty role in a film that had him co-starring opposite Robert Redford and James Gandolfini. But in talking to the actor, it’s clear that his career moves – including a return to GH earlier this year – have much more to do with a mindful attention to personal contentment that a tunnel-vision focus on professional advancement.
“It’s easy for me to look at things this way when I’ve been out there and I’ve had the great opportunities,” he nods. “Granted, it was great working with Gandolfini and Redford. That was a dream come true. But there are things that are more important to me than the average actor – my wife, my family, being home. I’m not willing to travel to different parts of the country or the world for the next three to five years to build a film career. I’m not going to sacrifice the next five years and hold off on having kids and all of that stuff, just to shoot for movie-star status. Who wants to be Tom Cruise? Guys like that can’t even go out of their house.”
If you think that Burton is rationalizing because Castle didn’t turn out to be a box-office blockbuster, think again. “If The Last Castle did make $30 million on the opening weekend, I probably would have gotten all kinds of offers,” he shrugs. “But that wasn’t in the plan. I don’t regret it. That’s how it happened. I’m thankful for the opportunity.”
And he’s even more thankful for the chance to come back to GH after having spent seven months of last year on location filming Castle and the upcoming miniseries TAKEN (which is scheduled to air on the Sci Fi Channel in December). “GH gives me everything I want, artistically,” he enthuses. “[Former ABC Daytime President] Angela [Shapiro] has always said, ‘Come back if you want.’ That door does not stay open forever. So, I figured, ‘Hey, the door is open. We want to stay home. I don’t like to travel for seven months like I did last year. Let’s do it.’”
Coming back to GH also affords Burton the opportunity to pursue his interests in producing and directing. “I’ve always wanted to do that, and that’s why I’m going at it full force,” he shares. “I’m going to try to use all the connections I have and be able to have a job when I want a job and not have to rely on someone else or an audition. That’s what I don’t get about a lot of actors. They just wait for the phone to ring. I can’t do that. I’d rather go make an independent film and see if it hits. If it doesn’t, then I have a calling card to direct, and hopefully, someone will hire me. But if not, I’ll stay here until that door opens.”
Which is not to say that he isn’t fully committed to his work on GH. “When I left last time, Maurice was like, ‘Oh, you’re leaving again,’” he laughs. “Then I come back this time and he’s like, ‘Well, how long are you here for this time?’ I’m here for a while. I love it here. I love the fans. I love the work. It was doing The Last Castle and TAKEN that made me realize how good soap actors have it. Not having to work at 1 a.m. and be on the set for 16 hours a day….And they always give me a good story.”
As for working on outside projects, Burton relates, “I have the same outs that everyone else has. People think, ‘Oh, he’s back because he got outs.’ I don’t want out. If I do my own project, Jill [Farren Phelps, executive producer] and I can work together to figure that out. My partner, who is an aspiring writer and producer, and I have a lot of irons in the fire. We have a project that he’s writing for a pretty big director, Tobe Hooper [TAKEN, Poltergeist]. And we were writing an independent film for Maurice. I came up with the idea, and my partner started writing the screenplay. Maurice has made me the actor I am right now. Without his direction in the beginning, I don’t know what I’d be doing. I owe a lot to him and to GENERAL HOSPITAL.”
Burton admits that a large part of the appeal to come back was getting to work once again with Benard. “We have so much fun,” he smiles. “There are times when we’re laughing so hard that we can’t finish a scene. Twice, basically, I had to say to him, ‘Maurice, get out. I can’t even look at you.’ So, he’d go behind the camera. I’d come in and do my last close-up, and he’d come in and do his. It’s bad.”
Another person guaranteed to bring a smile to Burton’s face is his wife, Sheree. “She is the best,” he notes. “I hit the lottery, I really did. We’ve been married for three-and-a-half years, and it just gets better.” As for adding some little Burtons to the lot, the actor says, “Yeah, we’re getting pretty close to starting. Probably in the next six months or so. I’d like at least two kids. I love them.”
Until then, Burton is happy to work hard and often in his current storyline, which has Jason tied romantically to Elizabeth. “It’s working well until Zander gets in the way,” he cracks. “But I definitely think it could work. I enjoy working with Becky. I think it’s just natural, that relationship. There is that thing that Jason and Robin had, and I like it. Now, I go do a hit for Sonny and then I come back to Elizabeth and cry like a baby [laughs]. It’s great. I love being back.”
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