Applause, Applause - Jonathan Jackson
Outstanding Performer For The Week Of September 7th
Soap Opera Weekly
October 6, 1998
by Linda Susman
This week on General Hospital, Lucky - estranged from
Luke and Laura - did battle with the urge that separates men
from boys, and attempted to lose his virginity by having sex
with a hooker. Jonathan Jackson - without - Anthony Geary
and Genie Francis, the co-stars has publicly lauded as his
mentors - stepped up to the plate and hit a home run.
There have been a few weeks in the past several months
when Jackson was a prime contender for accolades in this
column. Mostly, those performances were in scenes Lucky
shared with Luke and Laura. While the strength of Jackson's
presence and response made him more than simply a prop in
those raw and seditious parent/child encounters, the thrust of
those scenes truly belonged to Geary and Francis, who can
talk into a paper bag and give a viewer goose bumps.
There wasn't one false note in this young actor's performance
from the moment Lucky arrived at Tammy the hooker's
room until he left and leaned ever so briefly on the door he'd
closed behind him. Thanks to a sensitivity and maturity that
have surpassed his chronological development, Jackson
played Lucky's emotional ambivalence and the awkwardness of his sincere but misguided mission
with dignity and tenderness. Speaking words that had been selected and strung together with
impeccable care ( '' You must have to beat girls off with a stick,'' Tammy flattered. '' I don't beat
girls,'' Lucky responded soberly), Jackson's attitude, eyes and tone of voice underscored the pain of
Lucky's conflict and highlighted with touching poignancy the unexpected discovery of what he values
most about his feelings for Elizabeth, his first truelove.
Luke and Laura, Geary and Francis, and Jeanine and Richard Jackson must be bursting with pride.
This week on General Hospital, Lucky - estranged from
Luke and Laura - did battle with the urge that separates men
from boys, and attempted to lose his virginity by having sex
with a hooker. Jonathan Jackson - without - Anthony Geary
and Genie Francis, the co-stars has publicly lauded as his
mentors - stepped up to the plate and hit a home run.