A little while back we sat down with GENERAL HOSPITAL’S Jonathan Jackson and
Rebecca Herbst to get to know the on-screen-best pal’s a bit better. What we didn’t expect
was that our little meet-and-greet would be almost as enlightening for them as it was for us.
Read on....
Digest: Did you meet before you started taping scenes together?
Herbst: Yeah, for about five minutes.
Jackson: We met during the screen test.
Herbst: We met about five minutes before that … and I had to kiss him in the test.
Jackson: Twice.
Herbst: (laughs) That I didn’t remember.
Jackson: I had to kiss 5 girls twice that day.
Digest: Not bad. Were they at least cute?
Jackson: Of course (gestures towards Herbst).
Herbst: Oh, thank you (laughs).
Digest: First impressions of each other?
Jackson: I’d like to hear her answer first.
Herbst: (laughs) No, you go first.
Digest: Okay, let’s go alphabetically.
Jackson: Yeah, there you go. Thank you.
Herbst: I knew who he was but when I first met him, to be quite honest, I was so focused on
the screen test. I didn’t realize what a nice, genuine person he was.
Jackson: Oh, well that’s a line.
Herbst: I really didn’t have an opinion at first. I didn’t know him.
Jackson: (smiling) That’s an interesting way to answer.
Herbst: I was more wrapped up with everything else. I do remember we ran lines. The rest
of the time we just talked.
Jackson: She was all-cool about it. I asked her if she wanted to run through (the scene), but
she knew what she was doing.
Herbst: See? I am a good actress. That’s what he thought (laughs).
Jackson: She calmed me. She said, “Don’t be afraid to kiss me.
Herbst: I was really trying to calm myself.
Jackson: I think it’s the easiest conversation we ever had (laughs). Since then…
Digest: …it’s been downhill?
Jackson: Everyday we come to work and we have to play this tension. It’s tough.
Digest: You come across on-screen as being very in sync.
Herbst: Well, I think we are.
Digest: DO you have similar acting styles? Does that help?
Jackson: At first, I wasn’t really myself because Tony Geary was gone and I was kind of
leading my first story. I think it took us a little while to become comfortable. We’re still
working on that.
Herbst: (looks at Jonathan and smiles) I’m biting my tongue.
Jackson: Keep biting; it (laughs). To me, it wasn’t until we started doing this (rape)
storyline. Before that, we had a lot of trivial school stuff. The show was afraid to do
anything romantic with me, so… I’m not answering the question, am I?
Herbst: I’ll answer it.
Jackson:What was the question again?
Herbst: Whether we work together so well, because of …
Jackson: …acting styles!
Herbst: I think it really has to do with the fact that I genuinely like Jonathan. We’re still
getting to know each other. We bicker every now and then, but…
Jackson: We come to work and we’re constantly in character. For me, it’s difficult to
separate it. I’m often dealing with emotions I’m applying on-stage.
Herbst: That was a little tough getting used to. I can snap in and out (of character) really
quick. I would try to talk to him as Becky and Jonathan and he’d still be Lucky. The time
we’ve spent as Jonathan and Becky has been minimal. That’s why we still are, after a year
really just getting to know each other.
Jackson: As actors and characters, we know each other really well.
Herbst: Oh, yeah. Lizzie and Lucky feel really comfortable together.
Jackson: (laughs to Herbs) Do you know that we sound really crazy right now?
Herbst: No (laughs). They just click.
Jackson: That’s true. I feel very comfortable when we’re acting.
Herbst: I do too.
Jackson: But when I try to let down my guard and be myself, I don’t feel really comfortable
yet.
Digest: Are you making a conscious effort to get better acquainted?
Jackson: I think so.
Herbst: Yes.
Jackson: When I came back form doing the movie, The Deep End Of The Ocean. I think I
kind of settled in to everything a little better. She knows I was pretty strange for the first
year. And I am strange, so part of that is me.
Herbst: (laughs) Yeah, he is strange. He’s just very difficult to figure out. (She looks at
Jackson and smiles). This is good for us, Jonathan. This is like therapy!
Jackson: It really is! (laughs)
Digest: Do you remember your first on-screen scenes together?
Jackson: I don’t remember, but let me think.
Herbst: I know! It was something in Kelly’s. I was smoking outside of Kelly’s…
Jackson: No, no that was at Audrey’s house.
Herbst: No, those were my first scenes with Sarah. Smoked a lot in the beginning, didn’t I
(laughs)? The first scenes we did together were outside of Kelly’s and I was in these little,
black hot pants, which I absolutely…
Jackson: … looked good in?
Herbst: Hated! (laughs). You came up to me and said something about smoking being bad
for you. Then you told me your name and I said, “Maybe you’ll get lucky” …no, wait! You
said, My name is Lucky. And I said, We’ll see.”
Jackson: That’s right. It was a while after the screen test before we actually worked
together – a month or two.
Digest: And now you’ve moved into a more heavy-duty storyline.
Jackson: I feel so fortunate to be getting this story. I don’t mean to bash any others, but if
I had to pick. I’d say this is the best one.
Herbst: By far.
Digest: No more teenybopper stories.
Jackson: Yeah. And they were doing that, up until Liz got raped.
Digest: How would you characterize Liz and Lucky’s relationship now?
Jackson: (to Herbst) I want you to try that one.
Herbst: No, no, no. You go ahead.
Jackson: I just answered one (laughs). Liz is the only person who he trusts right now and
feels comfortable around. There’s going to be alot of tension, especially for Lucky,
because there’s that natural instinct to get close to her. But you can’t really do that
because of what she’s been through. He can’t really make that move.
Digest: Do you often just come to the set and not bother each other?
Herbst: Oh, I won’t bother him. I’ll start talking to him, then realize he’s kinda ignoring
me. Not to be rude, but because he’s in the character or what ever.
Digest: So you don’t try to lighten the mood or anything?
Jackson: If we’re in a happy scene, yeah.
Herbst: If it’s a happy scene, then we’ll talk.
Jackson: Then I tease and get her to laugh. But I can tell she gets annoyed with me when I
do that. She thinks I’m being nice to her just because we’re doing a nice scene. So I try to
lighten her up, but she just glares at me like, ‘Oh, yeah. That’s real cute. Real funny.
Herbst: (rolls her eyes and laughs) well, maybe you just weren’t funny. I think for Liz,
Lucky is her whole world right now. He’s her protector and her provider. It started as this
crush, but it has gone deeper than that.
Digest: Do you feel comfortable having Liz/Lucky fall into a romance?
Herbst: Yeah, because I know it will happen.
Jackson: It’s real tricky thing, especially with me growing up on the show. I mean, I was 11
when I started, so there’s a lot of people watching who almost feel like parents. They’re
sensitive about who I get interested in. I think it’s really cool to see everyone respond so
positively toward her and toward the characters being together.
Digest: Is the prospect of kissing on-screen weird to you now, considering how you started
off?
Herbst: No, Liz/Lucky are so comfortable together. I’ve never done love scenes. Both of
us are pretty … (laughs)… we haven’t done any of that.
Digest: Neither one of you?
Herbst: I had an on-screen kiss before.
Jackson: I did something a few years ago and then for the screen test, that’s it. I think it’ll
be similar to the stuff we’ve been doing, only a tad stranger.
Herbst: Yes, it will be uncomfortable, but it’s not going to be like a major thing. It’s not like
I’m dreading that day or anything.
Jackson: It’ll be fun. It’s another part of acting I haven’t really gotten to do yet. It would
be terrible if I didn’t like who I was working with. Then I’d be dreading it.
Herbst: When I do think about it, I think, “Thank God it’s Jonathan.” Otherwise, I’d be
dreading it, too.
Jackson: Yeah, because then it wouldn’t be fun. I think it’ll be fine.
