In a perfect world, Jonathan Jackson would have liked Elizabeth and Lucky to go off together into the the proverbial soap opera sunset and live happily ever after, "but you can't work that way because of contracts." So this week Jackson will be watching as Lucky's family and frineds-and yes, his beloved Elizabeth-mourn at his funeral. "I'd like to see the way it's done, and I'd like to see Tony's and Genie's and Becky's performances, "he says.
After 5 1/2 years on the show, Jackson, who turns 17 next month, believes it's time to leave. "I kind of feel that in the fact of how much work they've given me this year, at this stage as an actor, they just maxed out quite a bitof what I would do for the show." he says. "And I'm at a better age now to go out. There are more projects for people my age or a little oder than there were a few years ago. Hollywood's the kind of town where you kinda have to strike while the iron's hot."
With glowing reviews for his starring role as Michelle Pfeiffer's son in DEOTO, Jackson has a head start on the film career he wantes to pursue full time. Although he had considered starting college, he now says that's on hold as he tries "to set up a steady, long term career before I go ahead with anything else. There's definetly been more scripts and more offers and auditions than I've ever had ,but nothing I've signed on for yet."
Jackson, who was 11 when he joined the cast in October '93 and won the first of his two Daytime Emmys in May '95(he's nominated again this year) is lavish with praise for his co-stars especially the immediate impact Tony Geary and Genie Francis had on his career. " A lot of people didnt pay attention as much because I was little, but working with them-even within the first six months there was so much information that I grasped. The shows I won the first Emmy for were filmed within the first six to eight months I was on the show."
Jackson says he learned a lot by just watching them, but also noted that as part of the preparation he and Geary alwys questioned each other extensively about their characters' actions and reactions, "and also just thinking on my toes, you know, with Tony.He would be improvising, changing lines and doing all sorts of different stuff from take to take, so it was a real quick thing for me to pick up on. I enjoyed that. And Genie,she's just so open emotionally. I learned real early on that the way you say something, she'll really be affected by it, so it really is a tennis match. The spontaneity, the creativity--it was jusst a perfect place to fuel all the questions I had. I love GH. I love the people, I love the crew. It definitely was like a family, os if there was ever an opportunity to come back, it would definitely be an option."
Among Jackson's favorite memories are his second day back from DEOTO. "That was the post-rape show. It was a very heavy day-six scenes- and it was the first time that Becky and I had really acted together in a different way, and it went really well. And then there was the day Tony had a five page monologue where he told me about the rape. He was just phenomenal."
