DARK SIDE
Instead -- at first glance -- Stickney's ideal universe had the unassuming Luke Skywalker wooing, and walking away with, the woman. "I always identified with the geeky kid who was in love with the princess, so I wanted him to get the girl. But then it was revealed she was his sister," the actor adds with a hearty laugh, "so I guess it worked out for the best."
This summer Stickney might feel less akin to Luke and more like the diabolical Darth Vader, as RJ returns to his criminal ways to help Dorian hide the truth about the tragic hit and run that rocked the Buchanan family. At the suggestion that perhaps the torching of Club Indigo served as the catalyst RJ's return to unabashed villainy, his portrayer is (continued)
And sure enough, RJ's true colors lean toward the darker shades of gray. "I enjoy being the bad guy," Stickney gladly admits. "[As RJ] I can be irrationally angry one day and then be funny the next. In a medium that can be limited in what it allows you to do, I really like having that kind of freedom."
In fact, that freedom is allowing Stickney to fill an especially unique niche, since soaps tend to steer clear of putting actors of color in black hats. It's a phenomenon which the actor finds amusingly incongruous. "You would think that if you played into the stereotype, we would all be bad," he observes frankly. "But if you look, the're usually just so good, or so law-abiding. I was surprised when I looked around and saw that I was the 'bad guy' because usually you're short-lived -- you come in, you do your crime, then you get arrested, die or leave town."
Yet while RJ has maintained a presence for the past four years, the actor is quick to spell out the difference between being a villain, and being the villain. "In my experience, when they've needed a crime-driven storyline, they've brought someone else in to do it. I thought I was in a position to cause trouble, but they brought Carlo in, so I helped Carlo. Then, Carlo became enamored of Antonio, so my role wasn't even as Carlo's lieutenant, but just to point out Antonio's flaws -- which I took perverse joy in!"
That sort of glass ceiling for bad boys of color, Stickney believes, is a result of that aforementioned fear of stereotyping. "Thatis why they don't let you be a villain," he staes, "but I don't think it even enters into their imagination to have you be the villain.
"I am not afraid to be the villain," he adds, almost as adare. "Villains drive a good part of the story. But I don't think American television is built to give actors of color that opportunity."
The Long Road Home Making the most of the chance he as been given take a lot out of Stickney. At the end of the day, after slugging it out (sometimes literallly) with Sykes or exchanging heated words (someday to be passions?) with Tea, the man behind RJ happily retreats home to his wife, dancer Lee Priestly, with whom he just celebrated his 12th anniversary. "Constant negotiationis," he says, is the secret to their successful marriage. "There are always new amendments to the agreement. I never argued before in other relatioships -- I would just be quiet and really upset. But in this one, I fight it out, which isn't always what she wants to do!"
Yes as strong as the actor's beliefs are, he's not above having an acquiescent moment. Case in point: "While working on the 1990 movie Presumed Innocent, he finally made peace with the man who charmed the fair princess that oh-so-long time ago in a galaxy far away. "Harrison Ford just wanted to be one of the guys. It was a very cool experience working around him," reveals Stickney. "I forgave him for being Han!" --Matt Webb Mitovich
