I'm glad no one told me anything about Mark Derwin (A.C. Guiding Light) before he arrived for this interview. As it was, I really had no idea what to expect -- maybe I was a little worried that he would be difficult to talk with and maybe a touch impatient. What a relief when Mark turned up relaxed and ready to sit down for a long chat. Throughout the interview there was a small smile on his face that frequently became a grin. Mark seemed amused more than anything else that somebody would be interested in knowing about him.

Mark game to GL after an eight-month stint on Young and Restless as bad guy Adrian Hunter. He has mixed feelings about the switch from playing an evil character to his latest role. "To this day, people recognize me as Adrian. [When I was doing it], they would say they like what I'm doing, but they'd always have to call me a [bad] name. That was fun," smiles Mark. "It was fun doing it because you can get away with a lot of stuff being a bad guy. It's a little more exciting -- people love to hate you, but I don't always want to do bad guys...It's better to be able to play good guys too, and they do have a longer life."

Not that A.C. is such a model of virtue. Even Mark has to admit that there's plenty of room for him to create a complex character. He explains, "A.C.'s a good guy, but I don't think he has any morals. All he cares about is getting to the truth, he does what he has to do, but technically I'm a good guy."

The differences in characters aside, Mark quickly noticed something else about GL. "At Young & Restless, it's such a huge building...It's gigantic, so they had all this space and two huge stages and plenty of room, wardrobes on a separate floor. Out there, you come in and your clothes are [in your dressing room], you hang them up and leave. Someone else comes back to get them. Here, you go and get your clothes, you bring them to your room and you bring them back at the end of the day. I've had to learn little things like that, but I like it," says Mark. There is one way in which the two soaps are similar and, luckily, it's something that Mark is thankful for. Both Y&R and GL, tape in the morning and the afternoon, that means that an actor is not there all day. Says Mark, "I think it's better for the actor. If you don't have to rehearse too much, it keeps it fresh. If you work the scenes a lot, doing the same things, it's hard to keep it going."

Mark's appreciation of doing things spontaneously extends to his life outside of acting. While he was growing up in North Salem, a town near New York City, Mark would travel into the city to explore. Remembers Mark, I used to just walk around and get lost. I love New York." After high school he went straight to college and, with the benefit of hindsight, Mark realizes that was a mistake. Following that short experience ("I still have a bruise where they kicked me out!"), Mark "went into everything. I was in construction, I drove a truck, I was a carpenter for years, I cut down trees...and I always thought, 'I want to do acting.' But I didn't know what to do. I would come down to the city and just walk around thinking, 'Maybe I'll be discovered.' "

Obviously, somewhere along the line, Mark's gamble paid off. He met up with an actor he knew who was teaching drama. Mark took some lessons with him and picked up the basics. "Then in November of '87, I just grabbed some clothes and went out to L.A, " remembers Mark with a laugh. "Starting over, I didn't know anyone. It was fun...A new adventure." He quickly got settled and Mark's acting career slowly took off. He looks at his return to New York as another adventure. "I enjoyed myself a lot [in L.A.], but this is exciting. I like the idea of having to start over."

This time around, Mark will probably find things easier. Not only does he have a good deal of experience now, he's also closer to his family and long-time friends. They've all been supportive of him over the years, "My friends could be press agents because we'd go out and they'd always say something...My father doesn't really care about soaps, but my mother loves it. She usually works her schedule around [the show]. She comes home and tapes the show, but not the whole show. She sees me and hits record and turns it off when the scene is over. It's funny because when you record things like that it takes like fifteen seconds to kick in, so it's always in the middle of a scene," grins Mark.

It's that kind of enthusiasm from others that can make the difference for an actor. Even after his character was written out of Y&R, Mark didn't lose faith. "I really have a lot of confidence in my career. I visualize my future a lot. I pray a lot, I have a lot of confidence. I'm a good Irish Catholic, I go to church every Sunday...I have a lot of people supporting me. I've never been panicky. You always have those days [when you think], 'Oh my God, what happens if I have to get a job?' But I've been fortunate."

For any single women out there, you may be interested to know that while his siblings are married with children, Mark has yet to find that special woman. "I don't have a steady 'let's get married' type of thing. Then again, I never really have. I guess it's just got to happen. I don't like to look around saying, 'I've got to get myself a girlfriend.' It'd be nice, but I like lots of people. I guess you just meet someone, you fall in L (Mark can't say the word!), and that that. I just haven't had it happen to me, ever....But I'm an equal opportunity [dater]," finishes Mark with his wonderful grin.