SUNSET CENTRAL LIBRARY

Brothers In Charms
By: Soap Opera Digest Magazine
Dated: March 1999


SUNSET BEACH debuted, detective Ricardo Torres (Hank Cheyne) had nary a relative in sight. Now the character has a meddling mother, a back-from-the-dead sister and a semi-saintly brother, Antonio (Nick Kiriazis), who keeps the hot-head cop from losing his cool. "A girl couldn't have asked for two better brothers," gushes Christina Chambers (Maria) of co-stars Cheyne and Kiriazis. "They're very giving as actors, which makes it easy to work with them. And they're also fun."

Digest: Who is older on the show?
Hank Cheyne: Ricardo. Sorry, I had to answer.

Digest: Was Hank like a big brother when you joined the show, Nick?
Nick Kiriazis: Definitely. It's been fun to come on and not only have an older brother in character but (also) somebody who knew what he was doing because when I came on the show, I didn't know what I was doing.

Digest: What do you remember about those first days?
Kiriazis: He made the atmosphere comfortable. I was really nervous.
Cheyne: We have a good relationship off camera, so that translates. We've hung out a couple of times here and there and hooked up with our respective [significant] others to do something. We spent New Year's Eve together with [Hank's wife ] Missy and [Nick's girlfriend] Skylla in New York. I've worked with other people in these kinds of relationships where that hasn't happened and the relationship on-screen never really developed.

Digest: Were you surprised when you learned that Ricardo had a brother?
Cheyne: I wasn't surprised. It hadn't been referenced, but the show was early in its formation. I kept hoping that they would bring family on for me, especially when the Paula situation started going down the tubes. I realized that I stuck out by myself, and the only way you really survive that is with family. When they brought Nick on and then Margarita [Cordova, Carmen], that started rounding out the picture.

Digest: Do you think you look like brothers?
Cheyne: I don't think we look alike that much in person, but sometimes, Missy will see him on-screen and say, "Oh, I thought that was you for a second."
Kiriazis: A lot of people say that when we smile, we look like brothers.
Cheyne: And that I look so much younger than he does.

Digest: You both have similar backgrounds, having done theater and having lived in New York. Are there any other similarities?
Cheyne: Isn't your father a painter?
Kiriazis: A sculptor.
Cheyne: That was kind of a weird connection because I paint.
Kiriazis: When I first moved here, Hank was the person who I could relate to more with an East Coast mentality. Some people you have a connection with and some people you don't. We have a very special connection.
Cheyne: I feel that way myself, sometimes.

Digest: Have you had any good bonding experiences?
Cheyne: We'll always hook up for a bite to eat or a quick beer after work or something like that just until traffic dies down. And that's a cool thing 'cause most people just split the studio and go their separate ways.
Kiriazis: We went up to [Hank and Missy's home in] Ojai for Thanksgiving. That was really nice. They made a great dinner, and we built a big bonfire.

Digest: Have you ever been in a triangle where you and a friend were pining for the same woman?
Kiriazis: Back in the fourth grade, me and this other kid in another class, Bill, both wanted the same girl, Lisa, and she decided that whoever could write "I love you" the most on a paper would get her. We started soliciting all these people; we got teams working against one another to write down "I love you." He got more signatures than I did. So he ended up with the girl, and then I beat the crap our of him! [Laughs] No, I just slapped him around a little bit and sent him home with his feelings hurt.

Digest: What are your backgrounds?
Kiriazis: I'm Greek, French, and German.
Cheyne: I'm a mutt. From my dad's side, I am Spanish, Mexican and [American] Indian and on my mom's side, I'm German and Dutch.

Digest: Hank, what do you think of the Latino characters?
Cheyne: They're very stereotypical.

Digest: How so?
Cheyne: There are a lot of non-Spanish speaking Latins in California whose parents don't have heavy accents. There's nothing wrong with that, but there's a perception that that's the way most Latins are. When it comes to television, it should be about playing characters who happen to be Latin, but they're regular people. And until we evolve to that level, we're always going to be stereotyping in television.

Digest: Why did you change your last name from Garcia to Cheyne?
Cheyne: That's my middle name. There was already a Hank Garcia in the Screen Actors Guild.

Digest: Nick, were you surprised to be cast as a Latino?
Kiriazis: I really didn't have any feeling about it one way or the other, to tell you the truth. It was more like, "I'm playing a priest?"

Digest: Do your roles fit your personalities?
Kiriazis: Yes. We're saints in real life.
Cheyne: When you see him from across the room, you think "priest." My friends couldn't believe I played a cop when I came on. I used to have hair down to my shoulders before I got this role. Playing a cop is a little straight for me only because they write Ricardo as very straight-laced and by-the-book. There are a lot of cops who aren't like that. Just because you're a cop doesn't mean that you don't get crazy on the weekends.
Kiriazis: My friends are the same way; I tell them I play a priest and they start laughing.

Digest: So, you never thought about entering the seminary?
Kiriazis: Absolutely not. I was an altar boy for a short time. But me and my buddy always got the giggles. A laugh attack at the altar is not a good situation.

Digest: Any female fans send you anything that was surprising?
Kiriazis: I got a series of photos from a woman in England who wants me to ... I don't know what she wants me to do. Hear her confessions.

Digest: How does that make you feel?
Kiriazis: All soft and mushy inside [laughs].



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