Actors usually spend more time looking for work than actually working, but soap actors are the exception to that rule. And after spending over 10 years on General Hospital playing John McBain, Silas (and Stephen!) Clay, and finally Hamilton Finn, Michael Easton found it difficult to say goodbye when he was written off the soap.
The actor recently hung out with his former One Life To Live co-star Trevor St. John (Victor), who recently wrapped a run playing Tucker on The Young & The Restless, and they discussed their unique situation working in daytime. “I saw Trevor the other day and we were talking about that,” Easton told Soap Opera Digest. “We were reminiscing about how when you first started out, you got a job, maybe you did a guest star role and you got three days, then maybe you shot a pilot and then maybe you got a series that went 10 episodes and you got three or four months of work, or maybe you got a series that did a whole year and you did a whole nine months somewhere.
“So, there was a lot of uncertainty at one time and there’s some uncertainty now,” he continued, “but that’s the life I chose. But there is an [increased] investment when you start playing a character for eight years, nine years. There is a harder time letting go, certainly, than when you do something that lasts a month. The residual of it stays with you longer, certainly.”
While fans are eager to see the talented actor in new roles, he’s actually been taking a little time off to decompress after Finn’s emotional farewell storyline and exit from GH. Which includes spending some quality time with his daughter, Lilah Belle, and son, Jack. “It’s been really beautiful,” he confided. “They have me at home and they’re still at the age where they like having me at home! I don’t know how many more years I have of that, so that’s been really wonderful.”
Easton also got outside to enjoy traveling up and down the coast doing some surfing and recharging his batteries. “It just seems to sort of heal and cleanse everything — for me anyway — being in the saltwater,” he admitted. “I do come out feeling a little bit of a rebirth.”
Which will leave him refreshed and ready to tackle whatever the next step in his career might be. “I’m not done,” Easton promises. “I think I have more to give as an actor. But I think of it much the same — I’m just traveling up the coast and I’m looking for the right part. I’m looking for that next great storyline. I don’t know where that will come from, but I’m not done.”
