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BRADFORD
ANDERSON TAKES MANHATTAN! June 2, 2007 was one of those spectacularly beautiful days that actually make walking the street of Manhattan a pleasant experience, one to be savored. To add to the sheer pleasure was that fact that my walk would terminate at the New York Marriott East Side. Eye On Soaps was graciously extended an invitation to cover one or all three of the day’s happenings, and as I’m a New York City gal, it was my lucky day! Which actor’s event did I attend? Why, Bradford Anderson’s (Spinelli, GH) , of course! The other actors doing the meet and greet thing were all from One Life to Live: Renee Goldsberry (ex-Evangeline), then a double whammy of Forbes March (Nash) and Bree Williamson (Jessica). Since that’s the one ABC daytime drama I don’t cover, I had to pass on the events. Poor Bradford’s flight the night before had been cancelled, so he was on the first flight out of LAX and came straight to the hotel. (His mom, soon-to-be step-dad, and sister, Jennifer, were already there.) We were cordially greeted (it was, by the way, an excellent turnout for someone who’s a relative newbie) and asked to give Bradford an extra warm welcome, as it happened to be his very first fan event. With that, all attendees were on their feet when Bradford bounced through the doors and made his exuberant entrance!
Having covered these events before, I can honestly say I would not have known this was Bradford’s first one. His enthusiasm was catching, and he took the mike like a pro and started talking easily with the crowd, trading quips and (almost immediately) teasing his sister, whose birthday fell on that day. Yes, he had the whole room sing “Happy Birthday” to her, but I imagine she’s used to being goofed on by her little brother! Incidentally, I had the chance to speak to them later on, and came away with a warm, fuzzy feeling. They’re all quite close, and the (by now) extended family was happy for Bradford’s success and the affection showered on him by the group of fans. “Steve Burton told me to talk about his hair if I get lost!” joked Bradford, as he began the Q&A session. The first question? “If Jason got increasingly softer, what would the name Stone Cold become?” “Soft Serve, like the ice cream!” A lot of people wanted information about "Night Shift," the semi-spin off that will air on SOAPnet starting Thursday, July 12. Bradford was able to talk about certain aspects of the show. "Night Shift" will be sort of a ‘parallel universe” to GH – no storylines will overlap and one show will not affect the other (similar to Port Charles/GH in this writer’s memory). On GH, Spinelli’s infatuation with Lulu will continue; on "Night Shift," he’s brought into the hospital with an injury and falls for Jolene, a student nurse (Jolene’s had a few scenes on GH to date.), though he will consider Lulu a friend. Other tidbits: Spinelli’s dance fantasy with Lulu was as fun to do as it was to watch. Bradford trained in musical theater at New York University (NYU), so “it was like going back to my roots.” They had a great choreographer, which made things much easier. It was also fun to watch Maurice Benard in the back while taping the scene, wondering when it was going to all be over! Bradford has signed a two-year contract with GH! His favorite scene so far? The first big scene with Maurice (Sonny) Benard, when Spinelli had to decide what to call him, ending up with “Mr. Corinthos Sir.” Also, the whole Metro Court story with Steve, where the relationship between Jason and Spinelli blossomed. Tony Geary is a legend, but incredibly gracious. Bradford really does like orange soda and chips! They were originally using Stewart’s Orange Soda, but he eventually asked to switch to the diet version and was immediately sorry. He’s trying to get used to it. On his first day, he had only two lines, in a scene with Ted (ex-Alcazar) King and Rick (Ric) Hearst: “I’m the Jackal!” The next day, he had 16 scenes with Steve and Kelly (Sam) Monaco and was glad it wasn’t his first day. Kelly Monaco is very funny. The Christmas gag reel was mostly Steve Burton making fun of Kelly (too bad that’s for cast and crew only!). Bradford’s sad that Scott (Dillon) Clifton is leaving, but they’re neighbors, so it’s okay. He works with Steve Burton on a daily basis and loves it. Bradford wants to have Spinelli and Lulu move forward in their relationship. “It could be a lot of fun…I’d love to see where that goes.” He’s psyched that Billy Dee Williams is part of the "Night Shift" cast, “playing a janitor with a sketchy past. Hey, look, Lando Calrissian just washed the floor!” The show will be on Thursday nights for 13 weeks. At the suggestion of his L.A. publicist, “I bought an Armani suit!” for the Daytime Emmys. Does he make up the “Spinelli-isms?” “Most of the names were written by the writers; I only came up with ‘Big Daddy Stone Cold’ and ‘The Prince of Pectorals.’” Most surprising revelation: if he tries to do Spinelli “off-the-cuff,” it doesn’t work. He wants to figure out how to do it, because “it’s starting to become embarrassing, but it’s hard to do it outside the atmosphere of the set.” We won’t be seeing Spinelli for a short time, as Bradford’s going to be filming the next “American Pie” movie in Toronto for a month (end of June/beginning of July), and Spinelli will presumably be working on helping get Jason out of jail. Hobbies? “I’ve started playing video games again. I play Tiger Woods Golf with Steve.” Now that he’s signed a contract, he finally has a dressing room to call his own. The first things he bought for it? A television and a PlayStation! “I can beat Steve in a video game, but not on a real golf course!” A few more nuggets of information: The truth about Jason being Jacob’s father should come out in the next two months. Steve Burton was supposed to start doing a Western mini-series for TNT, so he was growing his hair out, but now the mini-series has been pushed back to ’09. Steve uses too much product on his hair, which makes it hard for the lighting crew! “Who’s Logan’s father? You haven’t figured it out yet?” And with that, Bradford started the meet-and-greet with the fans, visiting each and every one of them. He interacted with them in a very natural manner: open, friendly, and engaging. It was really amazing to observe this, knowing that it was his first fan event. He’s a pro! After three hours of constant activity (not to mention an early morning flight from California), you’d think that Bradford would have snuck out for some well-deserved relaxation, but his day wasn’t quite over yet. You see, it was previously had arranged for him to meet with The Media Ho for a quick interview! As Bradford was wrapping up, I was led to a semi-secluded corner for our conversation. A few minutes later came the highlight of my day…a quiet chat with the actor who has earned quite a following due to his quirky and fun character, Damian Spinelli. As a great deal of my GH-related questions had been answered during the Q&A, I regrouped and concentrated on other topics. Bradford, a native of New Hampshire, went to college at NYU, in New York’s Greenwich Village. He did a lot of stage work before moving to L.A. and appearing in shows like "Ed," "Veronica Mars," and "What About Brian," before GH cast him as Spinelli in late 2006. He’s also a rabid Red Sox fan, whose team was, at that moment, meeting up with my boys in pinstripes, the Yankees. We had some fun with that. MH: Moving from New Hampshire to New York City must have been quite an adjustment for you, as was moving from the East Coast to the West. Which did you find more challenging? BA: As I was younger, a freshman in college, moving from New Hampshire to New York was a bigger transition, because I’d lived in New Hampshire my whole life. I had had the opportunity to travel before college, but to actually be based in a city like New York, with so many things to distract you was a major change. I had to really learn a lot about myself, figure out how to fit in there. When I was older, moving to L.A., I didn’t worry about fitting in because I was more of a fully formed person. If I had moved to L.A. when I was younger, I would have gone nuts trying to figure out, “Well, what am I supposed to be like? What is the cool thing to be like?” L.A. is more image conscious; in New York, you can have your own style. You can be anything you want, and you’re accepted. In L.A., it’s more like ‘do you fit in.’ Going to New York first really helped me in my maturation process. MH: Do you have any favorite places from your time at NYU that you want to visit this weekend? BA: Unfortunately, there’s not enough time. We are going to dinner tonight for my sister’s birthday at this place I used to work, Giorgio’s of Gramercy. It’s this amazing, amazing restaurant on 21st and Broadway. One of the best restaurants in New York City for the price. MH: You started out on the stage, then moved to television. What would you say that you like best about each medium? BA: What I loved about stage was just the energy of it. When you’re on stage and you’re connected with what you’re doing, plus having the audience feeding you with energy, that kind of synthesis is amazing, there’s no way to duplicate it. However, doing soaps, since we don’t have much rehearsal time, the spontaneity of what happens on a daily basis is exciting in and of itself. You have to be so connected to the person that you’re working with, because who knows what’s going to happen…you’ve never really done it before. So there’s something that’s really exciting about that rather than prime time stuff, when you’re framing a shot and doing it over and over and over again. You might get a more perfect performance at some point, but you might not get as honest a performance because it’s so rehearsed. MH: I’ve heard a lot of actors say that working on daytime is a tremendous training ground for prime time and film. BA: Exactly. You have to go with that first instinct [snapping fingers], you have to play that first choice, and you have to make sure that it’s not boring. You can’t build up to anything; you have to bring it on that first try. That’s exciting. MH: Do you think you might have some time to do some theater? I know Tyler (Nikolas) Christopher has a theater company. BA: The thing is about L.A., unless you’re producing it on your own, it’s hard. Tyler can finance his own theater company and build it around his schedule, which is great. For me, I’m still kind of at the mercy of the people who want to hire me. I suppose I could start a theater company, but it’s a lot of work. And since I’m still new to this genre, I don’t have the ache to go back to the stage immediately, because this is still new to me, it’s not old hat, you know? MH: I have to tell you, Spinelli’s “Dancing With The Stars” fantasy was a real hoot. I took that day’s videotape over to a friend who does transfers to DVD for me, and told him I wanted that scene. I have never done that before. He called me later – and this is a guy who knows nothing about GH – and said, “You know, that kid’s great!” Did Kelly Monaco have any advice about the scene? BA: [laughs] She’s great. Kelly’s a lot of fun to talk to, and just a lot of fun to be around. She put out some moves for us! MH: Spinelli’s back story is very lean. We know he has a grandmother. What about his parental units? Does his agony over Stone Cold’s situation with The Innocent One have anything to do with his own background? BA: It does, exactly. He grew up thinking his grandmother was his actual mother and then when he found out that that wasn’t the case, he got the feeling that his parents didn’t want him and that he’d been lied to all his life. He didn’t have a father figure. So, to see a situation where a kid could grow up not knowing who his true parents are was very upsetting for Spinelli. And Jason, I think, would be one of the best dads ever, so it’s a situation that Spinelli just can’t let pass. Jason would be such a great dad, and it’s not fair to the kid or to Jason. There are a lot of things wrong with it. MH: Do you surf the Web as much as Spinelli does? BA: Not for the same things! I look up sports and check my e-mail. MH: Speaking of sports, as a Yankee fan, I must reluctantly congratulate your Red Sox on their awesome season so far. [The Red Sox were in town for a three-game series with the then-slumping Yanks.] BA: Hey, who knows what happened today! The season’s not over! The rivalry makes everything in baseball so much better, doesn’t it? MH: Growing up in Red Sox Nation [the geographic area above New York], you really didn’t have much of a choice but to become a Red Sox fan! BA: Exactly! The Media Ho then pulled out that day’s newspaper, which featured Red Sox fans taunting Yankee star Alex Rodriguez. Bradford laughed heartily, and happily posed with the newspaper.
MH: Congratulations on signing your contract. I look forward to watching Spinelli’s adventures on GH for many years to come! BA: Me, too…me, too! With that, the interview was over. Many thanks to Bradford for his time and his thoughtful, often amusing, answers! What a fabulous way to end Bradford’s first fan event!
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