Nobody is more excited about Jonathan Jackson’s return to General Hospital than his onscreen father, Tony Geary.  Their characters, Luke and Lucky, have one of daytime’s most fascinating parent-child relationships.  The duo teamed up for a for a conversation about love scenes, talent, and coming home again

Jonathan, did any of Lucky’s storylines from the past ten years surprise you or strike you as out of character?

JJ: The history of the drug addiction, the affair with Maxie, that was pretty intense.  Elizabeth having an affair with Jason, having two sons with other men.  When I left the show Elizabeth and Lucky were sort of in the prime of their innocent and passionate romance and commitment to each other.  So all of that history is certainly interesting to come back and have that there.  But in terms of the essence of the character being Luke and Laura’s son and his love for Elizabeth, that’s still there.

Tony, how does having Jonathan Jackson back change your approach to how you portray Luke’s relationship with Lucky?

TG: I wouldn’t say that it changes it.  I would say that it makes it more profound and deepens it because we have such a long and powerful history together both as friends and as colleagues and actors on the show.  Since Jonathan was eleven, he was my first and only son.  To have him back has been really a joy for me.  It is like a prodigal son coming home.

The fans have never gotten to see a true love scene between your Lucky and Elizabeth.  Is that going to happen any time soon?

JJ: Well, I know that they are definitely going to allude to those things but I’ve never been one to jump in bed all that easily.  The thing that I love about Lucky and Elizabeth and their storyline is the depth of their passion and their love for each other.  They do some “hot and steamy scenes” with other people, as they say, but I tend to hesitate about some of that stuff.  Romance, passion, love, conflict — all that good stuff — I’m game for all that.

TG: He’s not beefcake.  This is an actor.   I admire that because a young man [with his] good looks, it’s really easy for them to strip off shirts and throw them in bed.  But it’s kind of cheap.

People have been speculating that Lucky and Dante are going to become police partners.  Do you know anything about that?

JJ: I don’t know actually.  I haven’t heard about that.  Having me come back as Lucky has been a very fast thing over the past month, so my headspace has been so focused on the day to say scripts that I have that I don’t really know a whole lot in terms of where they’re going.  But I’m sure that Bob Guza, the headwriter, has a lot of great stuff planned.

You still have amazing chemistry with Becky Herbst.  How did you recapture that after being gone so long?

JJ: For me as an actor, I started at a young age and I’ve been working about sixteen years now.  What I’ve found is that chemistry is not something that comes and goes.  It’s either there or it isn’t.  It has to do with a lot of intangible things with each actor.    Becky is a wonderful actress.  She’s very available and present with what’s going on.  I think that the audience really responded to the chemistry we had when we were younger.  Coming back, it was right there again.

Even at the age of eleven you had so much depth in your performances.  Where does all that come from?

JJ:  I don’t know.  I think it’s just [my] personality.  God puts certain things in certain people.  I’m a restless soul.  I’m always searching.  I’m always pressing to find what truth is and what life is all about.  I think it’s that search, that restlessness that I’ve always had even before I started acting.

TG: It’s called talent. He has a profound talent.

It was a treat to watch the scene on the docks between the two of you that aired last Wednesday.  What was it like to play?

TG: It was wonderful.  It was exciting, like a freefall, like having a partner you jump out of an airplane with and share one parachute coming down.  It’s hard to describe how important that felt to me to have him back and to have our connection so strong and clear together again.  We’re looking forward to more of those.

JJ: It was incredible for me as well.  Even before the scene started we just sat there rehearsing and just the presence of being in the same room with Tony getting ready to walk the plank of the unknown is just so exciting.  It’s a gift to be able to always have that sense of possibility and that sense of mystery.  Anything could happen because we’re both present and available with what the other person is doing.  It’s easy for me to work with him because I get to just watch.  I’m constantly amazed.

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