The Buzz - BuzzWorthy Radio

GENERAL HOSPITAL's JONATHAN JACKSON!

Jonathan Jackson, who has recently returned to ABC Daytime's "General Hospital" in the role of Lucky Spencer, will be making his first appearance on BuzzWorthy Radio this week!

Jackson, who first started playing the role from 1993-1999, won three Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Younger Actor in 1995, 1998, and 1999. In addition to acting, Jonathan plays guitar and sings in a band called ENation, alongside his brother, Richard Lee Jackson. Fans may remember Richard for starring in "Saved By the Bell: The New Class" for several seasons on TNBC. A couple of their songs happened to be featured on "One Tree Hill," besides "GH."

Jackson is married to former co-star Lisa Vultaggio, who played the role of Hannah from 2001-2002. They have a son, Caleb, and a girl, Adora. The couple are expected to have their third child in October of this year.

For more information on past, present, and current projects with Jonathan Jackson, visit his website at http://www.jonathanjackson.net, as well as his music at http://www.enationmusic.com. Also, you can follow him on Twitter @JSJacksonWrites. Also he now has an official Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/JonathanJackson/113031858728381?ref=sgm

Duration:: 33m
Broadcast on:: 23 Apr 2010
Audio Format:: other

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He previously played the role from 1993 to 1999, winning three posthumous Emmys for a standing younger actor in a drama series. He's also pre-nominated for an Emmy, which we found out today, that they are going to be televised on CVS this year on June 27th, 2010. During his absence, he also formed a band called E.D.H. with his brother Richard Lee Jackson, who, by the way, I believe, they're going to be doing an event this summer in July for General Hochl's Fan Club Weekend. Please welcome Multimmy Award-winning actor Jonathan Jackson. How are you? Hello. Good. How you doing? I'm good. I'm good. Thanks so much for coming out today. It's a pleasure having you here. Yeah, you're good. I'm going to start right off the bat and pretty much say, a huge fan of yours. When I heard the news that you were coming back to the show as Lucky, I nearly fell out of my chair. You did not disappoint. Trust me, you did not disappoint. When you came back, it felt like you never left. Yeah, that's awesome. Thank you. Okay, it felt like that for me in many ways, too. It really, everything just sort of sank into place pretty quickly. Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I thought, seriously, I said here and I go, I wonder if he's going to have to find his niche again for being gone for 10 years, but you didn't even have to do that. It just fell right into place for you. As soon as you came back there, it was first day on our television screen. That was it. It was like, you can go welcome back. You didn't even take two seconds. I would even say a millisecond. And it was right there. So I completely commend you for that. That was great. Thanks. Absolutely. So I do have to ask, though, how did the return happen? How were you approached to return for the role if I can ask that? Yeah, no, that's fine. I was just sort of going about my life. I'd been working on lots of different films and stuff over the last 10 years. I'm doing a lot of music with my bandy nation. I've been joining my time between Washington State and Los Angeles, and I happened to be up in Washington at the time. And I just got a call from my agents and managers, and they said that the role of Lucky is opening up again, and ABC wants to offer it to you. And for me, it was completely out of the blue. I wasn't thinking about it or had no idea that that was going to happen. It's something that I sort of contemplate over the years, not necessarily as Lucky, because other people were playing the role. But I contemplated coming back for a period of time as a different character or something, because I really, really loved working with a lot of the actors, especially Tony Gary. I really just missed working with him. So when the opportunity came, it just felt like, wow, this is pretty crazy, but it might be a fun adventure to go back and just kind of see what it's like. There it is. In my head, I was like, I wonder if he ever would have wanted to come back. In your time, like you just pretty much said. You never thought about coming back, but it's just like, you know, here it is. Why not? Just go ahead and do it. See what comes of it. And lo and behold, here you are. You're pre-nominated for an Emmy for this year. And that's another thing I wanted to ask. So I didn't know that you were on enough so that you could get pre-nominated for an Emmy. What was the cutoff point for that? What were you able to submit for that? I guess the way they do it is you don't have to be on for very long, because what you send in for people to vote on is actually just one show. So if you're on for even, I mean, I was on for like three months, you know, nine, but I mean, I think there have been other people who have been on even less than that. I think one year when Jeanne was nominated, it might even have been the year she won, she was only on for even less amount of time. So I was pretty shocked about that as well, but you know, people said, "No, no, put your name in. You've been on for three months, and that's how it works." So there it is. There it is. I was totally confused by because I didn't think I thought it had to be enough of an amount of shows or enough amount of time to get pre-nominated. I thought this stuff that you were doing now wouldn't happen in the next year, especially with the scenes of the confrontation that you have between Elizabeth and Nicholas played Rebecca Herbs and Tyler Christopher. Those scenes, pure gold, I thought they were going to go next year's ballot, but... Well, they are. Those things are next years because they... Those things are next year. Yeah, they aired in 2010. So basically, they whatever scenes you did or shows you did within that year, that's what you get to pick from to send in. So next year, if I'm fortunate enough to get nominated, then I get to look at that stuff from 2010. Okay, I got you. I'm getting it a little bit. There we go. Tell us a little bit about E-Nation. How did you come up with this alongside your brother, Richard E. Nation has just been a real passion for years. My brother and I have made music together since we were pretty young, and he's an incredible drummer. I've been playing guitar since I was fairly little. We've made quite a few independent records and produced a lot of stuff together. We formed a band about five years ago with some friends of ours, and we've just been creatively pursuing all the different avenues of that world, especially on an underground independent level. We've made three or four albums. We've toured. We had a top 10 song on the iTunes rock charts that we did with one of the actresses from One Tree Hill. We've had music and films, all that kind of stuff. So it's just a really fun, amazing thing to create music with friends. Absolutely. And you're also going to correct me if I'm wrong. I did read, I believe you guys are going to be playing at the General Hospital technically weekend this July, right? Yes. Yes, we plan to. Yes, probably going to be more of an acoustic type show because of the venue, but yeah, we're going to play there. Absolutely, great, great. And how much are the tickets for your event? Let's pin it out. Let's go ahead and pin it out. How much are the tickets for your event? I don't remember. I can't remember. They're anywhere from like between 70 and 90. I don't remember what we decided. I think they might be 80, but I can't remember off the top of my head. Got to find out. So I'm going to work on that. As soon as this shows over, I'm going to go like. And the congratulations are in order. I hear that you and Lisa are expecting. Yes, thank you. A child in October. Congratulations for that. Yeah, we're very excited. Yeah. And are you up for taking some phone calls? We got some fans on the line that would love this feature. Are you up for that? Sure. All right. All right. We got a caller from Pennsylvania. You're on the line with Jonathan Jackson. How are you? What's your name? Hello. Hi. Oh, hi, Navell, it's Tammy. Hey, how are you? I'm good. How are you? How are you? Good. Good. Hi, Jonathan. Hi, how's it going? It's going good. How about you? It's very good. Thank you. And I just want to tell you, I have been a fan of yours ever since God when Lucky first showed up in Port Charles all those years ago. And I was very, very excited to hear that you were coming back to General Hospital because it was just like, oh my gosh, yeah, Lucky's coming back. And you know, I had nothing against Jacob and Greg. I think they did good with, you know, what they were given. But, you know, you've always, you've always been lucky to me. So it was good to have you back. I had a deal of questions for you. I know you have a lot of favorite post stars and everything like that. So it's just wandering with all the different storylines it's done. And by the way, the scenes where you totally shoot out Elizabeth were just gold. They were perfect. You definitely have to submit that for any. What was one of your favorite storylines you think that you've done in your time on General Hospital? Wow. That's a tricky one. I don't know. I have so many memories. I mean, they all sort of blend together. I mean, I think probably at this point it would be the original love story with Lucky and Elizabeth and Lucky helping her through the healing process and the trauma of the rape and everything. I just thought there was a lot of depth and purity in that storyline that people really connected with. And that's one that really jumps out at me. So that was a good one. I like that. I also love whatever you and Tony Gary do together because I think you guys are just perfect. This father and son, it's just always, I love Lucky and Luke. Yeah. Well, I do too. Thank you. And, you know, I mean, I can't even pick out a storyline really with Tony because I mean, it's just all the different stuff we get to do together. We try to find a way to make it fun and interesting. And, you know, the chemistry and relationship there is very, very strong. Yes. That's awesome. Thank you very much. You're taking the time to talk to me. You're welcome. Thanks for calling. Thanks. See you later, Nabelle. See you later, Jan. Take care. You too. I got to ask, when so many years ago when you first showed up on the show, coming into it and you're going to be Luke and Laura's son, you know, of this iconic couple, this couple has been on the cover of The Time Magazine all the time. Did you realize the effect that this couple had in daytime television? Not even just daytime, but everywhere when you were first coming into the park, you were like, "Wow, I'm actually going to be Luke and Laura's kid." Have you ever, like, taught that or did you even realize that? You know, it was interesting because, I mean, I was, I was 11 years old and when Luke and Laura were sort of at their peak was even right before I was born. So I really didn't grow up connected to that. My parents, I mean, you know, everyone knew of Luke and Laura and everyone was aware of it, but they never really watched soap operas or anything. So I wasn't overly exposed to that world, which I think was a real blessing in hindsight because I didn't, you know, everyone was saying that, like, you have no idea how big of a deal to say is and Luke and Laura, you know, the biggest couple ever and all this stuff, but it didn't really mean anything to me because I had no reference point for that. And when I met Tony and Jeannie, it was like, I was just meeting these people. I had no concept of what that meant and which was great because I got to just connect with them as these, you know, wonderful people who were playing my parents and they were so gracious and welcoming and helpful. It was just an incredible environment for me to begin my career. Absolutely, absolutely. You've done some amazing work. And again, I don't have the only one that feels this way because there's some other fans that actually agree with that sentiment. Jersey caller on the line right now, Jenna, is with us. How are you? Hi guys. Hello. I'm feeling pretty good. Let's talk to you guys again. Uh, talk to Jackson. I'm a huge fan of yours. Cool. Thank you. I love you as lucky. You're like, you're like one of my favorite folk characters ever. I'm so glad you came back to your hospital, but like, I also like your other stuff, like, can't have nowhere to go up on that movie. Good times. Nice. Yeah. So I have a question. Okay. You were away from the character of Lucky for a while. What do you think about all the stuff that happened to your character while you weren't playing him? Well, that's a good question. You know, I'm sure I haven't. I'm sure there's a lot I still don't know, to be honest. I know the highlights, the big things, you know, like the drug addiction and the affairs of Maxie and that kind of stuff. But, you know, 10 years on a daytime soap, they tend to, you know, the histories get pretty dense. So, you know, it was interesting for me. I mean, I came back to the character feeling connected to him. I never really watched the show after I left, which I think was a healthy thing, because when I came back, I didn't really have any sort of other interpretations or preconceived things that I had to battle with to get back into the character. I was connecting with where I was 10 years ago, but also bringing, you know, my 10 years of my own life and experiences into the present. And, you know, just getting to the heart and soul of the character. And, you know, something Tony actually told me years ago, which was a really brilliant thing for actors. He said, you can't act information, you know, and as an actor, a lot of times people are giving you all this information, but you can't act information. It's just, it is what it is. So, for me, it was like, okay, well, lucky was addicted to drugs. That's information. I can't act that unless they put me back into a storyline where I'm battling with addiction, which they did a little bit with the drinking, which was fun to play. So, I just focused on the heart and soul of the character and wasn't really worried about, you know, how the other stuff would blend, if that makes any sense. Yeah, it does. I really enjoyed it. Your interpretation of Lucky, I think, is the best interpretation. When you weren't playing him, I kind of only watched on and off. So, I really pleaded just on Lucky Spencer to know what I missed. So, I'm glad you're playing him again. Well, it's very sweet of you. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks, taking my call. I know there's probably other colors. All right. Thanks, Jenna. God bless you. Thanks, Jenna. Here. Great question. Great question, minute. Did you -- have you watched the show since you weren't -- while you were off the show, have you watched it on and off, or had you had any time to watch the show when you were away, or you came back to it? No. You know, I didn't, really. I never really watched it. I mean, I would sometimes, you know, see it. I was flipping through channels, and I would watch a scene here and there. But I never even really watched a full show or knew a storyline of what was happening or anything. It was just -- that's just sort of my personality. I tend to be very focused on whatever I'm working on. And, you know, when I departed from the show, it just -- I just didn't really have any motivation to sort of, you know, keep up on the storylines. And like I said, on hindsight, I'm really grateful for that because I got to come back with a clean slate. I like it better that way for you because you were able to put your own interpretations into it without having to watch the other actors play the role that you had departed. You were able to put your own spin on to it. I think that was better in the long run. I actually had spoke with Maurice Bernard a few weeks ago on the show. And he pretty much -- yeah, he said nothing but great things about you. He pretty much -- it was a comment he had made in regards to the show as a whole that everybody is stepping up and bringing their A-game on this show. And it's the best show that's going on right now. And he said about you, in essence, is that when you came back on the show, something just reinvigorated the entire program. Everything was like as it was back in the day. And you being back on as lucky, your presence, it was a great thing. So yeah, Maurice Bernard had a high, high kind of respect for you. Yeah, well, that's really, that's really awesome. And I share that respect for him as well. And Maurice is an awesome person. He's an incredible actor. And it's been cool for me because I mean, I got to know him and his family. When I was a kid, I was like 11 years old. And we always had a really strong connection. We haven't really worked together a ton on the show. But the moments that we do get, the scenes that we do get, we both really enjoy them. So that's really -- it's fun to hear from someone like him. Absolutely. Absolutely. Call her from Florida. You're on the line. What's your name? Would that be me? That'd be you. Okay. I wasn't sure. Hi. My name is Vicki. And I do a website called toningeary.net. Okay. Oh, yes. Yes, yes. And I've interviewed Jonathan a couple of times and saw that you were going to be on here on my Facebook, actually. And I wanted to come to Broadway Cares this year. It was the first year I haven't been. And so disappointed not to get to go. But I wanted to ask you how that experience was for you with Tony and Nathan and everybody. It was an amazing experience. I was really grateful that I was able to be a part of it. Tony had told me about it. And he was a big -- played a big part in getting me to do it. Just because it's sort of Broadway isn't normally my thing. I didn't really come from that background. But he was just very encouraging to have me be a part of it. So it was a great trip. We got to hang out in New York and I got to spend some time with Nathan, which was really fun. And the actual event itself was great. Seeing all the various actors perform in a different light, obviously being a part of a great cause and everything. I walked away just really excited and grateful to be a part of it. You know, I heard that your performance was awesome, Jonathan, a music tonight. I heard it was absolutely incredible. And I wasn't surprised, but somebody said to me, "Oh, well, I just -- I wasn't sure how it'd be because, you know, he's a rock singer." And I kind of had to laugh at that because David Cook did the same song for Idol. And he was incredible with it. And so I was like, you're underestimating rock singers in general. And I love your bandy nation. I've been really supportive of the band. And I just want to thank you for supporting the site and doing the interviews about Tony and, you know, just -- you're my favorite. You are lucky. I told Tony, you are lucky to me. Always have been, always will be. And just glad to see you back on the show. Cool. Thank you so much. Thanks, Jonathan. Take care. Bye-bye. Wonderful, wonderful call. I actually have a question from the chat room for you. They want to know what do you think about your -- the scenes that you did with Rebecca and Tyler, the confrontation scenes, being compared to Judith's life-care and wallet courtroom scene from what I call it because apparently that's what it was compared to. I don't know if you ever heard of that. Yeah. You know, I have not heard about those scenes from Judith until after these recent scenes because, you know, I'm a young man and my soap history is pretty limited. But a friend of mine who's, you know, been around and is a photographer and he knows the history of the business and stuff informed me that, you know, some of that stuff was being said. And I mean, I don't have -- I haven't seen that stuff, so I have no reference to that. But obviously, I guess it was a, you know, a high compliment. But -- Oh, yeah. You know, it was just one of those things for me. I had this instinct when I got the script. I just knew. I thought, you know, this has the potential to be a really, really powerful show for a lot of reasons. And, you know, I just -- I did my best to get out of the way of the performance. You know, I'm a really spiritual person. I come from a place of deep faith. And for me, I just -- it was really just about prayer and about getting out of the way and, you know, just letting -- letting God have control of the room and of the scenes and then just letting it all out. And I was really grateful with everything that happened. And Becky and Tyler were fantastic. And it was just one of those moments. But I, you know, I do hesitate taking credit because I know that, you know, the gifts that all of us are given, they come from some other place than us. So we sort of -- you know, it's important to, you know, not take the credit because it's a partnership. With something else. You know what I'm saying? Absolutely. It's not just one person that's everybody that's making it. It's doing this. It's not just you. It's Becky and Tyler. It's God. It's everybody who's involved. It's not just -- it's not just one thing. And we got time for one more caller. And for the love of heaven, please, if I don't get your state right, please forgive me. Are you from Arizona 480 area code? Hello. Hi. Hello. Yeah. Oh, I see. I didn't realize you were talking to me. My name is Tracy. My name is Tracy. Good afternoon. You're breaking up. You're breaking up. I'm breaking up. Okay. I'll sit still. I'll sit still. It's a cell phone. Can you hear me now? Yes. Okay. Jonathan, I just have to say, I think you are absolutely an amazing actor. And being a lot of friends, you're really glad that you're back. Besides that, though, what I'm really glad about is that you being back on general hospital introduces me to any nation. I think the music is just amazing. And I think it really gives insight into your soul. But certainly, it just has a quality about it that is more than just rock music. And so question -- I don't know if I have questions. Good questions have been asked. No, I really appreciate that, though. I mean, it's always encouraging to hear from people that are touched by the music and inspired because, you know, I put a lot of time and a lot of my passion towards it. So I really appreciate that. Thank you. Well, I will say that, you know, every time I listen to one of the songs, I hear something new. And then I listen to another song and I think, oh, wow, there's something new there. As far as the question goes, the book. The book is quite talked about right now amongst a lot of your fans. And it's just absolutely beautiful. When will we see the second part? Well, yeah, that's a good question. You know, it's funny how the whole thing -- we weren't really planning on officially releasing the book. I actually just made up some limited copies because I was speaking at a conference and I was going to sell the book at the conference. And we had requests for some more. And so, you know, we're sort of -- we don't really know what we're doing. We're just sort of -- we just have this limited run of them right now. I do have the second part written. I actually wrote it as one full book and then I split it into two parts. So I have the second part written, but I'm probably going to change the direction of it a little bit and edit it a little bit. So it may -- it may be some time before it's released. But I have, you know, since I've been away from the show over the last seven years, I've written probably about five books. So I'm sort of feeling out the timing and looking for the right ways to distribute it and stuff. But, you know, all the support from the fans and the word of mouth with the music and the books and all that stuff is just really, really appreciated and it's really important. So I really -- and thank you guys for that. Well, thank you. Thank you. We really appreciate you sharing your faith, sharing your art, sharing the music, and hope you keep it up. Thank you. Awesome. Thank you. Thanks for the call. It's awesome. Thanks so much. All right. We're wrapping it up here, but let's promote you out a little bit more. Where can they find you at online if they want to look you up? I know you've got a Twitter. You just got a Facebook page. Where can they find you at right now, besides on TV? Well, yeah. We got the Twitter, the Facebook music-wise, our website is enationmusic.com. Our stuff is available on iTunes as well, and CDbaby.com. I think my official site is jonathanjaxon.net, the acting site. The book is available actually through our enation music website under the store. And the Twitter is J.S. Jackson writes. That's the account. And the Facebook one is a new one. We just started it, and I'm pretty sure it's like Jonathan Jackson, I don't know. I can't remember what we did. It might have been fan page or something like that, but I'll try to Twitter the correct one if that's wrong. But anyway, yeah. And we've been doing online magazines for the band every few months, which is pretty cool. People can sign up to be a part of the, we call it the enation army. And they get free songs and inside info and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, that's pretty much the main avenue, I think. Wonderful, sir. Thank you so much, Jonathan Jackson. Everybody, thank you so much for coming here today. It was a pleasure having you. We'd love to have you back anytime. Doors open. Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. Absolutely. You take care. All right. Thank you, man. Thanks. Bye. All right, everybody. That is our show for today. I want to thank everybody for calling in. I want to thank our guest, Jonathan Jackson, for being our guest today. We want to thank you again Monday, this coming Monday, April 26th. We're going to have on Kyle Bornheimer, who plays the role of Perry on ABC's New sitcom, Romanticly Challenged. So here for that, that's at 9.30 a.m. Eastern. Okay? And also, if you missed any of our shows live, you can always download them later at buzzwithareo.net or here on this site at blog.radio.com/buzzworthyradio. We'll see you guys on Monday morning. You take care from all of us from Buzzworthy on the Valtjali, making sure you get the latest buzz with Buzzworthy. See you guys on Monday. Can't get enough of Buzzworthy radio. I've gotten down to www.buzzworthyradio.net. To get the latest news, I'm upcoming guest, past shows and videos of all your favorite stars. Keep getting the latest buzz with Buzzworthy. How to have fun anytime, anywhere. Step one, go to chumbocassino.com. Chumbocassino.com. Got it. Step two, collect your welcome bonus. Come to top of welcome bonus. Step three, play hundreds of casino-style games for free. That's a lot of games, all for free. 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