Thursday, December 31, 2009

Scott Evans: The We Love Soaps Interview, Part Three

In Part One of my interview with the talented and inspiring Scott Evans, he discussed being outed by his brother Chris Evans in an international magazine, and what's in store for "Kish." In Part Two he shared more about his process portraying Oliver Fish's coming out struggles, as well as coping with new fame in 2009.  In this final part, he shares thoughts about Emmys, Fish's future, and what led him to stop reading internet message boards.

We Love Soaps: Have you considered submitting any of your work for an Emmy nomination next year?
Scott Evans: I don’t know if I’m even eligible because I’m not on contract. 

We Love Soaps: People who have been off contract have won before.  Jordan Clarke won for Best Supporting Actor on GUIDING LIGHT while he was off contract [in 2006].  I’m not the expert on this.
Scott Evans: I’m not the expert either.  But no, I haven’t even thought about it.  I think you can’t really go into something saying, “This episode I’m shooting today is going to be my Emmy episode.”  I never even thought about it because I didn’t think it was possible.  But there were so many people who put out a lot of great work this year so we’ll see. 

We Love Soaps: When he was depressed earlier this year, your character got drunk and was pretty irresponsible [having unprotected sex] with Stacy.  I think it was an important point that gays and lesbians are often likely to use alcohol to treat depression and put themselves at risk.
Scott Evans: Exactly.

We Love Soaps: Focusing on Stacy, Oliver is about to have a little Oliver out there soon.  Can you give us any scoop about what’s going to happen with that?
Scott Evans: I don’t know actually.  I just met the baby the other day.  She’s adorable.  And by “she” I mean there’s about twelve of them.  They’re fantastic.  It hasn’t come out who the father is, or who is going to be taking care of the baby, and I think what people will find out is that it’s a struggle.  And it’s going to be a struggle.  I don’t want to give too much away. 

We Love Soaps: One of the things I admire about ONE LIFE TO LIVE, especially compared to the other daytime shows, is how diverse it is.  As far as sexual orientation, as far as race and ethnicity, even class.  Is it meaningful for you to be on a show that shows so many different people? 
Scott Evans: I love it.  I didn’t really know much about the soap world and about shows.  Since I’ve become part of it I’ve learned a lot more about other shows.  It’s sad, since I’ve become a part of it I’ve watched GUIDING LIGHT get canceled, now AS THE WORLD TURNS. It’s a bummer because it is such a different medium.  If it gets lost, it’s going to be sad.  But being part of a show like ONE LIFE TO LIVE is great.  I don’t know much about the other shows, but I know people from other shows and I’ve watched scenes from other shows.  From what I hear and what I read about our show is that it is diverse.  It’s very forward thinking.  We had our Christmas lunch the other day, and it’s just such a family there.  I’m sure it’s the same on any show.  I’m pretty biased, but our family is the best. 

We Love Soaps: Our viewers are going to throw stones at me if I don’t ask you the question:
Scott Evans: Oh God.

We Love Soaps: Anyone special in your life?
Scott Evans: Yes. My family. 

We Love Soaps: What would you like to see happen to Oliver Fish in the future?
Scott Evans: I hope him and Kyle do figure it out and have a relationship.  I really want something to happen with the baby. I hope he doesn’t go the rest of his life not knowing [he’s the father]. 

We Love Soaps: If you could go back to the end of 2008 and give yourself one piece of advice, what would that be?
Scott Evans: Don’t listen to what other people say.  I found myself this summer reading the boards a lot and reading what people had to say a lot.  It got to me.  I finally got to a place where could say, “You know what? There are going to people who love you, there are going to be people who hate you. Deal with it.”

We Love Soaps: Do you find yourself focusing more on the people who are negative?
Scott Evans: No. The thing is, especially with the story I’m a part of, the negativity isn’t like, “I can’t believe she married him, I hate her.”  It’s more like, “How dare they show two men kissing on TV?” But for every person who says something bad, we have one hundred who come back and say [positive things].  I read the boards and see people write, “I’m a straight woman and I’m a mother. I love it, it’s a real relationship.  I love it, and it’s nice to see people not cheating on each other and not killing each other and having affairs.”  People can look at it like it’s gay or straight or whatever.  At the end of the day it’s human emotion. 

We Love Soaps: I sure with there was “Kish” when I was growing up. 
Scott Evans: I can’t even think if there was anything we even had like that.

We Love Soaps: Any advice you would want to give to a young person reading this who is struggling with their own sexuality or questioning truths in their lives?
Scott Evans: I would say, “Don’t be afraid,” but my situation growing up was very different.  I have read these letters where people tell me their situation and it makes me sick to my stomach.  It makes my heart hurt for some of these kids out there.  So I’d say, “Be strong.” 

We Love Soaps: I want to thank you for this interview and for the wonderful work you are doing out there.  I think you are a great role model for young people, and people like myself.  You’re living your life without that fear.  No matter what negative stuff you get out there I hope you hold that as well.  You’re doing important work.
Scott Evans: Thanks. Let’s hope it continues.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Photo of Scott Evans and Damon L. Jacobs taken by WLS reader extraordinaire Scott Edwards.

Damon L. Jacobs is a Marriage Family Therapist practicing in New York City, and the author of "Absolutely Should-less: The Secret to Living the Stress-Free Life You Deserve". He is re-imagining a world without "shoulds" at www.shouldless.com.

4 comments:

  1. Damon,

    Thanks for providing we readers with a wonderful interview session with Scott Evans. I'm looking forward to seeing him earn an Emmy nomination next year for his terrific work as Officer Oliver Fish.

    BTW, about a couple of years ago, Scott played a nasty drug dealer on Guiding Light. His character gave me the creeps! I think it was a day-player gig. I think that he terrorized Caitlin Van Zandt's character of Ashley Wolfe.

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  2. Thanks for posting this interview!
    I'm a mother of two, living on an island in the North Sea, deep in snow at the moment. We don't have daytime soaps in Norway! There's ONE soap opera here, which is unwatchable.
    It is a necessity, for me, to get lost in the sweet distractions of the online soap world.
    Thanks again!
    XXX

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  3. greeneb,

    the GL character was named Trey

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