Although he's been all over Hollywood, with memorable roles on everything from MELROSE PLACE to Starship Troopers, many of us will always think of DAYS OF OUR LIVES, and Austin Reed, when we think of Patrick Muldoon. After originating the role of Austin in 1992, Patrick left DAYS in 1995 to pursue a renaissance man's career in the entertainment industry. Just a few weeks ago, DAYS fans welcomed Patrick back to their living rooms as Austin once again.
WE LOVE SOAPS TV recently spoke with Patrick and enjoyed sharing his unique perspective on Austin Reed, DAYS OF OUR LIVES and life in Salem. Here's a transcript of our conversation.
WE LOVE SOAPS TV: When you came back to DAYS after 16 years, what are some of the things that you noticed had changed?
Patrick Muldoon: The thing that is kind of bizarre is that you would think that there would be a lot of changes, right? I mean, anytime you leave some place for 16 years and come back? But, the building looks the same, the walls are the same color, a lot of the cast is the same. And they look fantastic.
The way we go about shooting is a little different, but other than that, really, the strange thing about it is that Salem is Salem. There's Missy Reeves, Kristian Alfonso, all the people that I remember and love. Kind of the strange thing is that it really hasn't changed that much.
WE LOVE SOAPS TV: What appealed to you about coming back and playing Austin?
Patrick Muldoon: It's just a natural process. When the character was originated, it's a weird kind of marriage between the writers and the actor, when they begin to write for you. A lot of that character, of course, it's fantasy, coming from the writers, but also, a lot of the character was what the writers were “writing to,” watching me walk in Austin's shoes. So, what's appealing about it is, I have such--it doesn't matter that it's 16 years, it could be six days ago--such an emotional attachment to his life, his relationships, his relationship with Carrie, and it hasn't dissipated at all. It's gotten, almost, stronger.
That character is in my subconscious, and I've played a lot of characters since then, and I can't even really tell you most of their names. The appealing thing is, the character has always lived in me, because he's got a lot to do with me as a person. You don't have that situation in going movie-to-movie-to-movie, you know what I mean?
WE LOVE SOAPS TV: Sure, sure. How much of the story line did you know in advance?
Patrick Muldoon: None. [He laughs.]
WE LOVE SOAPS TV: Wow.
Patrick Muldoon: None!
WE LOVE SOAPS TV: So did you research the things Austin had done while Austin Peck had played the role, or are you looking at this as more of an Austin 2.0?
Patrick Muldoon: I think I had a responsibility to know the major things that happened to Austin while Austin Peck was playing him (and he did a fantastic job, by the way) just so, when I come across a character in Salem (for example, my mother, or Sami, obviously) I know a few things that happened. But really, you know, I didn't want to go too crazy with it, because you can't play the history, you have to play the character in the present tense.
So unless it's something really, really profound that I needed to know, I'm playing him with what I know about him (since I was there when he was originated) and from this day forward. It's kind of like... I have to play my version of the character?
WE LOVE SOAPS TV: It's a tricky question. It's an interesting situation, though, isn't it?
Patrick Muldoon: Sure, yeah. Absolutely, absolutely. It's a bit of balancing act. And it's specific to daytime, I think: somebody else plays the character and then you come back.
WE LOVE SOAPS TV: The pace in daytime has always been fast, and it seems to get faster all the time. After all the thing's you've been up to, was it a big adjustment, coming back?
Patrick Muldoon: Massive! [He laughs.] It was a massive adjustment. The way that we go about it, these days, I knew that there was going to be kind of a re-acclimation process, you know, I wasn't going to pretend that I wasn't going to have to work. This first month, which is now airing, was exhausting, you know? But re-acclimating.
It definitely wasn't like, "Hey, I've done a bunch of other stuff, so this is going to be easy." No way. But, now I have my feet underneath me, and now, I'm back in the saddle again. But I don't want to lie to you, there was a re-acclimation process. But I knew that that would be there.
WE LOVE SOAPS TV: What can you preview for us about what's coming up for Austin in the near future?
Patrick Muldoon: Austin comes right out of the gate and we all say, "Hey, welcome back to the family," in the first few days--and then immediately, we have this situation with John Black, where immediately he's put back on the other side, against Carrie--just circumstantially. What I can tell you is that that doesn't get any easier, as this case progresses...
Christie [Clark] and I talked about Austin and Carrie. They know that, in the fictional circumstances, they're going back to Salem, but they were actually very happy in Switzerland. They missed their lives, they missed their family, and they come back. And the case makes them stay. But they know what has happened in Salem. So I'll tell you what we kind of played underneath:
“Look, we're going to go back to Salem, and it's a crazy place, a lot of things happen. If anything happens, let's try to stay together. Or, not 'stay together,' but let's make the most of it. Because you know something is going to happen."
So then right away, we go into this situation, and so you will see them (with the circumstances of the case) go at each other, and kind of get pulled apart from each other, but when they're not in those circumstances, at the end of the day they are still in love with each other. So you watch them fight, to not let that affect their extreme love for each other. That's going to get harder and harder.
What's going to happen is that we're bouncing around (we didn't expect to stay in Salem) and our living situation gets a little crazy. I end up having to stay with Sami and Rafe. So obviously, the history with Sami is going to present itself, but it's not going to be the same old story. The fans aren't going to get a regurgitation. However, the history is definitely there, right?
WE LOVE SOAPS TV: Oh yeah!
Patrick Muldoon: That stuff is always present between Austin and Sami.
Rafe walks in--and it's a new relationship for me--we work together, and the characters like each other, and Rafe's character goes on the fence on this John Black thing, so it's kind of a feeling-out process. Like, what is the relationship between Austin and Rafe? Are these guys going to be friends or not? And we kind of get put into the incubator of having to live with Sami and Rafe in close quarters, and figure out what that relationship's going to be.
On a personal note, my buddy on the show is Galen [Gering]. The characters may start to become at odds, which is fun for us to play. He and I, after 30 seconds into our first scene, we were laughing our asses off. So it's always fun to work with Galen. We try to take that fun that we have between us, and get that into our scenes as much as possible.
WE LOVE SOAPS TV: You've done daytime, primetime, film, and you're the lead singer in a rock band. Is there something in the entertainment business you haven't done, that you really want to do?
Patrick Muldoon: On the side, I'm going in to cut a solo album, which I've already started to do. I've been in a band called "The Sleeping Masses" and I'm in the process this month of doing a solo record. So look for that, that will probably be out right around Christmas, or just after the first of the new year.
Now I can do it, but I was putting it off, because the DAYS schedule is so crazy. I didn't want to bite off more than I could chew. But that's what's coming up, on the side.
WE LOVE SOAPS TV: Thank you! Thank you so much.
Patrick Muldoon: You got it! Thank you, pleasure talking to you.
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Kevin Mulcahy Jr. is a Harvard alum who is currently working as a staff contributor at welovesoaps.com writing theater and web series reviews as well as other in-depth features. Read all his Web Series reviews here. To contact Kevin, email [email protected].
I can't believe it's been 16 years!
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