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General Hospital Interviews!
Catching Up with
Bradford Anderson (Spinelli)
By
Laurie Bedigian
4/5/08
April 5, 2008 was a big day in Southeast Michigan. Over a dozen daytime
stars came to town for the “Touched By A Star” charity event held at
Villa Penna banquet center in Sterling Heights, a suburb of Detroit.
The “Touched by A Star” charity was created to help children and their
families with all aspects of terminal illnesses such as cancer.
Josephine Vitale who lost her 13-year-old son, Angelo, to cancer, set up
the foundation. The actors in attendance included: Bradford Anderson,
Matthew Ashford, Brandon Barash, Josh Duhon, Tyler Christopher, Steve
Burton, BethAnn Bonner, Derk Cheetwood, Drew Cheetwood, Ambyr Childers,
Jason Gerhardt, Carolyn Hennesy, Kim McCullough, Cynthia Preston,
Sebastian Roché, and Ignacio Serricchio.
I had the privilege of interviewing Bradford Anderson while he was in
town for the event. Even though he was pressed for time, Bradford took
a few minutes to sit down with me and answer some questions. Bradford
is incredibly unique. He made me feel like talking with me was the most
important part of his day. Bradford was interesting, funny, and very
sweet. He was an absolute joy to talk with and someone I won’t soon
forget. Here’s what Bradford had to say:
1. In our last interview, you said you wouldn’t be doing much of anything
if you weren’t an actor. Seriously, you seem really intelligent. What
else are you good at? Were you good in school?
Basically what happened is in college or leading up to college, I
never found myself interested in anything else. I was a pretty good
student actually. I excelled at things that I did. I was good at math
but I didn’t stand out as a math student. I got A's but it wasn’t my
passion. I was top five in my class. I was good at stuff but I never
said “This is something not only am I good at it, but I would love to do
it for the rest of my life.”
2. Did you always want to be an actor?
When my sister and I were both very young, we were involved in
Community Theater. Being from central New Hampshire, no one gets on that
career path at a young age, because there’s just nowhere to go. There’s
not a regular pattern of people that do that. You don’t have any role
models. There’s no formula for it. You can’t be a child actor in New
Hampshire, let’s say. So it was just something I did as an
extracurricular. When I got involved in high school, it just kind of
stuck.
3. Is it true that your mom didn’t let you watch soap operas growing
up?
No, I wasn’t allowed to. There were two things - there were soap
operas and MTV. My mom is not overbearing or terribly strict. I think
she watched a Madonna video once, so she thought all videos were sex, and
she thought soap operas were all sex. I don’t think she grew up with
soap operas. Maybe her mother instilled that in her mind. But now my
mom watches soaps everyday.
4. The fans love you and find you so funny. Are you surprised at how
popular your character has become?
I hope they do. It’s so different. I’ve gotten used to it now. I
continue to be grateful that they haven’t gotten tired of me. At first
it was great they could accept something a little different, and now it’s
great they aren’t getting tired of it. I’m still incredibly grateful
for all the support.
5. When you first came on, Spinelli was a smart guy who just talked a
little strange, then you added the comedic element and made him so
loveable. How much freedom do you have with the character as far as
what you say and do?
It depends … sometimes we’ll try things out in rehearsal that may
deviate from what has been planned. We have very talented writers and
very talented directors, so I’m always in great hands. In the rare
occasion that I have a great idea, they allow me to go for it. Most of
the time, I’m just heeding the good advice of the directors and the
writers.
6. Talk a little about when Spinelli lost his clothes – was it strange
for you to be so exposed?
It was a little strange. I had these little briefs on. It was funny
- these people I work side by side with everyday - and not really
thinking about it until all of a sudden I was up there naked before
them. It was quite an experience.
7. Do you think Spinelli will ever have a real relationship with a
woman?
I hope so. I think everyone understands that Spinelli does have a
big heart. Of course, whatever he does, humor will be mixed into it
simply because that’s how it happens. I hope he does have the
opportunity to really explore a mutual relationship. Who knows to what
extent it will be. I think it’s maybe the next step for that character
to get a better idea of who he is.
8. Do you watch your own work?
Sometimes. When I watch it it’s very technical. It’s like drawing a
picture with your eyes closed, and then two weeks later someone shows it
to you. It’s kind of fascinating to watch, because from my inner eye
it’s hard for me to see. I try not to watch too much, because I don’t
want to pick apart what I’m doing. I want everything I do to be as
organic as possible, but at the same time sometimes it’s fun to see how
things actually went. Because when you see them, it’s a lot different
than when you actually were doing them.
9. You’re on the Emmy pre-nomination list. How does that feel?
I am. It’s incredible because especially for the pre-nominations
it’s all from your show. It’s the people I respect and admire – my
co-workers. The pre-nomination is really gratifying, because it’s your
peers saying, “We think you did something good this year,” and that’s
really gratifying.
10. Do people approach you in public – outside of the fan events?
Rarely … because we’re in Los Angeles, and no one cares (laughs). In
Los Angeles it’s not a big deal. Even if they do recognize you, they’re
like, “Oh, there’s that funny-looking kid from GH.” They have no reason
to talk to you, because Hugh Jackman will walk down the street next.
It’s not a novelty – they see people that they recognize all the time.
In New York and Los Angeles, they’re used to seeing people that they
recognize.
11. I love your version of Funny Valentine - Is that the kind of music
you like?
I like all music. I came from musical theater - singing standards,
singing old Broadway - that is something I’m very comfortable doing.
That song particularly was interesting, because recording a song is very
different than belting it to the back row. I’ve never had the
opportunity to nuance a love song like that. I think it was an
interesting choice. The funny thing is, it’s one of the most depressing
songs. It’s not like a funny, happy song; it’s not a Spinelli song.
I’m not sure if that was intentional, or if they kind of just picked it
because of the title. It was new for me to do that too. I’m used to
doing comic up tempos. I’m so thrilled that I got the opportunity to do
that.
12. I thought your performance on Broadway for the Broadway Cares AIDS
Event was amazing. You belong on the stage. What was that like for
you?
It was really cool just to kind of do a tribute to Lindsey. I love
being there. I love being on the small screen too; that’s fun too. The
cool thing about our medium is that we have a lot of the freedom.
There’s a kinship to stage work in daytime that I really appreciate.
It’s always interesting to meet an actor from a daytime soap. What
really made this opportunity special for me was to learn how modest and
grounded Bradford Anderson is. He’s an incredibly talented and
intelligent young man.
Laurie
To learn more about Touched By A Star, visit
http://www.touchedbyastar.org/index.htm
(Click on the photo for a high-resolution
version)
Visit the Official Bradford Anderson Website!
Read all of
Laurie Bedigian's
celebrity interviews:
Melissa Archer (ex-Natalie, OLTL)
10/21/12
Sean Kanan (Deacon, Y&R) 11/20/11
Greg Cipes (JT, GH)
9/5/11
Colin Egglesfield (ex Josh, AMC)
9/4/11
Brad Maule (Dr.
Tony Jones, GH) 12/13/09
Tim Gibbs (ex-Kevin, OLTL)
11/7/09
Louise Shaffer
(Rae Woodard, Ryan's Hope) 10/23/09
Tobias Truvillion (Vincent,
OLTL)
8/14/09
Brian Gaskill (Rafe, Port Charles;
ex-Bobby, AMC) 7/24/09
Catherine Hickland (Lindsay, OLTL) 4/12/09
Senta Moses (Winnifred, GH) 2/15/09
Blake Gibbons (Coleman, GH) 12/5/08
Brad Maule (Dr. Tony Jones, GH) 11/23/08
Graham Shiels (Cody, GH) 11/19/08
Bradford Anderson (Spinelli, GH) 4/5/08
Bradford Anderson (Spinelli, GH) 1/11/08
Back to the Main GH Q&A Page
Back to the Main General Hospital Page
Page updated 7/23/12
 
  
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