Weekly: Was it a treat for the kids (12-year-old Laura and 10-year-old Philip) to see dad?
James: Yeah. Of course I look like their brother (laughs). Weekly: Do you still get recognized as Jeff?
James: Yeah, but not like it was back then. It was like bombs going off. It was hysteria. It was like, “Oh, my God, Jeff Colby!” Now it is like, “Did you…Are you…Jeff?” They look and think: No, it couldn’t be. Or they’ll ask me if I’m from their hometown (laughs). That is where it is now and that’s OK. Believe me, there is something to losing one’s anonymity and Dynasty was, for all practical purposes, a publicity agent’s dream show. That was the hard part. It wasn’t the filming, which were certainly long days. It was all the stuff that went along with it — the parties, talk shows, photo shoots on your days off, things like that. There was such a demand not only nationally but internationally. There were only three networks, and a small audience for us would be 30 million people. We were thrown off the air with 29.
That is part of the reason I moved where I did. I wanted to play. I needed to indulge in things that I wanted to do, which was live in the country and start a family. I had to do it. I made a lot of money, saved it and decided to work on my terms. I wouldn’t do this [role] if it were in L.A. I just couldn’t be away from my family. Weekly: You have a farm in upstate New York?
James: Yes, 200 and something acres outside of Saratoga Springs. It’s my little paradise. When we want to we jump in the car and go over to Lake George. Weekly: What projects have you been doing since Dynasty left the airwaves?
James: I did a movie, Icebreaker, with Sean Astin and it was filmed in Vermont. I drove my pickup truck to work. I thought: Well good, Hollywood is coming to me!
