“He’s a pot stirrer from day one,” says ONE LIFE TO LIVE head writer Dena Higley of Llanview’s new Dr. Feelgood, Spencer Truman.
“You could say he’s brilliant or he’s not too hard on the eyes, or he’s got kind of a possibly dangerous past,” agrees Spencer’s portrayer Paul Satterfield (ex-Paul, GENERAL HOSPITAL), whose fictional incarnation has already made himself quite at home at Llanview Hospital, at the Palace hotel’s restaurant, and quite possibly in the hearts of a few Llanview ladies — much to the dismay of men like Kevin and Todd.
And their concern might very well be justified! “Here’s this guy who comes in, wielding these God-like abilities to give and take life, and we see him start to wield those abilities and you realize he’s a force to be reckoned with,” explains Higley. “There’s just something [about] achieving the level of notoriety and ability that Spencer has, where he’s inventing things that save people’s lives. How could you not feel like you have the gift of giving and taking life? And if you can give life, why shouldn’t you make the call every once and awhile to take it?” Higley wonders.
“I’m not saying he’s a murderer,” Higley quickly larifies, “but I’m saying there gets to be a bit of Dr. Frankenstein at some point where you feel like you’re a little bit above the moral code that everybody else has to live by because of who you are and what you can do. So, that’s sort of where we’re going with him. That’s why we made him a doctor.”
And the good bedside manner and steady hands are just a side benefit. “He is going to cross over with Kelly in social situations,” teases Higley. “We see that he has interest in Blair; we see that he is tied to David.” Quite closely tied, as viewers recently learned the two charmers are brothers. “David’s sort of like the voice of the audience. ‘Spencer you’re up to something. You’ve come to town with an agenda, what is it?’ And it’s going to be a really long time before we find out what that agenda is,” promises Higley.
Satterfield echoes that assurance, telling Weekly, “The hardest thing is trying to establish a character and not give away everything.” Needless to say, there remains a lot of Spencer to keep close to the vest…er…the scrubs.
