Tom Pelphrey, who's winning rave reviews as slimy,snake-loving Jonathan on GUIDING LIGHT, didn't have to wait long to land his first job out of college.

"We had a showcase in March," explains the Rutgers graduate. "Through that, I met with Rob Decina," GL's casting director. "He called me a month later and said he had this part coming up and would I be interested? So I screen-tested. I was fortunate — right place, right time — and I got the part."

Luck didn't win him the role — talent did. But Pelphrey is too modest to admit that. He also felt instantly at ease when he tested opposite Kim Zimmer. "I hadn't watched the show at all. I was blown away when I went in there by how amazing she was," praises Pelphrey. "I was like, 'Wow, this is a lot like school.' To work off of her, it's a gift — she gives so much. Obviously, that's what any actor would want, a partner as good as Kim."

GL told Pelphrey little about Jonathan when he nabbed the role. "They gave me the background and the history of the character before I auditioned," he recalls. "Once I got the part, they told me a little bit about where they were going to take him and the kind of things I'd be doing. I thought it was important that he not wear his heart on his sleeve. But I had to show what kind of pain and depravity he was in, to justify the terrible things he was doing. He's not a monster, he's just a kid."

Yeah, a bad kid! Pelphrey is bracing for the fan mail. "I gather I'm messing with just about the most adored people on the show," he shudders.