Michael Park

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SOAP STAR STATS

Michael Park (Jack, ATWT)

Vital Statistics

The 411

Michael Park was a "rambunctious" child who grew up with a brother and two sisters in Canandaigua, NY. He attended Nazareth College in Rochester, NY, with the goal of being an architect, until his girlfriend (and future wife) Laurie persuaded him to try out for musical-theater roles, and he began to pursue acting as a profession. After doing local theater and a national tour, he moved to New York City, where he worked steadily in theater. When the quirky prime-time soap 13 BOURBON ST., in which he was to star, wasn't picked up in 1997, he joined AS THE WORLD TURNS as brooding former FBI agent Jack Snyder. Immediately embraced by co-stars, he also enjoyed instant popularity with fans, even more so after his character was paired with Maura West's Carly. Now firmly established on the show, Park is known for his rousing performances of everyone from Elvis to Barry Manilow at fan events, and counts several of his castmates among his closest friends, who have taken to joking about his continued and notorious insecurity. "He's probably the hardest-working person in the building, and he's so critical of himself. To see somebody suffer like that sometimes can be very funny," Martha Byrne (Lily) has said. "It's a horrible thing to say, but you can only tell him 1,000 times how wonderful he is."

Park and Laurie live with their children in upstate New York. In his free time, Park enjoys playing golf, often with co-star Jon Hensley (Holden) and Byrne's husband, Michael McMahon. He was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 2001.

Et Cetera

Five Random Facts
—Majored in studio art in college
—Has a joker tattoo on one ankle and the Japanese symbol for father, along with his children's names, on the other
—Is friends with James Van Der Beek (of DAWSON'S CREEK fame)
—Originally auditioned for the role of Paul Ryan
—Has a large headshot of former co-star Scott Holroyd (ex-Paul) hanging on his dressing room wall

Career Highlights

Theatre
Regional stage:
Ken Hill's Phantom Of The Opera (Raoul, National Tour)
Ellen Universe Joins The Band (Bobby)
Peephole (John)
Shenandoah (James)
Good News (Tom)
It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's Superman (Superman)
Chess (Freddie)
Into The Woods (Cinderella's Prince)
A Chorus Line (Bobby/Don)
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum (Hero)
New York City stage:
Milk And Honey (David, off-Broadway)
Hello Again (College Boy, Lincoln Center)
Carousel (understudy for Billy, Lincoln Center)
Smokey Joe's Cafe (original cast, Broadway)
Violet (Monty, off-Broadway)
Little Me (Lucky, Broadway)
Bloomer Girl (City Center's Encores)

Memorable Quotes

JOB SECURITY
"I could be working at McDonald's tomorrow, for all you know. That's why you have to keep your wits about you. You can't afford to be cocky. You're only worth what you are today." — Soap Opera Digest, 12/29/98

"Matt Crane [ex-Matt, AW et al] would be a good Jack. I'm a big fan." — on his potential recast, Digest, 12/5/00

SEX APPEAL
"The sexiest thing to me is a woman going out to dinner and eating a steak, having a Murphy's Stout and smoking a cigar. That is a sexy woman to me, one who knows what she wants. Laurie can do that." — Digest, 1/25/00

"The sexiest thing about me is when I remember to put the garbage out on Tuesday and Friday night." — Digest, 4/11/06

THE CARLY ANGLE
"My job is to memorize the stuff that's on this paper [holding up his script] and try to make it as believable as possible. Unfortunately, going one way or another sometimes isn't that interesting. Staying in the middle and upsetting a few people, that's intriguing. It's a loaded question to try and pick one." — on Carly vs. Julia, Digest, 12/5/00

"Let's face it — without Carly, there is no Jack." — Digest, 6/17/03

You Should Hear What People Say About You!

If I'm as funny as he is in my life, I'm very happy. He's the funniest person ever — ever — to watch work. The crew loves him. That's the kind of impression I'd like to leave with the crew: 'Gosh, she made us laugh.' He's the kind of guy you want around. He makes everything better, no matter what's going on." — Martha Byrne (Lily), Digest, 8/3/04

"I know that sounds trite, but it's not. I'm telling you, I will live longer because of the amount of laughs that I've had. You know that feeling, when you're really laughing? That doesn't happen, I don't think, for most people a lot. It happens to me every day. True, honest laughing." — Maura West (Carly), Digest, 12/13/05

Memorable Exchanges

Mark Collier (pretending to introduce himself to Scott Holroyd, ex-Paul, because their characters had never met): Hi! How you doing? I'm Mark. I play Mike Kasnoff.
Michael Park: He goes around telling that to people in bars, too. He goes, "Hi, I'm Mike Kasnoff. And your name's Trixie?" And then, "Hey Scott, guess who I met last night at Brother Jimmy's? Trixie — she was really intellectual."
Collier: Don't get me started on your wife.
Park: What are you gonna say about my wife? You've met my wife how many times? All of once.
Collier: That you know of.
Park: She doesn't like short guys.
Collier: She likes guys with hair, though.
Park: Oh-ho! I'm not too sure she does — she's been with me for years!
— from "Guys Gone Wild," Digest, 1/7/03

Soap Opera Weekly: What were your first impressions of each other?
Jon Hensley: I have to try to think if I even had an impression.
Park: You probably didn't. You know, I had known Martha [Byrne, Lily] for a while before I came on the show.
Hensley: You did?
Park: Yeah. I partied with her a couple of times, and your wife [Kelley Menighan Hensley, Emily], for that matter.
Hensley: Let me just say I saw the auditions. He wasn't at the top of my list [smiles].
— "The Godfathers," Soap Opera Weekly, 5/9/06

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