Christopher Marquette (ex-Gregory, ANOTHER WORLD, 1996-97)

One of the joys of this job is watching very young actors grow up on soaps and then become successful in other areas. I recently had the pleasure of chatting with the charming Christopher Marquette, whose star has risen thanks to his work in STRONG MEDICINE (where he recurs as Marc Delgado), The Girl Next Door (where he got to show off his comedic talents) and the recently cancelled JOAN OF ARCADIA, where he turned in a moving performance as tortured artist Adam Rove. Also, look for him in the near future on the big screen in the crime film, Alpha Dog, in which he stars with Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, Emile Hirsch and Justin Timberlake.

Meantime, Marquette is doing his best to stay grounded by volunteering for The Sunshine Foundation, The Cancer Society, Special Olympics and Pediatric AIDS and keeping close ties with his younger brothers, Sean (ex-Jamie, ALL MY CHILDREN; 13 Going On 30) and Eric, who both act. Plus, he called for this interview early — a rare occurrence, which is sure to make a good impression on any reporter.

Soap Opera Digest: Hello, Chris, how are you?
[Hears announcements in the background.] Where are you?
Christopher Marquette: The Denver airport. I’m actually on my way to New York in a little while.

Digest: Did you at least get to see any of Denver?
Marquette: No, but it looks nice based on the airport [laughs]. I am planning to come back to the area with some friends so I can see Colorado for real.

Digest: I’ve been there, and it’s beautiful. Meantime, great job on JOAN OF ARCADIA. I really enjoyed the show.
Marquette: Thanks. The hard part is when you look at its success in the first season compared to the second. It was so successful the first year, it makes it look as if there was a major drop in the ratings and not doing well at all, but the truth of the matter is it [was] still doing well.Digest: Plus, you and Amber [Tamblyn, Joan; ex-Emily, GENERAL HOSPITAL] worked well together.
Marquette: I have so much respect and admiration for her as an actor and friend. This is the longest that I’ve ever worked continuously with someone, so that means a lot to me. It’s a real treat for me because you don’t always get that when you work.

Digest: You guys have similar acting backgrounds, as well.
Marquette: We do. We both worked on soaps as kids, then went on to become nighttime TV stars. But she was on her show [GH] for much longer than I was on ANOTHER WORLD. She was an older teen by the time she left [in 2001].

Digest: Yeah, you were pretty young when you were on [AW]. What do you remember about it?
Marquette: I remember everyone being really nice to me. I also remember the fans and how devoted they were. I was in this storyline where my character ran away, then he was found, but he didn’t want to come home. I don’t remember why, but he was being really bratty [laughs]. After that, what was really weird was that I got a bunch of letters from fans saying, “How dare you do that to so-and-so!” They sounded very angry. But then at the end, the person would write, “P.S. You’re a great actor and I loved your scene with so-and-so.”

Digest: Soap fans are very passionate about the characters.
Marquette: They really are. My mom watched ALL MY CHILDREN for about 25 years before my brother [Sean] came on, and she watched ANOTHER WORLD for about three years before I came on, so for her to have kids on her two shows was crazy. She was like, “I thought I was the only one who got wrapped up in [soaps],” but it turned out she wasn’t. I don’t think the letters were vicious, though. My mom told me that I should take them as a compliment, which I did. I was flattered that they wrote to me.

Digest: Was it difficult doing a soap at such a young age?
Marquette: It was great because up until then, most of my work had been doing TV guest spots here and there. But then I was cast as part of this long-running core family, the Hudsons, and everyone there just really accepted me. I was a little confused, though, that I was replacing an actor who was a few years younger than me. I was about 11 when I came on, and I was like, “Wait, this kid I’m replacing is only 7 or 8.” Then the fans would ask me about that, too, and I wouldn’t know how to answer. They’d be like, “How do you explain [the age difference]?” and I’d be like, “I don’t know! I can’t explain it, either!”Digest: Soaps age characters all the time. Sean’s AMC character, Jamie, is now a young man in his 20s [and being portrayed by Justin Bruening].
Marquette: You’re kidding — no way!

Digest: He’s all grown up now.
Marquette: Wow, that’s unbelievable. I didn’t realize that they aged characters so much on soaps.

Digest: Your projects outside of JOAN sound really cool, especially your upcoming movie, Alpha Dog.
Marquette: It is interesting. I was actually just doing some reshoots. I don’t know if you’ve been hearing on the news recently, on DATELINE and stuff, but there was this fugitive named Jesse James Hollywood. He’s basically the youngest man, or kid, to be wanted by the FBI ever. He was on the [Most Wanted] list for the last five years and they actually just caught him. It’s a really weird coincidence because we were just finishing the movie when they caught him. I didn’t think they’d see him again. The director [Nick Cassavetes] interviewed everyone, all the witnesses, and then they caught him in Brazil.

Digest: Wow, that is really weird — talk about perfect timing. Who’s playing Jesse?
Marquette: Emile Hirsch, who I worked with in Girl Next Door. His dad is [played by] Bruce Willis. Sharon Stone is in it, too, as well as Ben Foster, a friend of mine who’s going to be one of the greatest actors in the world one day. Justin Timberlake plays my best friend.

Digest: Justin Timberlake, the rock star?

Marquette: Yeah, we had kind of a weird assortment of people. Fernando Vargas, who’s like [a professional] boxer, is in it, too. But it’s a really cool story, and everyone was talented and did a great job. Nick Cassavetes has become my hero, so it was an amazing experience.

Digest: How was it working with Emile again?
Marquette: Emile and I play completely different characters than we did in Girl Next Door, so it’s been interesting to work with him again. I like him a lot. It was comforting to have someone there who I already knew and worked with.

Digest: What aspect of the Jesse James case is being played out?
Marquette: It’s about these kids…. Jesse James Hollywood was the biggest marijuana supplier to San Fernando County and Los Angeles County, I guess, in 2000. He basically got in a feud with this guy over $2500. They ended up kidnapping this guy’s little brother and that’s where the story took place. In the end, the true story is the brother ended up getting killed. He was buried in this hike trail near Palm Springs. I play one of the kidnappers and one of the kids who went to jail for his murder.

Digest: That’s a really disturbing story.
Marquette: Well, what’s really weird is that this kid who was kidnapped was their friend, in a way. They all attached to him, they all hung out and went to parties and everyone liked him and that’s what’s so crazy about the story. You can’t believe that with how friendly they got with this kid; they actually took him up to this hike trail and took his life. A lot of the movie is these kids hanging out and it’s funny and fun, but there’s always that subtext: This kid is going to die. It’s sort of, “This is insane, I can’t believe it’s going to happen.” Definitely different from Girl Next Door.

Digest: That had to be intense to play.
Marquette: It was. It’ll be interesting to see how audiences receive it.

Digest: How’s the rest of your life going? Are you dating at all?
Marquette: Yes, I’ve been with my girlfriend for two years.

Digest: And how are your brothers doing? Do you guys have any plans to work together again in the near future?
Marquette: Oh, my God, I’d love to. I’m doing a horror movie with Crispin Glover and my brother, Eric, might do a small part in it. I’ve worked with Sean a few times. I worked with Eric twice when we were really young. I think it would be cool to work with him some more.Digest: You guys all resemble one another. That isn’t always the case with siblings.
Marquette: I know! In our first movie [Sweet Nothing], Sean and I played the same character, Richie, only he was my character younger. We’ve done a lot of commercials — and he’s played my character younger on STRONG MEDICINE, too. Whenever they need to cast someone older for him or younger for me, we go, “I’ve got an older brother!” or “I’ve got a younger brother!” Then we audition and they’re like, “Oh, wow.” What’s funny is that the older he’s getting, the more we’re starting to resemble each other. Recently, I cut my hair very short. His has been short and mine was long — this is the first time in awhile that I’ve had less than six or seven inches of hair on my head. I looked in the mirror and was like, “Oh, my God, I look almost exactly like Sean.” The hair makes it because our faces are similar. It’s so weird. It’s kind of a trip.

Digest: It’s nice that you’re all close.
Marquette: It is, and I know something great will come along for us.

Digest: I’m sure it will. It also sounds as if you already have some great things lined up. Meantime, I don’t want to make you miss your plane. Have a safe flight.
Marquette: I will — thanks!