ABC
Carly helped take care of John after he was jumped in the alley.
GENERAL HOSPITAL’s John and Carly shared an unexpected night together when she played nursemaid after stopping an attack on the FBI agent. Digest caught up with Agent Cates’ portrayer, Adam J. Harrington, to get the scoop on who John thinks may be behind the attack and his surprising connection with Carly.
Who does John suspect was behind his assault? “So far, John doesn’t have an idea, or isn’t making public that he has any ideas, of who caused the beating. But he does suspect that it was not a mugging. He’s a good FBI agent. There’s any number of people that he is suspecting right now, but he hasn’t narrowed it down.”
Do you think John was surprised that Carly is the one who took care of him after all that? “That’s a great question. I hadn’t thought of this. I’m guessing John really wasn’t thinking about it [being Carly] at the time. He was just kind of in crisis. One of the things I loved about that whole night was that it’s kind of like a moment out of time. He’s not driving FBI plot; she’s not trying to figure out information. There was no agenda. They were both kind of protected. She’s protected from him, he’s not in a power position. You know, he was vulnerable and protected from her. There was no one for her to keep safe or hide details from. And what do you do when you’re thrown into a situation with somebody where you’re just going to have to be sitting with them for 24 hours [laughs]? I thought it was written in a way where there’s an understanding and a respect between them both. I don’t think there was any moment where she was not aware that he’s an FBI agent, and there was no moment that he wasn’t aware of her history and relationship to other people in the town. I really liked it. I was really looking forward to shooting it with Laura [Wright, Carly] and we had a really nice time shooting it.”
You had your first “shirtless soap opera scene” as well. “What I loved about it, which is different, is there’s absolutely nothing between Carly and John about the fact that he suddenly appears in a towel. It’s kept rather business-like. I think it was a nice show of respect from John to Carly, given how much she helped him that night. I thought about it as we were shooting. If he came out in a towel and tried to [hit on her], after what they’ve been through, it would feel so disrespectful to what’s happening. But what I loved was at the end of the scene, the truly most vulnerable and intimate they are, is when they know they’re parting ways.”
Yes, when they are saying goodbye at the door. “Isn’t that interesting that sometimes with people, the one moment they actually show how they feel is when they know there’s an escape hatch. They know they’re about to walk away. So, it’s almost safe in that moment to do it. I thought that was really special about how [the writers] handled John and Carly. Even the music in that scene was beautifully done.”
Over the next few episodes, they start to grow closer a little bit. Does John start to see a different side to her? “Well, again, what I loved about the scene was that it’s kind of a moment out of time. The reality right now is all kinds of stuff is going down with Sonny, Jason’s back, she’s recently broke up with Drew… and they do grow somewhat closer.”
Do you see a scenario where maybe John will be torn professionally and personally with Carly? “Oh, that’s already happened. I mean, the history with Jason and what’s gone on in the last two years… who Carly was to John on paper as just a tool to be used as bait is starting to get very complicated.”
