Good Night, And Good Luck Page 2
Digest: Toward the end, Phillip really did kind of go nuts.
Aleksander: But I cheated a little at the end of the story. I had a long day where I was doing a videotaped reading of the will, and even though Phillip was pretty much out of his mind by then, I read the will straight because I really wanted the last that people saw of me playing the character to be the character that they had seen for so many years. It was a little bit of a fudge, but I thought it was worth doing, and nobody had any problem with me doing it that way. And I also thought it sort of … well, as far as I was concerned, the character was dead, but it also kind of left the door open.Digest: As of your last day, did you know Phillip was still alive?
Aleksander: No. Digest: But what about that scene you taped that established that he wasn’t dead?
Aleksander: That was shot as part of a fantasy at some point during my last few months on the show, I’m not sure when. And I’m not sure if they always planned to use it [to show that Phillip was alive], or if they just realized after the fact that they could do that.Digest: But didn’t you ever think, “Hmm, why hasn’t that fantasy scene aired yet?”
Aleksander: Not really, because we shoot stuff that doesn’t air all the time, particularly fantasy scenes. They can be a good idea, but if a show runs long, they’re the first things that get cut.Digest: Well, how clever.
Aleksander: Oh, once I was gone, I thought it was a very good idea.Digest: So how did you find out Phillip wasn’t dead, after all?
Aleksander: They called and asked me if I would come back to the show. They said they had this story they wanted to tell and that it had always been their intention that the character would be alive.Digest: How long after the fact did you get that call?
Aleksander: I don’t remember, but it was a very short period of time afterward. It was such a short period of time, in fact, that I thought they were calling about something else. I thought they wanted to negotiate my flashback fee down so they could use more old footage of me as the story went on. We laughed about that.Digest: Why didn’t you go back?
Aleksander: I’ve been enjoying doing all the things that I hadn’t been able to do for a long time. The show was great and I made a lot of lasting friendships there and I have great memories of it, but I spent a lot of time physically there, and there were a lot of things that I just couldn’t find the time or the energy to do. Like I had wanted to direct for a long time; I was always talking about doing it, but it just never got done. Digest: Since then, how many times has GL tried to get you back?
Aleksander: Oh, I don’t think it would be fair to say. That would … I don’t know [laughs] … You can ask someone else, but I’m not going to say.Digest: Is it fair to say they’ve tried more than once?
Aleksander: Yes.
Digest: Are you ever tempted?
Aleksander: It depends what kind of mood I’m in, you know? There’s a part of me that thinks, “Oh, man, I miss seeing Mikey [O’Leary, Rick] and Ron [Raines, Alan] and Justin [Deas, Buzz] and the guys on the crew.” But when I think about it practically, I really like the way my life is now. I like having time to do other things and I’m … It’s just not something that I can see myself going back to in the same way that I did it before.Digest: Inevitably, some people have said you won’t go back because of sour grapes.
Aleksander: No, absolutely not. I don’t get that. What exactly would I be sour about? I’ve got a wonderful life that was set up, at least financially, by the years I spent on the show. I made good, lasting friendships. And I have very good memories of my time there. There’s stuff I would have done differently, of course, and people who I didn’t enjoy working with as much, but that’s true of anywhere you are. I guess people can say what they want, but I love the show and I hope people continue to watch it. What kind of person would I be if I didn’t care about the well-being of this show, which has been so good to me and which supports the lives of so many people who I care about?Digest: Would you go back if you knew for sure that it would goose the ratings?
Aleksander: I can guarantee you that my going back to the show would not affect the ratings.Digest: So they could bring John Bolger [ex-Phillip] back and do just as well?
Aleksander: That’s right.Digest: Is it fair to say you haven’t ruled out a return to the show?
Aleksander: I don’t rule out anything. I make no pretensions about being able to predict the future. You can go nuts doing that. Digest: Mmm.
Aleksander: And I’m not being disingenuous at all, I’m really not. You know, I’m 45 years old and I’ve lived through enough ups and downs to know that the old line is very true: “Life’s what happens while you’re making your plans.” I just don’t want to be one of those people who, when I look back at the end of my time here, thinks, “Man, I was so busy trying to figure out what I was gonna do next that I was never really present at any moment in my life.” I don’t want to feel that way.This article originally appearred in the May 9, 2006 issue of Soap Opera Digest.
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. Soap Opera Digest does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.