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INTERVIEW

Quick Take With Donnell Turner

The five-year anniversary of your debut as Curtis is right around the corner on November 30. What would a young Donnell Turner, who was a GH fan sitting at home watching Luke and Laura, think about that? “Oh, young Donnell would love it! He would probably have dressed up as Curtis for Halloween, okay? So young Donnell would have been here for it. I can only imagine the way he loved Luke, he would have loved Curtis. It felt great and surreal then, when I started, and it feels great now and surreal now to have any kind of imprint or impact on such a long-running show. To be a part of it for five years, going into my sixth? I’m in graduate school now!”

Curtis has a new rival in town, Cyrus. What has working with his portrayer, Jeff Kober, been like? “He brings a real energy with him and I mean for me, personally — whatever I felt about him as a viewer, I tend to feel that as a co-worker. I’ve watched him my whole life, I feel like! It’s an honor to play with him and it’s just fun because he stirs up real emotion in me. There’s not a lot of acting, you know? It’s pretty organic working with him, and what a professional. There are a lot of good dynamics in the situation. Curtis is challenged by him. Cyrus is taunting him and he sees this guy kind of gaining power and confidence and it affects Curtis and he has to, in this case, play by the rules as much as possible because if he doesn’t, the consequences could be dire to his family and to Port Charles. Cyrus, without even directly confronting Curtis, has Curtis at bay — and he knows it.”

I have to say, I really enjoy how little Curtis hides his dislike for Valentin. I think the two of you are really fun together. “I do, too! It just makes so much sense to me to play it like, ‘This guy. This rich weakling.’ That’s how Curtis sees Valentin and the way he did his good friend Nina? There’s just no respect, man. [His attitude is], ‘Say what you’ve got to say and get out of my face.’ It is so much fun working with James [Patrick Stuart].”

Meanwhile, Trina feels about Curtis the way Curtis feels about Valentin! Tell me about working with Sydney Mikayla (Trina). “There are a lot of us on the show and we’re ships in the night, so we don’t see each other all the time. When I see Sydney, it’s usually to be yelled at! So, it’s kind of like, ‘Wait a minute!’ I have to separate r-e-e-l from r-e-a-l because in real life, this young lady doesn’t hate me. Sometimes, my natural instinct when I see her is to keep walking! But when we do stop and talk, she is so lovely and so friendly. We had a long talk yesterday, actually, about the voting episode, which I thought was just wonderful. I thought Sydney did a wonderful job. I just think she is fire! She is beautiful. Watching her grow, watching her develop, is so exciting. Good on GENERAL HOSPITAL for finding her and keeping her. It’s wonderful to work with her.”

There is a lot of fan speculation, given the history between Portia and Curtis, that Trina will turn out to be Curtis’s daughter. Would you welcome exploring the idea of Curtis as a dad? “I think if they go in that direction, it would be awesome. She’s a lovely young lady in real life and it would give them somewhere to go and would further establish this budding family in Port Charles. I think it would be a great move.”

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