White-Hot Light
Question: Did you inherit the beginning of this Sandy/Jonathan storyline from the previous regime?
Wheeler: No. What I inherited was that Sandy was here. That’s how much we inherited. Had the groundwork been laid in for the possibility that Sandy was not Reva’s son? Yes. Had that Question ever been answered in any satisfactory way? I don’t think it had. Was the idea of bringing in a Jonathan toyed with before I came? I think it was. This story developing in this way with Tammy was completely something that happened afterward. That was not conceived [before].
Question: Did you have any reservations about going forward with Jonathan sleeping with Tammy?
Wheeler: We picked this story because we wanted to pick a way for this boy to get back at Reva and Sandy, and Edmund even. But [we didn’t want him to] just come in and burn down the house. We wanted him to do something that hurt them on a deep emotional level, rather than just come in and punch somebody in the face. We said, “If Tammy is the person who is connected to all of them, in hurting her hurts them all.”
Question: What elements did you need to make this story work?
Wheeler: We felt like we needed to have a Jonathan who could pull off being this truly despicable. The whole thing is so despicable. Just hiding from people and being in town and watching them is despicable. We felt like we needed to have someone who could pull that off and [hold] his weight against Reva. It’s hard to stand up against Kim Zimmer. She can eat you alive in a scene.
Question: When you cast Tom Pelphrey, did you know immediately that he was the right person for the role?
Wheeler: He is phenomenal, isn’t he? We’re so lucky. Yeah, we did. I don’t think there was a Question about it. At the same time we found our Coop (John Driscoll), in that same casting session. So it was a phenomenal casting session for us. We couldn’t be happier. Between Coop, Jonathan and Sandy (Scott Bailey), they are all three so different from each other, and that’s such a nice group of young boys to have on your canvas. We’re feeling blessed.
Question: Can Jonathan be redeemed?
Wheeler: We have redeemed characters from much worse things than this in soap operas. Do I think Jonathan could be redeemed from it? Certainly. Would I want to do that right away? Absolutely not. I love watching him like this.
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.