Rodney Chats About His Character
Up until this point, T.C. Russell has been a warm, understanding family man with a temper (put him in a room with Julian and the testosterone takes a scary turn). He’s also been kind of clueless, but this week everything changes. Chad’s paternity tests are in, Eve is acting strange -- and T.C. begins to put two and two together. He realizes that Eve and Julian might have had a fling. He realizes that the fling may have produced a son. And he realizes that if that son is Chad, Whitney might be -- gulp -- dating her half-brother! It’s a sticky situation, and Rodney Van Johnson (T.C.) couldn’t be happier that his alter ego is finally wising up and taking action. “One of the running jokes that Dana [Sparks; Grace] and I have is that we always think we know but we never really know,” the actor laughs. “Being clueless for almost a year-and-a-half is what we’ve been used to doing, so now it’s really exciting for me as an actor to say, ‘Wow, I can really let go.’” And one thing’s for sure: when T.C. “lets go,” no one wants to be standing in his path.
Digest Online: What does T.C. attribute Eve’s anxiety to when he’s not quite sure what’s going on with her?
Van Johnson: T.C. is so whipped -- in a good way -- by his wife and by his family and the love that he has that he just believes. He honestly believes his wife and honestly believes that everything is true and good. I mean, if she says the sky is falling, he doesn’t really have to look up because he doesn’t have any reason to question Eve. But then it’s like, “Wait a minute. All these things have been staring me in the face. Have I been so much in love and so naive that I haven’t really seen what’s going on around me?” And I just got a hint that Charity was doing something in hell to provoke me, which even works better. So it’s like, “Wait a minute. This explains this and that and that. Maybe I’m reaching, but maybe I’m not. Maybe all these things that I’ve suspected are true.” That’s when I go on my crusade to find out what the truth is.
Digest Online: It must be exciting to finally be able to confront other characters -- it’s about time!
Van Johnson: It is, and there were some very emotional moments because I didn’t want to give it all away, and when you’ve been knowing what’s going on for 20 months and then get to come out with it it’s very challenging. There were some moments there that I really could have played pure anger, but I didn’t want to do that. I played a softer side, because one of the things I don’t want to do is show abusive behavior to [T.C.’s] wife. T.C. does have a temper, but that’s a fine line I spoke to the producers about: I can’t beat everybody and beat up my wife [Laughs].
Digest Online: What does T.C. make of Eve’s fainting in the hospital -- and then saying Julian’s name?
Van Johnson: That’s when he starts to think about flashbacks and the whole baby thing he’s heard before. He was always say, “Yeah, right, right,” but now he’s thinking, “Maybe I’m the fool.” And T.C.’s not gonna be the fool. I’m going to find out what’s going on and if what I find out is true, I’m gonna rip Julian apart. That’s the whole dynamic of T.C.’s love for his wife: he blames Julian; he still doesn’t blame Eve. He loves this woman deeply and she can do no wrong.
Digest Online: Would T.C. be capable of killing Julian?
Van Johnson: Oh, absolutely. He has murder in him. T.C. loves his family so much, and that’s really, really important. I just can’t say how much [Creator/Head Writer] Jim Reilly’s been on [target] with the African American feelings for their family. We would do anything for our family, and that shows, so if T.C. felt his family was threatened, he would [kill Julian] -- almost like a little Sopranos type thing [Laughs].
Digest Online: Do you think T.C. is influenced right now by what he sees in Sam and Grace’s marriage, in that a couple that has been together for so long is shattered?
Van Johnson: Yeah, it shakes him up a whole lot because T.C. has known Sam all of his life and his emotional alliance really lies with Sam. But T.C., as much as he has strong feelings for Sam, says, “I don’t know if I could forgive it. I don’t know if I could move on [in Grace’s position].” So now that he has seen his best friend’s marriage in shambles because of a lie, it will be very hard for T.C. to move on. But those are the dynamics that I would love to see play out: confession and forgiveness.
Digest Online: What scares T.C. the most about the possibility of Chad being Eve’s son: that Julian might be the father or that Whitney could be dating her half-brother?!
Van Johnson: He is sickened by the half-brotherness, because it’s really weird [Laughs]. He has strong feelings for [Chad] because he is a good guy and he’s got good intentions, but now this good guy that I like so much could be Whitney’s half-brother. I’m at the point now where I’m like, “It can’t be too bad to have Whitney and Chad together, but if I find out that these two are related, we gotta do something about it.” He goes to them, but he does it in a very awkward way. Our guys do a fantastic job on the music -- I mean, a phenomenal job -- and I hope that it plays that way, because I made it light and awkward. I’m asking questions, but you can tell that it’s in an amusing, funny way. If Chad [does wind up being a Russell], I really think T.C. would move out.
Digest Online: Did you enjoy playing the scenes in which T.C. went into a rage and got to pummel Julian?
Van Johnson: It is enjoyable, but there’s a fine line between coming off super-crazy and just being angry! I’ll be honest with you, sometimes I get so light-headed from letting my blood rise at “5-4-3-2-1” that I really almost pass out! I get so infused because I’m thinking about everything, and when you’re angry you’re still acting and trying to get good camera angles, and listening to the stunt coordinators say, “OK, choke here and twist here and punch him now...” Each time I get enraged I like to be completely different. I don’t want people to just tune in and say, “Oh, he’s gonna go off again.”
Digest Online: How do you think T.C. has changed as a character since Passions began?
Van Johnson: My storyline is starting to pick up now, and whenever that happens [the audience] gets to see more sides of you. I mean, for the first 17-18 months it was pretty much the same: he was always there for everybody. Now it’s turned and we see more layers to him, and that’s the way soaps are: you have 20-something people on the show and everybody has to have their three to four months of storyline. I’d really, really love for all this to explode and for Grace and I to have moments of talking about forgiveness and moving forward. I think that would be another element to T.C.’s growth: having more dialogue with Grace, because there’s a lot going on and a lot that we don’t know.
Digest Online: Is it strange for you to play a father to teenage daughters when your own son is so young?
Van Johnson: Not really, because even though I don’t look it, I am old enough to have teenage daughters [Laughs]. I’m very, very protective of Lena [Cardwell; Simone] and Brook [Kerr; Whitney], and I’m more protective of Lena because Brook is a grown woman with a family. But when I see people looking at them differently; I’m like, “Man, that’s my daughter!” [Laughs] That’s the whole thing with the African American community too: everybody’s a brother or sister, so they are definitely my family and I’d do anything for them. I do get jealous and I do get protective and try to watch out for them.
