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Soap Opera Digest Online
Life's good these days for SEAN KANAN (Jude, Sunset Beach). He's got a new soap job as Sunset Beach's resident mysterious stranger, and will soon take on the real-life role of husband when he gets married on September 26. If that's not enough, the actor has completed work on two new movies, Chaos Factor with Fred Ward, and Chump Change with Robert Wagner. The latter is being submitted to the Sundance Film Festival for consideration. "I've been stretching my wings a bit," smiles the actor.
Understandably, these days seem a few light years away from 1997 when Kanan was abruptly let go from General Hospital after four years with the show. He played the plum part of the troubled alcoholic A.J. Quartermaine, a role now played by Billy Warlock. But Kanan now has the chance to do something on Beach that he never had the opportunity to do on the stellar GH, and that is originate a role. With the intriguing Jude, the actor has landed one of those treasured daytime characters who is hard to get a handle on. "I just think Jude is such a cool guy," observes Kanan. "He's tough and he's smart and he seems to have his hands in a lot of cookie jars." Perhaps one too many. Below, Kanan talks about hitting the Beach.
DIGEST ONLINE: So how different are the Sunset Beach and GH work experiences for you?
KANAN: The nice thing is we work a lot less hours, which I love. Other than that, a great cast and fun people so it's very similar. I even work with some of the same directors I worked with at General Hospital.
DIGEST ONLINE: What do you like about this mysterious guy Jude?
KANAN: The one thing I love about this character is the overall concept that I'm having the chance to originate a character. Whereas I loved playing A.J. Quartermaine [on General Hospital], it was a great character, well written but I was one of many to play him. It's funny, I was reading one of the soap magazines and they had a list of all the actors who have played A.J., including Billy Warlock, it's like one, two, three ... something like five actors who played him. So make it or break it, this is my opportunity to put my signature on a character. The thing I love about the character is he's obviously got some huge secret. Hey, something we don't see a lot in soaps: a mysterious stranger blows into town with some secret. [Laughs] I don't even know what the secret is yet. I'm as much in the dark as the characters I interact with and the audience who watches it... I love that the writers have thrown me with a lot of different women on the show. I was just watching the air show today and bar none, we have the most beautiful women on TV on our show. I'm really having a good time working with all of them: Kam Heskin [ who plays Caitlin], Sarah Buxton [Annie] and Shawn Batten [Sara]. I don't know which way it's going to go. Even [Executive Producer] Gary Tomlin doesn't know which way it's going to go.
DIGEST ONLINE: Jude is definitely one of those soap characters who keeps us guessing. Not only don't we know what he's really up to, but like you said we don't know which woman he's going to end up with. Jude and Annie have some sparks, though.
KANAN: Oh, yes. Sarah is great to work with. She has a real strong comedic instinct and I think it's always interesting when you take a person who is a physically attractive person, which she is, she's beautiful [and have them be funny]. It's not so much the looks you play into, but you play the whole loopy comedic thing she's got going on.
DIGEST ONLINE: Do you like doing comedy?
KANAN: I love doing comedy. As a matter of fact, I still do stand-up comedy.
DIGEST ONLINE: I'm always curious about people who do stand-up in that it's probably one of the most intimidating and scary occupations you could tackle, in my opinion.
KANAN: It's definitely scary, but I've been doing it since I was 15 and I just love it.
DIGEST ONLINE: What attracted you to it?
KANAN: I'm not sure what initially did. I went to a club when I was about 15 and saw some guys perform and was immediately enamored with it and started to work on a routine and got it done. I just love the repartee when you are making an audience laugh and you're in the groove. It allows me to get some political and social commentary so I'm speaking my own lines... Dennis Miller and Jay Mohr are two of my favorite stand-ups.
DIGEST ONLINE: And you just finished a comedic film, we hear?
KANAN: I just finished a feature film and it's the first comedy I've done. A lot of times when you're the guest star on a sitcom, you're really playing straight man to the star of the show. I was just in Las Vegas and I ran into Tony Danza. I had worked with him on Who's The Boss? We were talking about that. Generally, when you come on as a guest, you're there to set the jokes up, and the star's there to knock it down. So doing this feature film, Chump Change, I got the chance to play this great character, a smarmy BMW salesman with a gambling problem but a heart of gold. Someone you can't help but like. It was just a ton of fun. I hope at some point the [Sunset Beach] writers allow me to start bringing that aspect of my personality to the character. I don't know yet necessarily if that is the character but we'll see.
DIGEST ONLINE: I could see you making Jude a fun, mischievous fella, someone you love to hate which are always the best.
KANAN: I've always said the death on a soap is playing a good guy. It's a hard row to hoe.
DIGEST ONLINE: What else were you up to while away from daytime?
KANAN: I just finished another film with Fred Ward, Antonio Sabato, Jr. [ex-Jagger, GH] and Kelly Rutherford (ex-Megan, Melrose Place; ex-Sam, Generations) called Chaos Factor. I play a CIA agent who has gone bad. I'm going to go in tomorrow to do looping on that one, so it probably will come out in about three months.
DIGEST ONLINE: So you've been busy. And congratulations on your upcoming wedding. You're wife-to-be is a psychotherapist, so you'll be able to get free advice whenever you want.
KANAN: [Laughs] It's definitely interesting. It's like she lives with a petri dish. I'm like her doctoral dissertation.
Kanan now claims the stage, which he shunned in younger years, as his venue of choice. He debut put him in the Los Angeles production of Irish Coffee at The Burbage Theater and he recently plalyed "Austin" in the Sam Shepard classicTrue West at The Zephyr Theater, also in Los Angeles. He starred and produced the latter.
Sean Kanan, whose stint on Sunset Beach wraps next week as that show dims, is winging his way to Bosnia. Kanan told Soap Star World.com that he was traveling to Bosnia, Macedonia, and Italy as part of tour to entertain the troops.
"We are going over with Secretary of Defense Wm. Cohen and I can't think of a better way to spend the holidays", said the popular actor.
Kanan's triumphant return to daytime following some personal problems made quite an impression on daytime execs and the word is that he has been hotly pursued now that SUNSET BEACH has been cancelled. Kanan previously appeared on GENERAL HOSPITAL as A.Q. Quartermaine.
Kanan thanked SB fans for their support and producers for believing in him.
Besides his return to daytime, Kanan was recently married to Longtime love Athina.
Kanan says he was briefed on what the government would prefer he NOT talk about. The popular actor and comedian was vague about details but said his stand-up comedy act will be without any "Don't ask-Don't tell" jokes.
Kanan and friends will be traveling on one of the "Air Force One" planes reserved for the President (don't worry he has another just in case!). This editor-in-chief has traveled on AF1, so Kanan has been told where to find the freebie Presidential cufflinks!
(Jude, Sunset Beach)
SEAN KANAN played the part of an alcoholic on "General Hospital," but in real life his own drinking problem forced him to leave the show. Now, two years after conquering his addiction, Kanan is back with a new series and a new lease on life.
Entertainment Tonight: Tell us about who you are going to be playing on "Sunset Beach."
Sean Kanan: I'm going to be playing a character whose name is Jude Cavanaugh. He comes to town with a mysterious secret, which I'm not even quite sure of yet. (laughs)
That's about all I know because when I screen tested for the part, we used kind of a generic scene for the test, which really doesn't have a lot to do with how the character's involvement with the other characters is going to be. I'm just starting to get scripts now and find out about it, which is exciting. I have no preconceived notions about who the character is going to be.
ET: You don't know if he's a playboy, a good guy or bad guy?
Sean: Well, I think he's definitely a guy who is sort of edgy and kind of a dangerous character. He's definitely involved in the business aspect of the show, the Liberty Corporation, and he's also involved with several of the women on the show. I think he probably is a little bit of a playboy.
ET: Have you been told if you are going to have a love interest?
Sean: I think that's a pretty safe bet. I think the first actress I'm going to be working with is SARAH BUXTON, who plays Annie. I've got some great scenes that I've already had sent to me that I'm going to start tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that.
ET: So, we haven't seen you on daytime in the past couple of years. What have you been doing?
Sean: Yes, I've been off for a year and a half or two years now, and in that time I've done some episodic appearances and I've been kind of busy cleaning my own house. I'm really excited to be back, working steadily, on TV again. I think this has really been a blessing for me that Mr. [AARON] SPELLING has taken that chance to hire me again, to give me what I think is a great opportunity, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm in the process of finishing two feature films right now. It's so true -- they say in this business it's feast or famine, and right now it's really good. I've been incredibly busy and I like being busy -- I'm definitely my happiest when I'm working a lot.
ET: Haven't you been screenwriting some?
Sean: Yes! Screenwriting is something that I've been doing. I write a lot of poetry and I also do screenwriting. I've been doing that for a couple of years now. I currently have my third script that I've completed and we're hopefully going into pre--production very shortly on it. It's called 'Christmas with J.D.' It's kind of been my baby. It's been a project that I've been working on for two years now. It's one of those things that happens with fits and starts -- you make a little progress with it and it looks like something is moving ahead, and just when the screenwriting kicks in, the acting kicks back in. I've always believed that the best thing for me personally is to have as many irons in the fire as possible. I think I've been fortunate in times when the screenwriting has not been kind of on the front burner -- the acting has been and vice versa.
ET: You alluded a minute ago about cleaning you own house. I would like to ask you what it was that caused you to abruptly leave "General Hospital" a couple of years ago. Was there an incident?
Sean: I don't think there was one specific incident. I think I was... I don't think I knew I was struggling with my own alcoholism, and it was definitely a difficult period for me. It was difficult for a lot of reasons, not the least of which I was also playing an alcoholic on TV. It was difficult because I was very much living that existence in my own private life, and then recreating it somewhat at work. One of the biggest things that has happened to me since leaving the show has been getting my own sobriety together -- and that's a lot of what I've been doing the last few years. Acting is absolutely one of my foremost loves but for me, if your life isn't together, nothing else falls into place. There were a lot of lessons I needed to learn. These last two years have been the most difficult of my life.
ET: Were there meetings involved? Did you have a support group?
Sean: I had a tremendous amount of support. That was one of the first things I had to realize. I've always been a very independent person, and I really needed to come to the understanding that this was something that I was going to have to deal with. I've had tremendous help and support from my family, my fiance Athena and my friends. Although the last two years has been probably the most painful and difficult of my life for a lot of reasons, like I wasn't working as an actor as much as I wanted to. Because I'd been struggling so much with internal demons I've had to deal with, which I think a lot of people have had to deal with, as I've come to learn.
I don't think, with the exception of the people who love and care about me that I've hurt, that I would trade these past two years for anything. It's been an incredible period of growth. I've gotten a lot of understanding about myself, which has offered me something I'd never had before -- which is a sense of peace. From there, it seems like I've built this foundation that's allowing me to go on and do things like going on the cast of "Sunset Beach" again, and be confident that not only am I going to do the job well, but I'll be happy while I'm doing it. I'll hopefully bring everything I have inside of me to the job. I think that everything happens for a reason -- it sounds cliche, but I've come to believe it. I needed to go through what I did to kind of emerge out the other side and become the guy that I am now.
ET: The character that you had played on the other show would black out and go on these binges where he couldn't function -- you said it paralleled your real life. Could you describe to me what you were going through?
Sean: I don't know that necessarily the specifics of my own alcohol use are tremendously pertinent. I think that my experiences while I was drinking are probably, in many ways, similar to a lot of people who were dealing with alcoholism. I'm sure in some ways they were very singular to myself. I could sit here and give you a lot of war stories -- I'd rather not. They're very fresh in my memory, and for me that's a positive thing to keep them fresh, because it allows me to remember where I am, but I also don't want to dwell on them to the point that it keeps me from moving forward.
ET: When was it you realized that you had a problem and needed to get help?
Sean: I don't think I ever used alcohol like a normal guy. I can remember from the time I was fifteen that I didn't. I would say that really right around the second year or so I was doing "General Hospital," it started to become more than a reoccurring issue -- I think it's definitely something that's progressive. It gets worse if one doesn't deal with it, and I tried on several occasions to deal with it. I think the final straw was when I had a DUI and that really was it for me. I realized that my days of drinking were over -- I simply couldn't do it. God bless people that can. There's a lot of times that I wish that I still could, but I can't. In a sense, that realization gave me a lot of closure, because for a long time I was vacillating back and forth thinking maybe I can. Sometimes I would and it would be okay and sometimes it wouldn't. It was that back and forth situation that caused me a lot of conflict. I think once I was finally ready to say, "Okay, I'm ready to quit. I'm going to get some help and I'm going to do what I need to do to get my life in order," it was freeing -- it was very liberating to take the weight off my shoulders and say, "Okay, I'm done."
ET: So this was a catharsis for you?
Sean: I think for a long time I had a lot of ambivalence about whether or not I was going to be able to drink, and when I ultimately realized that I wasn't going to anymore, it took a lot of pressure off me. It was the going back and forth that seemed so difficult. The "Yes I can" and I can do it like other people, and suddenly something would happen where it clearly reemerged as a problem. It was that uncertainty that was creating turmoil in my life that was so difficult. Once I made the decision not to do it anymore -- not that suddenly everything was easy and fell into place -- but I've always been the kind of person that once I make a decision and I commit myself completely to pursuing it, I generally reach the goal I'm trying to shoot for.
Former GENERAL HOSPITAL heartthrob Sean Kanan (ex-A.J.) has just been cast on SUNSET BEACH in the contract role of Jude ... a new mysterious man who comes to town with ties to a Beach resident. [Ben's other brother perhaps?]
In an exclusive first interview since he was hired, Kanan told Soap Star World Editor-in-Chief Michael Castner, "I am very excited to be back working regularly and working for NBC and Aaron Spelling.”
Kanan noted the loyalty of his General Hospital fans, saying "I am so appreciative of the fans support two and a half years after leaving GH. And of course I am grateful to (SB Executive Producer) Gary Tomlin.”
Kanan beat out such names as David Gail (ex-90210, SAVANNAH), Johnny Messner (ex-Rob Layne, GUIDING LIGHT) and Brody Hutzler (ex-Zach the angel, GL) for the role.
Kanan, healthy, happy and California tanned, was rushing around his Hollywood Hills home trying to get to a wardrobe fitting for an upcoming film. In addition to his call to the Beach, he is shooting a new film with Antonio Sabato, Jr. (ex-Jagger, GH), called "Kaos Factor" as well as a movie called "Chump Change".
What will it be like for the ex-GH grads to work together? Sean was exhuberant,"I am looking forward to it. It's going to be a lot of fun". And Sean Kanan fans can look forward to a happy summer at the "Beach"!
By: Robert Schork
Soap Opera Weekly Magazine. Dated: August 24, 1999
Winning hard fought battles in his personal and professional lives, Sean Kanan intends to make the most of his second chances
Pauses in conversations are often ascribed to discomfort - real or perceived - on the part of the person speaking. But when talking to Sean Kanan, the lulls of silence that punctuate the interview speak volumes about the inner peace he has successfully forged for himself over the past couple of years.
Quietly self-assured and confident - without crossing the line into cockiness - Kanan seems comfortable residing in his own skin, as he's about to slip into the skin of another: that of Jude Cavanaugh, the character he's been hired to play on Sunset Beach.
At the time of this interview, Kanan had yet to tape his first scene, and knew little about the character, except that when the audience first sees Jude, he'll be strutting his stuff as a martial artist. "But when we see him later, he's got this whole business acumen, and he's going to be involved in this big business situation with some of the other characters already on the show. So, it's interesting: I come into the show one way, and you think that's the kind of guy this is, and then suddenly, you see a whole other facet of him."
Art imitating life: The show's writers will be drawing upon Kanan's real-life martial arts mastery (his breakout role was opposite Ralph Macchio in The Karat Kid III). But during his last go-round in daytime, Kanan's life unforgivingly imitated art.
Cast in 1993 as General Hospital's A.J. Quartermaine, Kanan was soon handed a meaty storyline that hit all too close to home, as A.J.'s longstanding problem with alcohol resurfaced among the show's front burner storylines.
Reflecting on that time, Kanan concedes that the parallels that existed between actor and character made it more difficult for him in some ways, but easier in others. "I think it made it difficult for me because I felt I was leading a bit of a double life," because A.J. was engaged in a social issue storyline that was trying to enlighten and educate the show's audience about a problem with which the actor himself was privately dealing.
"It was pretty difficult for me during the times when A.J. was 'on the wagon' and sober - and I was not. And I felt very much like a hypocrite. I didn't like feeling that way."
"But on the other hand, I think it made it easier, because I understood intimately what was going on with A.J., and that's why I think I fought so hard to bring humanity to him," Kanan continues. "Because, you know, I was struggling so much myself, and I think, in a lot of ways, was able to really pour a lot of what was going on with me into the character. I definitely allowed my life outside to imitate what I was doing inside. And there were times when I couldn't really feel comfortable talking to anybody about it, but was at least able to try and exorcise some of my demons through my acting."
"Obviously," Kanan says with a sigh, "it didn't always work."
As A.J.'s struggle with alcoholism got him into legal jeopardy, his portrayer's parallel behind-the-scenes struggle ultimately cost him his job. "My drinking really started to get out of hand primarily during the period that I was on General Hospital. You know, I was on the road a lot, leaving almost every weekend to do appearances and comedy gigs; it was very lonely coming into strange towns, knowing nobody, and it definitely was not the healthiest environment for somebody who needed to be guarding his sobriety."
Kanan says alcoholism "was not something that was completely foreign to me, but it was definitely something that was progressive, and really, the blackest period of it was while I was on General Hospital."
Like many people with addictions, Kanan was successful in concealing his problem - at first. "But I definitely began to have visible problems outside work that reverberated back to the powers that be at work. And they were very patient and very understanding, and they wanted to be very helpful. But ultimately, I had to be willing to help myself first. And although on a lot of levels I was ready, I also wasn't, and, unfortunately, it culminated in my having to leave the show."
Despite his close relationships with some of his colleagues, to the very end Kanan continued to turn inward with his problems, instead of seeking help from others. "I wasn't really reaching out to cast mates. I had a lot of shame and embarrassment about the whole thing, and I mean, there are definitely other people in the cast of General Hospital who have dealt with their own issues - as I think there are in every walk of life. I just wanted very much to be able to make this go away and deal with it, and I couldn't. And there were times when I felt like, you know what, I'm not successful at doing this, so screw it, I'm not going to do it. I'm going to do what I want to do, and indulge myself and give in. It was like a total roller coaster."
Even after being thrown off the roller coaster altogether, when Kanan lost his job because of his drinking, he still couldn't stop. "I was trying. I mean I was desperately trying, and wanted to, but I just couldn't put it together. But I got everything under control. It still took me a while, but, you know, thank God eventually I did, and have."
Kanan's family was only in the loop about his problems "to the extent of what I told them, and what they read in tabloids," after the rags did a number on him. "That was very painful and embarrassing, and I have a lot of regret for the people that I hurt, both in my family and the people who really went to bat for me at General Hospital. And that's why I feel so incredibly blessed to have a second chance, and for whatever amount of time this lasts on Sunset Beach, I feel like I've been given a real reprieve, and I am determined to make the most of it."
"Acting is what I love to do," Kanan continues, "and the hardest thing is when somebody takes away from you that thing which you love more than anything else to do. But I think something even harder, yet, is when you take it away from yourself. And I really took it away from myself."
The turnaround came "when suddenly, there was enough pain associated with not changing, that I couldn't take it anymore. And I mean, my life was collapsing around me geometrically. I still had a beautiful house and a great car, and I still had the people around me that loved me. But I could see that I was wearing thin on everybody. It was a searing thing inside of me, and the catastrophes that I was - the turmoil I was creating in my life - was becoming more and more frequent and becoming more and more profound. And I knew that if I didn't do something soon, my luck was going to run out."
Ultimately, Kanan pulled himself together with "a lot of work in therapy. I really took the time over these last few years to get to know who I am, and kind of more or less what makes me tick. And, I guess I took the time to really start liking myself. I also got involved with A.A., but not to the point where it's ... I think I take from it what I need and try to give back what I can, but it's not for everybody, and a lot of times, it wasn't for me. But there were some times where I met a lot of great people in the program, and I learned I've really had to have honest conversations with the people in my life about what my needs were, how to get them met, and what their expectations were, and how I could met them. It was relearning a lot of old patterns, which I'm still doing."
This latest attempt to overcome his addiction succeeded where previous tries had failed because, "At some point with the therapy, I started getting happy. I started realizing what I have, how blessed I've been, and whatever hole I was trying to feed with negative indulgences, I quit feeling the need to feed it."
Kanan takes one of his comfortable pauses. "And you know, I say God bless anybody who can drink in moderation. I mean, I'm all for it; I just can't. I wish to God I could, but it just ain't working for me anymore. I am the last guy to preach to anybody. 'cause I can't stand when it's done to me. I just know what I gotta do for me. Because it was wither drink and party myself until I lost everything and everybody, or, give that p and have a wonderful life and a great career. But a lot of it for me was fear of the unknown. I had not lived my life without drinking for so long, that I was afraid of, well, missing the party and missing the fun. And I needed something to continue the sense of high that I feel after getting off the stage, whether it be the TV stage, movie stage, whatever that perpetuated my outside life. I romanticized this sense of living on the edge, when in reality it was fear of what it would be like not doing that. And now, I've found that not only is it not so bad, it's not boring. It's none of those things that I thought it would be, but it is definitely the unknown. But," he pauses again, "the unknown has turned out to be really pretty wonderful."
Once Kanan got his personal house in order, he was faced with the daunting task of picking up the pieces of his shattered acting career. Unfortunately, it isn't easy to shake a rep once you've fashioned it, as Kanan would soon find out. "I met with three or four shows that [expressed] lukewarm interest, at best. I was very angry about it. I resented the fact that I was not being given the opportunity, really seriously, to have another shot. And I was very resentful toward myself that I put myself in this position. The audition for Passions was really the first serious shot that I had in getting back on TV on a steady basis. (He auditioned for the role of Ethan Crane, which went to Travis Schuldt.) That obviously didn't work out. But I think rightfully so. The producers of Sunset Beach had their concerns, but they've really decided to take a chance on me. I'm certainly not going to do anything that's going to cause them to feel that they've made a mistake."
Reflecting on the ups and downs his life has taken, Kanan says, "it was the most difficult two years I've ever experienced after leaving General Hospital, but it was also one of the most enormous periods of growth for me as a human being. I've really become much less judgmental, both of myself and other people. I've got a very strong inner critic, which really worked on me for a long time, and now that I'm able to turn it off, I'm a much happier guy. I think that I've also really been able to keep my ego in check, and really try a lot of times to put other people's needs before my own, which ultimately has made me feel better.
"You know, I'm a firm believer that we all have lessons we have to learn in this lifetime, and God starts by tapping you on the shoulder. And if you don't listen, I think he starts to smack you on the head, and I was definitely at that period. And I, at least, am fortunate enough that I think I've got a firm grasp. I'm starting to learn those lessons that were intended for me."
