You may recognize Passions’ Bruce French (Father Lonigan), but can’t place where you have seen him. That is just the way French likes it, too. "I have been a character actor in this business for 25 years," he explains. "I have done a little bit of everything, and I am so grateful. I have been very lucky in the fact that I am almost always working."

Born in a small Iowa town, he made the leap to the big city to attend New York University’s School of the Arts, where he majored in theater. "It wasn’t everything I had planned out," he says of his career choice. "For me there weren’t any bolts out of the blue that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. It was fascinating work, I enjoyed it, and I just kept going from there."

French’s credits include off-Broadway theater roles, guess stints on everything from L.A. Law ("in its hey dey," he says with a laugh) , to Cheers, The Practice and Dharma & Greg. He’s been in feature films such as Mr. Mom, Legal Eagles – in which he appeared opposite Robert Redford, "A terrific experience," French says – and most recently Star Trek: Insurrection, directed by Jonathan Frakes.

"I knew Jonathan from doing guess appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation," French says. "We worked well together, and he remembered me. It was great fun. I was one of F. Murray Abraham’s henchmen – one of the stretchy-faced guys. Since I was playing an alien, I was covered in foam rubber, and I got to wear these contacts that made me have alien eyes. I really enjoyed working with Jonathan, especially on that film"

The role in that movie came in handy for another reason. "I had my first experience wearing contacts on the set of Insurrection. It was good practice for my next gig on Passions," he says with a laugh, adding that his character, Father Lonigan, is blind, and to have it appear more realistic he wears contacts that "make it possible for me to only see bright lights. So it’s not acting, I really can’t see that well when I’m in character. I can just barely make out shadows, and a lot of times they have to help me to my mark. It is quite a haunting experience."

New to the daytime genre, French has gained great respect for the actors. "I really admire the hours they toil every day. I come every three weeks, do my job and am gone again. It takes real dedication to do this on a daily basis."

French especially enjoys working with Juliet Mills (Tabitha), his co-star in the majority of his scenes. "I love squaring off with Juliet. She is so professional, and really knows her stuff. I feel I do some of my best work opposite her," he says.

French would love for Father Lonigan to become a more active member of Harmony’s community so "I could come back more often. The second I read the role in the audition scene, I loved it. Now that I am into it, I enjoy the character even more," he says. "Whatever they have in store for Father Lonigan, I look forward to playing it out."

As much as he loves portraying this character, "Theater is my first love, and always will be," he says, noting that one of his most favorite roles was as Lucky in a production of Waiting for Godot that co-starred Ralph Waite (The Waltons). "That was really magical. We poured out our hearts and minds in that production. It is so rate when all the ingredients come together like that."

Just like all the ingredients have seemingly come together with Father Lonigan. Let’s hope Passions continues to stir him into Harmony’s mix.