General Hospilta's Sonny and Jason have long been the Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid of daytime - the sexy, inseperable criminal buddies would rather go down fighting than turn against the other. Until now. Here, Maurice Benard and Steve Burton give us insight into their characters' volatile friendship and why the Emily issue has been such a hot-button topic among fans - Rosemary A. Rossi
Friend or Foe?
Soaps In Depth: Sonny and Jason's honor system has been comprimised. that's a big deal for these two.
Steve Burton: They finally found something legitimate that has come between Sonny and Jason. Finally. Everything else has been a substitute up till this point, even with Courtney. That story worked, but it's nothing like this. It's my sister now.
Maurice Benard: There's a hypocritical thing too. Jason's the one always to say, "Do what you feel." We went through the same thing with my sister and him.
Burton: You playing that card? You can use that for an argument, and I'll let you, but it really holds no water here because a lot has happened since then, violence-wise, on the show. And you know it's a matter of time before something happens to Emily. That's why I'm upset.
Benard: that's the key to what makes it so interesting - Sonny has to fight against showing Emily who he really is.
In Depth: What if Sonny did go off on Emily, unintentionally, of course?
Burton: I would shoot him in one freakin' minute. I would have to hurt him somehow.
Benard: No...you'd kill me. When is my contract up? (they both laugh)
Hit or Miss?
In Depth: Some fans have a problem with Sonny and Emily's romance.
Benard: It had to be the right time to bring it on. Obviously, with Amber Tamblyn playing Emily, it wouldn't have worked. But with Natalia Livingston, he just sees a beautiful, vulnerable woman. He doesn't see "young."
Burton: I think that's part of the problem. Fans see Emily as young like when she first came on the show, but it's just not the same anymore.
Benard: The thing is, ever since Brenda, whoever I'm with, these are those who will always have something to say. This one is a little more controversial. But that's what makes it great. Now I'm playing more "Sonny" than I have in a while. That has to be saying something because I'm feeling it. When I'm in a scene with her, I feel like Sonny when I first came on the show. It's this thing inside.
Burton: Plus, it's another dimension of your character that people haven't seen. That's why, I believe, it works, too. He's been on the show a while now, and we've seen Brenda and Carly and the same old thing. Then this is something new and people are like, "What the heck is going on?" But you never really know a guy like this, a guy who's so crazy and so volatile. One minute he's your best friend, and the next minute he could be out of his mind.
Beauty or Beast?
In Depth: Sonny also doesn't want to come between brother and sister.
Benard: No. He loves them both. But the thing is, if you had to choose between the love of a friend and the love of your wife, as we know, most of the time, the love with the woman will win out. It's a struggle because of how close these two are. But also what's hard is that Sonny knows that Jason is right. That's where I play the Beauty and the Beast thing, that he's not worthy of her, that kind of woman.
Burton: He's not.
Benard: But the beauty is that she makes him see that he's a beautiful person. And he hasn't been this happy in a long time. For him to feel that happiness, it's scary, but it feels good. But you know what I love? For me, it's one of the most real stories I've been in in a long time. This could happen tomorrow with anybody. We're all parents. We all have brothers and sisters.
Burton: I'm playing that she's my daughter. That's all I think about. I would never, no matter what our relationship is, want her with him.