The God
Squad
In an article on 'How faith
and spirituality burn bright in daytime's hottest stars, Scott Reeves (Ryan,
YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) states "A person who really impresses me with his
public testimony is Jonathan Jackson. Just his profession of faith, and
his spirituality, an how he follows Jesus. Man, for a kid that young to
be that grounded..."
It's true that Jackson never
misses an opportunity to praise the Lord when he's accepting an acting
honor. Yet on the GH set, the 16-year old born-again actor leaves ministering
the word to others. "I've never presented Jesus in a car salesman sort
of way," asserts Jackson. "I don't believe in that for me. I don't want
to turn anyone away because they're feeling pressured. The most positive
influence I've had is people seeing the kind of life I'm living and the
way I treat people. If people ask where that comes from, I'll say it comes
from Jesus. And I'm definitely not ashamed of that." '
The article goes on to say
that 'Jackson is relying on faith to help him through a dilemma--reconciling
his strong beliefs with a medium that often sensationalizes sexual situations.
"It's a really tricky thing. I'm still in the midst of trying to figure
out what contradicts my belief," the young Emmy-winner confesses. "At the
same time, I have to remind myself that I'm an actor playing a character.
It's a real gray area. But I'm okay with it as long as my scene is not
anti-God. I don't think I could personally feel real comfortable playing
a gay character. [Homosexuality] is a very tricky subject...I'm definitely
not willing to write anyone off because of it. There's plenty of straight
guys who are cheating on their wives and seeing prostitutes."
Since Jackson's character is
a teenager struggling to figure out a lot of things, premarital sex between
Lucky and Lizzie could present a moral dilemma. "Luckily, I haven't had
a conflict with sex stuff yet," Jackson sighs with relief. "I don't know
how I'm going to deal with that. That really contradicts what I believe,
but I've got to keep in mind that I'm not Lucky, and I can't make a living
doing only Christian projects. I just hope [the producers] would talk to
me about it first. Being a minor, I'm sure I could protest to [ensure]
the decency of how it's done. I know I don't want to be half-naked
like Brenda and Jax."
A decision which requires no
soul searching is Jackson's own personal take on sex: none till marriage.
"I've been successful so far," he smiles. "and I'm going to keep on going."
Reaction from co-stars is mixed.
"Tony Geary [Luke] and I get in heated conversations all the time," admits
Jackson. "A lot of what we believe is different--and a lot is parallel.
John Ingle [Edward] came up to me recently to tell me that he really appreciated
an interview I gave about Jesus." '
Soap Opera Digest, August 25
back
