STAR OF THE WEEK

Is there a more thankless role on daytime that that of family patriarch? Often, you’re called on to act as a sounding board, while younger actors with sensational storylines seize the spotlight, but B&B’s John McCook is twice blessed. He consistently brings credibility and integrity to Eric Forrester, even when he’s on the peripheries of a storyline, and every now and then he gets a front-burner storyline and the opportunity to steal the spotlight for himself.

Recently, Eric tried to romance Lauren Fenmore, but she suddenly pulled back because of her friend – and Eric’s ex-wife – Stephanie, whose torch for Eric still burns. Afterward, Eric stunned his family and friends by proposing remarriage to Stephanie. For John McCook’s dazzling, textured performance, SOAP OPERA MAGAZINE names him Star of the Week.

McCook made Eric’s sudden proposal seem completely in character, adding believability and depth to the Forrester clan’s complex history. “I think it’s surprising to people, but I don’t think it’s inappropriate,” he reflects. “It’s like stirring up an emotion that’s been laying dormant for a while. If you don’t dwell on it, thinks can go along okay. But if it’s stirred up, it rises to the surface again. Eric’s desire for Lauren stirred up a passion in Eric. When Lauren suddenly backed off, it was the second time in recent history that Eric’s wanted a relationship with a female who’s close to his family, only to have the woman back off because she didn’t want to offend Stephanie. It happened with Taylor, and now it’s happened again with Lauren.”

Consequently, McCook believes that the stinging refection prompted Eric to examine his life and his desire to have a relationship with a woman he love. The introspection led Eric to someone who was already familiar to him, his ex-wife Stephanie. “It was like an epiphany for Eric,” explains McCook. “He already has Stephanie in his life and he loves her. He’s loyal to her and he’s comfortable with her. He’s also looking at his family – the rivalry between Ridge and Thorne, his daughter Felicia’s return – and it’s drawn him back again. They’re the type of things that make it very natural for Eric to say to Stephanie, ‘Marry me again. Let’s g back to what we had before.’ ”

But McCook realizes that Eric’s heart may not be listening to his head. “Eric’s forgetting all of the reasons why he divorced Stephanie in the first place. It wasn’t so much one incident as it was 30 years of malaise in the marriage, which slowly started to show. Now he’s falling in love with what’s wonderful about Stephanie again. But I think if Lauren decides to pursue him, she’s going to reintroduce the desire and passion Eric doesn’t have with Stephanie.”

McCook is enthusiastic about his new storyline, at least in part because it provides him with the chance to work more closely with castmate Susan Flannery (Stephanie). “There’s a certain parallel between the characters Eric and Stephanie and the actors John and Susan,” observes McCook. “The proposal scenes we did were perceived as warm and natural. It’s nice to see those two characters comfortable with each other, even when they’re discussing something as monumental as remarrying one another again. It’s as natural for me to sit and have a scene with Susan as it is for me to have a conversation with my own wife, Laurette. I’ve worked with Susan as long as I have with anybody on the show.”

   By Robert Waldron

Soap Opera Magazine, not dated

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