Obsession! Improvisation! Passion! It's all in a day's work for OLTL's Trevor St. John


Just the Facts
Birthday: September 3 Hails from: Spokane, WA Favorite color: Off-color Married: Sara, since 2000. St. John met his Swedish bride in 1995, but they didn't see each other again until 1999, when they fell in love. "It was really romantic," he smiles. Damn Yankees: "I got a 'Yankees suck' shirt from a viewer once," the Seattle Mariners fan says. "It was one of the best gifts I've ever gotten. I don't know why they make [those] T-shirts, cuz they obviously don't suck; we just don't want them to win." Health Nut: St. John founded, owns and runs a fitness consultation and diagnostics company called BioConstructs, which uses exercise mechanics to help prepare people like firefighters and policemen for physical, high-stress jobs. "It's very specific. As far as we know, no one else in the world is doing it," he states.


Trevor St. John has made it clear that by now, some 18 months after he arrived at One Life to Live, he has said all he has to say about being recast as Todd in place of the very popular Roger Howarth (Paul, ATWT). It's not so much that he is irritated by the subject; mostly, he just seems bored with it. "I wasn't familiar with the role, so I sort of just stepped right in," he shrugs from the back of the Manhattan restaurant where Digest met him for lunch. "I didn't put any pressure on myself. A lot of people really seemed to revel in it, but I was sort of oblivious to the sensation of it. I just sort of did it."

St. John is a man who lives in the moment. He doesn't obsess over the past, nor does he plan to the letter what he will do in the future. He likes to feel a situation out and then take a chance by doing what feels right for that particular moment, as opposed to simply doing what people expect. In the case of the recast, St. John looked at the role of Todd as an excellent opportunity.

"It was a great part to begin with because you instantly have relationships, as opposed to when you start a new character who has no history, so I could sink my teeth into it," he notes.

One thing that St. John has had fun sinking his teeth into is Todd's tumultuous relationship with Blair.

"I'd analyze it as real obsession rather than real love," he reasons. "Not the -- for lack of a better word -- 'clean' love that we dream about from fairy tales. It's more of an obsession, and that's far more interesting for me, and it's more interesting to watch, probably. She is his obsession. I mean, look at the things he's done to keep her around."

St. John started acting in college as a student of theater and music at Whitworth College in his hometown of Spokane, Washington. After college, he went to Los Angeles and quickly landed several film and television roles, including a spot in the 1995 television movie Serving in Silence with Glenn Close, and in the 1999 film Payback alongside Mel Gibson. But despite quick success on the left coast, St. John decided to indulge his passion in theater by relocating with his wife, Sara, to New York in 2001.

"There's no point in trying to pursue theater in Los Angeles," he declares. "You can do it if you want, but if you're there, you've pretty much chosen to limit yourself to film and television...As financially fulfilling as working in film and television is, it's not as artistically fulfilling unless you're always the lead. I was doing good roles and working [in L.A.], but it wasn't something I had a lot of creative liberties with."

Once in New York, St. John got the chance to put on his own one-act play, Near Tragedy, in February 2003. That same winter, he tried out for the part of Kevin on OLTL. His unorthodox reading, in which he surprised producers by throwing papers around and slamming props on a desk to depict his character's anger, didn't get him the part. Instead, he was cast as Walker Laurence in March 2003. Two months later, the powers-that-be informed him that they wanted him to be Todd.

"The story goes that they liked what I was doing, and they were interested in recasting Todd anyway, so [they said], 'Why don't we just make this character Todd?' " he reveals.

But before anyone in Llanview learned that Walker was really Todd, St. John did a stint in a dual role as Walker's quirky, evil twin brother, Flynn. A jazz drummer who went to college on a music performance scholarship, St. John has a deep understanding and respect for the power of improvisation, and he is always eager to stretch boundaries and come up with something new. That is how he looks at the characters he plays, including the dual role of Walker/Flynn.

"They gave me five days to come up with another role, and they didn't give me any parameters until the day I showed up," he smirks. "So I thought, 'How can I make this guy completely opposite of Todd?' "

St. John came up with what can only be described as a unique interpretation.

"Todd can be kind of a tough guy sometimes, so I wanted to make this guy a real wuss on the outside -- and maybe a little effeminate...I was like, 'Oh, okay. He's supposed to be one of those Tony Sopranos and all those General Hospital, tough-guy mobsters. Okay, well, here ya go. Try this on for size.' "

And what did the producers think of St. John's Flynn?

"[One] came down and said, 'Well, we were thinking more like Andy Garcia from Ocean's 11.' And I said, "Well, I didn't know that.' They were, uh, not too pleased. [But] I wasn't about to change it. I worked hard, and that's what I came up with."

Since taking over as Todd, St. John has made the unruly, unpredictable character his own, even winning the Best Actor award at last year's OLTL fan club event. He still has his eye on taking advantage of all the film and theater opportunities that New York has to offer, but he is also enjoying being able to take chances and feel his way through his job on OLTL.

"It's the hardest job I've ever had; I'm sure it's the hardest job I will ever have," he insists. "There's no time to explore anything [beforehand], so each take is an exploration. It's a challenge because the tendency is to do whatever is comfortable and safe, and I just find that too boring. So, it's a challenge because you're really riding this tightrope between looking totally absurd and doing something really great."


Just Breathe
In addition to an interest in keeping his body fit, St. John also practices Buddhist meditation to keep his head healthy. His teaching at home, as well as his visits to the Shambhala Meditation Center of New York, are perhaps responsible for the soft, confident calmness detectable in his movement and speech.

"It's been a huge part of my life," he explains. "First, I read about it. Then, I went to the Shambhala Center and got into the practice of meditation. Then, I started on the teaching of the practice."

St. John helped teach a seminar in Boulder, Colorado with Tsoknyi Rinpoche, the Buddhist author of Carefree Dignity, one of St. John's favorite books.

Although many people get into meditation to relax, St. John says that there is a lot more to it.

"In the beginning, meditation is just concentration; it's called mindfulness," he explains. "Initially, you get out of it a more peaceful mind, a more tame mind. Things like stress reduction are a by-product of meditation. It's not really what the goal is. It's actually a fine goal to have when you first get there, but then you realize it's not the ultimate goal."

So, what is the ultimate goal?

"Reducing desire, and also fear," he says.


Clarification (from a later issue of Soap Opera Digest)
In the 12/14/04 interview with Trevor St. John, the actor said the following about meditation: "First, I read about it. Then, I went to the Shambhala Center and got into the practice of meditation. Then, I started on the teaching of the practice." The interview then says that St. John "helped teach a seminar in Boulder, Colorado with Tsoknyi Rinpoche, the Buddhist author of Carefree Dignity, one of St. John's favorite books." St. John called to clarify his comments, explaining that Rinpoche is "a meditation master of the highest order. I was blessed to be present [at the seminar in Boulder]. I did not help him teach. I was there to learn from him."



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