Post by jag11 on Apr 17, 2007 18:46:48 GMT -5
April 17, 2007 issue Soap Opera Weekly
Y&R's Kristoff St. John Is Finding... The Light At The End Of The Tunnel[/color]
by Deanna Barnert
Neil spent the better part of a year fighting to save his family, but all his efforts went over the edge with wife Dru last week on Y&R. It turns out that as Neil's world was falling apart, so was that of Kristoff St. John. Now, he's talking about it.
Weekly: What does Vicky Rowell's (Dru) exit mean for you and your character? Neil's kids are grown up and now his wife is presumed dead.
Kristoff St. John: A serious emptiness and an empty nest.
Weekly: Can you relate to what he's going through?
St. John: Are you kidding? Victoria Rowell asked out of her contract after many, many years of marriage to the show. Allana St. John asked out of her contract after years of marriage. [The St. Johns were married in 2001.] The similarities are phenomenally, bizarrely uncool. You go back to last summer and Neil was playing with the idea of romancing Carmen. Meanwhile, his wife was desperately chasing him, trying to somehow win his affection back. Knowing that her husband has possibly strayed and trying to get proof almost drove Dru insane, to the point of being committed.
In real life, it was the reverse. I was chasing my wife, trying to somehow win her affection back and not knowing how to do it. It's very strange how sometimes life imitates art or art imitates life.
Weekly: Neil turns to the bottle this week. What has your coping mechanism been?
St. John: I can't lie. I turned to the bottle last year, but I wasn't alcoholic. I found myself drinking more during that time when I was chasing Allana. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that I was only hindering myself and hurting myself at work by not paying attention to the physical side of Kristoff and getting the proper nourishment, sleep and fuel.
Weekly: Since then you've bulked up. Is working out your new outlet?
St. John: I go to the gym three to four times a week, but that's not my salvation. Lola (4) is my salvation. The kids (including son Julian, 17, and daughter Paris, 14, from St. John's first marriage) are great. The gym is just an extended part of my ego. I do have some ego and I recognized that I look better with 15 extra pounds and some definition in the physique. It also keeps me out of trouble. I went from the wife and the kids in this huge house with the four dogs and the bird to [living with the pets in] an apartment about the size of my dressing room. Luckily, that's temporary. I bought a house and I'm renovating it, but my life has changed so much in the last year. I'd rather be at the gym than sitting at home thinking, "What should I be doing with my life?" Being hypersensitive as I am, I can't dwell on it too long or I'll be a basket case.
Weekly: So you're keeping busy?
St. John: It's bananas. I come in to work before everyone, because I don't like the traffic. I don't want to sit on the freeway stressing about making it by 8:30, so I come at 7. Then I leave at 6ish, go home to walk the two little potato chip Chihuahuas, throw some flakes at the goldfish and feed the bird, who wants to sit on my head. He wants my attention, so if I don't have a hat on, he digs into my afro. Then I take my protein shake and my creatine-based formula and go to the gym. I finish up by 11 and go by the new house to walk the two big dogs for 15 minutes. After I check up on the house, I go back to the apartment to study and get online to throw some bills together. I'm in bed at 1ish and then I get up at 6 and do it all over again.
Weekly: I assume Julian isn't living with you anymore?
St. John: Right. He was there with me from Monday through Friday until August. Paris just called me the other night. I'm on my way to the gym, tired as a dog, and she says, "Hey, Dad, wanna hang out?" What I wanted to say was, "I am dead tired. We're going to have to do this another night," but she doesn't call that often, so I dropped what I was doing. I got her as soon as I finished working out and we had dinner at Jerry's Deli. By the time I drove her home, I was toast and I still had to go get the dogs. I'm just exhausted.
Weekly: Have the parallels to your life made playing the storyline easier or harder?
St. John: It makes it harder. For so long, this place has been a fantasy land, a myriad of wonderful emotions. To have a successful, fulfilling life outside of here brings contentment within the job place. When that is broken, it's hard to find the wheels.
Weekly: Does the Emmy nomination make you feel better?
St. John: Vindication? At first there was that little thought of it: "I went through such an emotional year: to come out of it with some kind of recognition..." But then none of that means anything to me. My value as a man isn't where I scratch out my salary. It has so much more to do with who I am--or was?--as a husband and a father. That means everything to me. There's a deep sorrow about my life last year. 2006 was the worst year I've ever had and, funnily enough, the best I've had professionally. I'm not just talking about the nomination. I've never worked more on the show. I bought the house and that's a whole other story.
Weekly: How is the NAACP win different than the daytime nod?
St. John: It's a different feeling and a different award. The NAACP is my people. Do I claim them or do they claim me? I don't know, but I am a black man in Hollywood and my image is recognized by that award. That is special and important, because there are a lot of minority kids who may peep this show and see the role of Neil Winters. It means something that I am a champion for them in the daytime community.
Weekly: What is the NAACP party like?
St. John: I didn't go to the party. I don't go out. I actually worked at CBS till 4 and my award was given out pre-show. I got dressed, waited for my boo (Lola) and finally got to the show at 6, but then she wouldn't let me stay. She kept saying how boring it was at the most inopportune times. It was when people were accepting their awards and you could hear a freaking pin drop. All the sudden you'd hear, "I want to leave!" or "Give me more candy!" I ran out of candy when Bono was receiving his award, so we left. I also missed the Y&R 34th anniversary because I had the kid. I'm not about to take her to the Sunset Strip! And I'm so anti-clubs it's not funny. It's one of the banes of my existence. It's all part of the story. Reverse of whatever the other half likes to do. You have a better chance seeing me at an amusement park.
Weekly: So you're not yet a "single guy back on the scene"?
St. John: I can't even imagine. I've always been an isolator. That's one of my problems. I don't reach out enough and in this situation, I've been isolating so much that it's unhealthy. You get stir-crazy. The only people I communicate with are Lola, Paris and Julian and the ex-wives. Lola and I are bonding so tight. I've turned into a 4-year-old myself, but there comes a poing where you go insane with that, too. There are only so many times that you can go to the zoo or Chuck E. Cheese. It all caught up with me when I was hanging out with Lola at the zoo, where it was 94 freaking degrees. We sat in the sun for the bird show, which I've seen 10 zillion times because she loves it. I know every word about the hawks, the macaws, and Blackjack the crow.
Weekly: Having some space would help your mind-set. How long till you move into your new place?
St. John: It's a work in progress. Probably in two months. I was hoping I'd move in sooner, but hey, man, I'm happy and thankful that I got a house!
Weekly: So can you see the light at the end of the tunnel?
St. John: The light is at the end and I'm halfway through. Before it was like that train in the darkness in the distance. You see that headlight and don't even know what it is. Then, when you come on it, you know it's a train. It's slow going, but I'm getting there a bit at a time.
Y&R's Kristoff St. John Is Finding... The Light At The End Of The Tunnel[/color]
by Deanna Barnert
Neil spent the better part of a year fighting to save his family, but all his efforts went over the edge with wife Dru last week on Y&R. It turns out that as Neil's world was falling apart, so was that of Kristoff St. John. Now, he's talking about it.
Weekly: What does Vicky Rowell's (Dru) exit mean for you and your character? Neil's kids are grown up and now his wife is presumed dead.
Kristoff St. John: A serious emptiness and an empty nest.
Weekly: Can you relate to what he's going through?
St. John: Are you kidding? Victoria Rowell asked out of her contract after many, many years of marriage to the show. Allana St. John asked out of her contract after years of marriage. [The St. Johns were married in 2001.] The similarities are phenomenally, bizarrely uncool. You go back to last summer and Neil was playing with the idea of romancing Carmen. Meanwhile, his wife was desperately chasing him, trying to somehow win his affection back. Knowing that her husband has possibly strayed and trying to get proof almost drove Dru insane, to the point of being committed.
In real life, it was the reverse. I was chasing my wife, trying to somehow win her affection back and not knowing how to do it. It's very strange how sometimes life imitates art or art imitates life.
Weekly: Neil turns to the bottle this week. What has your coping mechanism been?
St. John: I can't lie. I turned to the bottle last year, but I wasn't alcoholic. I found myself drinking more during that time when I was chasing Allana. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that I was only hindering myself and hurting myself at work by not paying attention to the physical side of Kristoff and getting the proper nourishment, sleep and fuel.
Weekly: Since then you've bulked up. Is working out your new outlet?
St. John: I go to the gym three to four times a week, but that's not my salvation. Lola (4) is my salvation. The kids (including son Julian, 17, and daughter Paris, 14, from St. John's first marriage) are great. The gym is just an extended part of my ego. I do have some ego and I recognized that I look better with 15 extra pounds and some definition in the physique. It also keeps me out of trouble. I went from the wife and the kids in this huge house with the four dogs and the bird to [living with the pets in] an apartment about the size of my dressing room. Luckily, that's temporary. I bought a house and I'm renovating it, but my life has changed so much in the last year. I'd rather be at the gym than sitting at home thinking, "What should I be doing with my life?" Being hypersensitive as I am, I can't dwell on it too long or I'll be a basket case.
Weekly: So you're keeping busy?
St. John: It's bananas. I come in to work before everyone, because I don't like the traffic. I don't want to sit on the freeway stressing about making it by 8:30, so I come at 7. Then I leave at 6ish, go home to walk the two little potato chip Chihuahuas, throw some flakes at the goldfish and feed the bird, who wants to sit on my head. He wants my attention, so if I don't have a hat on, he digs into my afro. Then I take my protein shake and my creatine-based formula and go to the gym. I finish up by 11 and go by the new house to walk the two big dogs for 15 minutes. After I check up on the house, I go back to the apartment to study and get online to throw some bills together. I'm in bed at 1ish and then I get up at 6 and do it all over again.
Weekly: I assume Julian isn't living with you anymore?
St. John: Right. He was there with me from Monday through Friday until August. Paris just called me the other night. I'm on my way to the gym, tired as a dog, and she says, "Hey, Dad, wanna hang out?" What I wanted to say was, "I am dead tired. We're going to have to do this another night," but she doesn't call that often, so I dropped what I was doing. I got her as soon as I finished working out and we had dinner at Jerry's Deli. By the time I drove her home, I was toast and I still had to go get the dogs. I'm just exhausted.
Weekly: Have the parallels to your life made playing the storyline easier or harder?
St. John: It makes it harder. For so long, this place has been a fantasy land, a myriad of wonderful emotions. To have a successful, fulfilling life outside of here brings contentment within the job place. When that is broken, it's hard to find the wheels.
Weekly: Does the Emmy nomination make you feel better?
St. John: Vindication? At first there was that little thought of it: "I went through such an emotional year: to come out of it with some kind of recognition..." But then none of that means anything to me. My value as a man isn't where I scratch out my salary. It has so much more to do with who I am--or was?--as a husband and a father. That means everything to me. There's a deep sorrow about my life last year. 2006 was the worst year I've ever had and, funnily enough, the best I've had professionally. I'm not just talking about the nomination. I've never worked more on the show. I bought the house and that's a whole other story.
Weekly: How is the NAACP win different than the daytime nod?
St. John: It's a different feeling and a different award. The NAACP is my people. Do I claim them or do they claim me? I don't know, but I am a black man in Hollywood and my image is recognized by that award. That is special and important, because there are a lot of minority kids who may peep this show and see the role of Neil Winters. It means something that I am a champion for them in the daytime community.
Weekly: What is the NAACP party like?
St. John: I didn't go to the party. I don't go out. I actually worked at CBS till 4 and my award was given out pre-show. I got dressed, waited for my boo (Lola) and finally got to the show at 6, but then she wouldn't let me stay. She kept saying how boring it was at the most inopportune times. It was when people were accepting their awards and you could hear a freaking pin drop. All the sudden you'd hear, "I want to leave!" or "Give me more candy!" I ran out of candy when Bono was receiving his award, so we left. I also missed the Y&R 34th anniversary because I had the kid. I'm not about to take her to the Sunset Strip! And I'm so anti-clubs it's not funny. It's one of the banes of my existence. It's all part of the story. Reverse of whatever the other half likes to do. You have a better chance seeing me at an amusement park.
Weekly: So you're not yet a "single guy back on the scene"?
St. John: I can't even imagine. I've always been an isolator. That's one of my problems. I don't reach out enough and in this situation, I've been isolating so much that it's unhealthy. You get stir-crazy. The only people I communicate with are Lola, Paris and Julian and the ex-wives. Lola and I are bonding so tight. I've turned into a 4-year-old myself, but there comes a poing where you go insane with that, too. There are only so many times that you can go to the zoo or Chuck E. Cheese. It all caught up with me when I was hanging out with Lola at the zoo, where it was 94 freaking degrees. We sat in the sun for the bird show, which I've seen 10 zillion times because she loves it. I know every word about the hawks, the macaws, and Blackjack the crow.
Weekly: Having some space would help your mind-set. How long till you move into your new place?
St. John: It's a work in progress. Probably in two months. I was hoping I'd move in sooner, but hey, man, I'm happy and thankful that I got a house!
Weekly: So can you see the light at the end of the tunnel?
St. John: The light is at the end and I'm halfway through. Before it was like that train in the darkness in the distance. You see that headlight and don't even know what it is. Then, when you come on it, you know it's a train. It's slow going, but I'm getting there a bit at a time.