Maurice Benard’s State of Mind has another General Hospital star as a guest in the most recent episode. This time, it’s Tristan Rogers, who Benard described as an icon of GH. The pair got off to a fun start, with some bonding over a hatred of flying. See, Benard wants to go to Australia, but the flight is so long and he hates flying.
We loved Rogers’ response, “Then you’ve got a problem.” Tristan, however, can handle the distance, but he doesn’t like flying, either. For him, it’s knowing the plane could fall out of the sky at any moment and there’s not a thing he can do about it. Although, he said it in a much more colorful way. Let’s see what else they covered…
Maurice Benard’s State of Mind: Similarities
First, this episode of Maurice Benard’s State of Mind revealed they have more in common than not liking to fly. Apparently, the pair got started in modeling around the same age. Although Rogers had a whole other plan for his future. After leaving school, he and some friends formed a rock band.
Rogers was the drummer. However, after a few years of working together, they weren’t really earning money. So, Rogers turn to commercial work. He had no clue of the commitment involved in moving from commercials to acting in a series of movie. However, he obviously managed to make a great career.
One funny thing he shared was how he’d auditioned in the lobby with a janitor mopping the floor with him. The janitor thought he wasn’t too bad, which we got a kick out of. The casting director apparently agreed.
Maurice Benard’s State of Mind on changing direction
Eventually, Rogers would get a role on a cop show in Sydney. However, the series only lasted 13 episodes, and the producer broke the news of the cancellation while drunk. This whole experience made him believe it was time for a change, so he went to London. It didn’t take long for Rogers to realize he had to make a real commitment to being an actor, so he changed his approach.
Maurice Benard’s State of Mind on taking chances
During the early ’70s, the actor happened to be in a club where the DJ didn’t appear. So, they asked if anyone there could do it. Figuring it wasn’t hard, Rogers volunteered. Little did he know! That first experience found him freezing, unsure of what to say behind the microphone. After a while, he would get that turn at the DJ booth for real, and handle himself well. It goes to show, you never know where an opportunity will take you.
Eventually, he found his way to America and auditioning for General Hospital. The thing was, it was only supposed to be a two-day role, and there was a little bit of a sneaky element to his getting on the show. Check out the episode for the details.
According to Rogers, they liked what he did and signed him to a three-year contract. He even helped come up with the codename for his character, which we love. Especially since part of that name stood for “Can’t Kill.” Talk about sending a message!
Check out the episode to see him talk about doing his own stunts and his first love interest on the show. He also spoke a bit about improvising on set. We found it interesting how much input he was able to give in those early days.
Another interesting insight was how Elizabeth Taylor wanted to be on the show. However, she had a demand—there had to be a Luke/Laura wedding. So, he credits her with the wedding actually happening. He even got a chance to re-write some of her dialogue with the legendary actress, as he had a reputation for being an ad-libber and she wasn’t happy with some of the lines.
Maurice Benard’s State of Mind on mental health and culture
Of course, no episode of Maurice Benard’s State of Mind would be complete without talking mental health. Benard wanted to know, specifically, about the culture and mental health. His culture didn’t talk much about it, so he was curious what it was like in Australia.
He didn’t really see a lot of people there using drink or other things to cover up for anxiety. It was more about being social. We found it interesting the talk about that was so brief. To us, it felt like there could be more that didn’t make it into the episode. Either way, it was overall a great chat and full of some fun stories.
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