Edmund, oh Edmund, where art thou Edmund? No you’re not reading a bad Shakespearian play but rather hearing the question that echoes throughout all of daytime. In an era when our favorite daytime dramas are changing in an attempt to attract a younger, more hip audience, many veteran performers are being forced to take a cut in hours and airtime.  One of these actors in particular is the dashing, and classy John Callahan, who debuted in the role of Edmund Grey, on the hit ABC sudser All My Children.

It was an interesting twist of fate that brought Callahan, a University of California graduate majoring in public policy, into this medium. “Well a couple of factors lead to my decision. I was debating on whether or not I wanted to be a lawyer,” says Callahan.  “What I really liked was the opening and closing arguments (of a lawyer) that basically try to convince an audience of the truth of a certain view or set of particular circumstances,” he continues. Going on to say “once I was honest with myself I saw that this was more like acting than the legal system, so when it got right down to it, I was more of ham than a litigater, so I gave myself a five year deadline to make it as an actor.”

It was in the fifth and final year of that five-year deal that the acting doors opened for Callahan. “I signed a contract with General Hospital,” he says with enthusiasm.   (Laughing) “It was nice; it saved me a lot of money on law school.”

What fans may not realize is that Callahan is no stranger to daytime, landing roles on such hits as General Hospital and the defunct NBC sudser Santa Barbara, but he can also add one more medium to his already outstanding resume –primetime.

For many years, Callahan played the role of sly, but dashing Eric Stavros on CBS’s nighttime drama Falcon Crest. So now that he has been in both mediums, does John have a preference to one over the other??

“I don’t have a preference between primetime and daytime, to me acting is acting but I do get more of an adrenaline rush and I am more amazed at what we do in daytime,” Callahan says eagerly.  “In daytime you really have to create on the fly. We really truly do shoot 85 pages of script a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year, I really do love the entire process of daytime,” Callahan says passionately.

And his love for daytime also brought him a gift, a very special gift of meeting his wife and co-star Eva LaRue Callahan, who plays his on screen wife, Dr. Maria Santos Grey.  Callahan and LaRue created an amazing fan following as Edmund and Maria. All My Children satisfied those fans with a tremendous love story complete with an elegant splashy wedding.  “Are you sure you don’t work for ABC,” Callahan says laughing as I asked him about this fan following. 

Longtime viewers of the show are also quick to remember that Maria was not Edmund’s first love in Pine Valley. Edmund initially caught the eye of fellow Pine Valley journalist, Brooke English, played by Julia Barr. “Julia Barr, I think is one of a handful of the finest actresses in daytime…. I am very lucky to be working with both Eva and Julia,” Callahan says with great admiration.

Now that Edmund is injured and pushing Maria away, and given his past with Brooke, I wondered is it possible that we will see a Brooke/Edmund/Maria triangle play out on our screens in the near future??  “I honestly don’t know,” says Callahan.

He goes on to explain the connection that Edmund and Brooke have and will always have with one another, “the bond between Edmund and Brooke is a very different one than what he shares with Maria,” explains Callahan. “It is a very complex bond - a different facet of Edmunds life and spirit.”

After many years and little airtime for Edmund after LaRue left the show, Brooke finally made her way into Edmund’s heart and back onto our television screens.  “Their was a little shuffling going on after Eva left, as the writers tried to decide whether to pair Edmund with Anna Devane or her twin sister Alex, but when a major actor/character leaves it is a major adjustment,” he shares. 

With all the comings and goings on daytime today, with lead and supporting actors paired opposite other leading ladies in an attempt to see who has chemistry and who doesn’t, Callahan does feel “ that he was subjected to that,” until the writers paired him with Brooke. It finally appeared as if the Lady Grey Society and Brooke/Edmund fans across the U.S. would get their wish as the show prepared for an elegant wedding between these two, but alas no soap wedding is without its share of surprises and this one was the return of Edmund’s not so dead wife Maria.

Now that Edmund dodged a bullet with his body, remarried his one true love and the father of his adopted son Sam has returned to town, what’s in store for the dashing actor?  “I honestly do not know,” he says.  “I will go with whatever the writers write for me.” 

Recently, All My Children welcomed back head writer Megan McTavish, who was responsible for the Edmund/Maria love story, “YEAH” Callahan says with enthusiasm.  “The influence of Megan will be very powerful in storylines that are coming up that will have ramifications and ripples for months to come and the fact that Edmund is paralyzed is very powerful in itself,” says Callahan.

“I am very, very happy at the show, “he says with delight.  “Everyday now I open up the script with hope for Edmund as opposed to anxiety.”

Callahan is also reveling in one of the greatest roles any man can have -that of fatherhood, to 2-year-old daughter Kaya.  “I never knew what the definition of heaven on earth was until I looked into my daughter’s eyes,” he says proudly.

Life is indeed filled with many shades of Grey for the popular actor, a front burner storyline, joy in his work and joy in his family.  What more could anyone hope for.

This North Carolina native would like to say thank you to John Callahan for taking time out of his extremely busy schedule to do an interview with us here at SoapTownUSA.  Also, a huge thank you goes out to his web mistress Liz Samek for lining up this interview.  For more information on the very talented John Callahan check out his fabulous website http://www.johncallahan.com