Jon Lindstrom is
enjoying a rare, quiet moment in his Manhattan home that overlooks
the Hudson River on the day of our interview. "Had I been home that
day, I would've seen the plane land in the river," he tells me,
referring to the miraculous landing of Flight 1549. But Lindstrom
has been super-busy these days as Oakdale's Craig Montgomery and the
actor is loving every minute.
One
highlight of Lindstrom's role as Craig was the recently-aired
Valentine's Day special episode, in which he appeared as several
different characters from classic fairy tales. Lindstrom was the Tin
Man for the "Wizard of Oz" segment, which was very familiar
territory for him. "Maybe it's my vague resemblance to Jack Haley or
something," he jokes, having previously donned the famous silver
attire on both General Hospital and Port Charles. "But
it was a lot of fun. It was only about fifteen degrees and we were
in the middle of Central Park. But it was all worth it. At the end
of the shoot, Colleen (Zenk Pinter; Barbara), Don Hastings (Bob) and
a couple of the crew members and Ellen Dolan (Margo) - we all walked
over to the Boathouse in Central Park and had a drink and watched
the sun go down while we warmed up!"
Lindstrom
has certainly embraced the complex role of Craig and has given a lot
of thought on just what makes Craig tick. "I'm finding opportunities
because that's what Craig does," Lindstrom shares, "Do I think he's
changed? Yes. I think he's taken a good, hard look at himself and
realizing that the way he was doing things wasn't really washing.
But he's still Craig. He's still Craig Montgomery, and if the
opportunity presents itself, he's going to take advantage of it. He
stands by and he observes very, very well. He's watching people all
the time and if something comes up and he sees an opening for it, he
walks through." Craig was also awarded custody of his son after a
long search. Does the actor think Craig is a good father? "That kid
is born to melt hearts," Lindstrom gushes of Bailey Harkins
(Johnny), "But how is he (Craig) as a father? I think he has his
limitations. But I'm speaking about him as Jon. If I were speaking
about him as Craig, I'm a great father, I love my kid
unconditionally... That's not quite true! He always attaches
conditions on things. He hasn't attached any to Johnny - yet. But he
would certainly attach them to Lucy. He attaches conditions to every
relationship he has, that's how he maintains control...He'll try a
little bit harder than he normally would, but I'm not sure he's
aware of what he has to try hard for."
"He hasn't had a
place to put those loving, fatherly feelings for a child in a long
time," the actor continues, "So I would say forgive him if you feel
like he's overdoing it. The fact is, Craig goes too far. He thinks
he's doing the right thing, he believes he's doing the right thing
for his kid but he takes it too damn far!"
Having
been given much to do since joining the show in late 2008, there are
some things for Craig that Lindstrom still hopes for. "I would like
to see more of Craig interacting with his family. But one thing I
enjoy, as much as doing my scenes with Maura (West; Carly), and
Julie Pinson (Janet) and with Michael Park (Jack), is working with
Dolan and Terri Colombino (Katie). It's storyline-dictated at the
moment and we really haven't had the chance to dive into those yet.
I would love to see more of that.... The actors are all really good
on this show! They're all well-rounded and have a lot of experience,
the young crew is really eager and well-trained, and disciplined,
and you don't always find that out in Hollywood. It's a different
vibe back here and it's one that I really like." As for Craig and
Carly entering into a business venture together, "He has money, she
has talent," Lindstrom laughs, "One meets the other. Not everybody
has money and talent, so he decides that this is a way for him to
make more money, for her to make some money, for her to be beholden
to Craig, and it might help him in any other way, one of which is
one of his favorite pastimes, which is driving Jack Snyder crazy!"
Despite
his hectic schedule, Lindstrom has other loves, including film and
film-making. "I have a couple of scripts that I would love to start
working on, do re-writes on, one I'd like to finish, but I really
haven't had the time. But I'm having a good time of it, I hope they
don't slow me down at all!" Asked about the Oscar nominations for
this year, he notes, "I think they went out of their way to
recognize quality. I see a lot of quality there. I think the
performances of the acting nominations were all great and I liked
that they recognized Kate Winslet for The Reader. Sean Penn
was amazing in Milk. There's some great stuff there and I
have to agree with all the Best Picture nominees."
But above all else,
Lindstrom is grateful for the opportunity to bring the character of
Craig to life. "Thank you for tuning in," he says, "I understand our
ratings and demos have gone up and I thank each and every one of you
for that. And stay tuned because it's only going to get better!"
