Podcast #516: WILLIAM DEVRY of ABC’s “GENERAL HOSPITAL”

William deVry
William deVry

William DeVry recently returned to daytime television as the mysterious Derek Wells on ABC Daytime‘s “General Hospital.” Fans were shocked to learn just who exactly Derek Wells truly is:Julian Jerome! For those that remember (and those who don’t), the Jeromes were a crime family in Port Charles in the late 80s/early 90s, and lost the territory they owned to Sonny Corinthos. Now, the Jeromes are back (Ava and Julian) to reclaim what was once theirs. We got to speak with William about joining the “GH” cast:

 

“It’s really exciting right now. I am with a group of strong players at the moment. It was a perfect opportunity to step back into daytime. I was sort of reluctant to do it, but have thought about it. I love the challenge, pace, and storytelling of daytime. I have always respected the actors on ‘GH.’ They are such a talented group. To get the chance to work with them is great. It’s almost like everyone on the show is an A-List actor for daytime, or should be considered one, to say the least.”

The duo of DeVry and Maura West (Ava) bring forth to the screen what is defined by many as classic, pure soap. The actor spoke on what it is like to play scenes off of West:

“I think we play off of each other well as brother and sister. We’re both having fun and act well off of one another. Even in today’s episode, it’s just hilarious. My character is messing with her’s, and her character is messing with mine. It’s just a blast. I’m having fun with it.”

Prior to his joining “GH,” DeVry had other notable roles in daytime including Michael Cambias on “All My Children,” and Storm Logan on “The Bold and the Beautiful.” In a shocking twist, the character of Storm shot himself in the hospital to save his sister Katie (Heather Tom). Powerful scenes from everyone involved in this storyline, and we got to speak with William about that as well:

“It was a big jump for daytime to go in that sort of direction. To even whisper the word, ‘suicide,’ was sort of controversial territory. Brad (Bell) was committed to the story, and he knew what he was doing. The actors put a lot of effort into that story. I sure did. I mapped out everything the character might be going through during the step-by-step process of the situation. I put myself INTO that situation. We tend to, as human beings, to disconnect from your emotions to put one foot in front of the other to carry on and survive the day. That was what I tried to provide for Storm. There was a disconnection from reality and his emotions just so he could function. When it finally hit, he started to think about his past and his relationships with his sisters, and how much he would miss that. That was the heartbreaking thing for HIM. He knew, unequivocally, what he needed to do and why he needed to do it. Storm was committed to it, and knew he had to do it. I don’t think it was ‘Storm has gone crazy.’ It was a definite sacrifice that he made.”

We spoke more with William DeVry about his time on “AMC” as Michael Cambias, and how the character is still relevant to this day on the online series. Also, we spoke about the current pace of daytime compared to years prior, and working under the helm of executive producer Frank Valentini.

Follow William on Twitter @WilliamDevry1!

Watch “General Hospital” weekdays on ABC Daytime and weeknights on SOAPnet.

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