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Above: On the cover of the June 26, 2007 issue of Soap Opera Digest.
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Oh Kaye
Soap Opera Weekly
by Carolyn Hinsey, Published August 12, 2003
Thorsten Kaye began his daytime career on ONE LIFE TO LIVE as hearthrob poet Patrick Thornhart where he fell on-screen and off- for Susan Haskell, who played Marty Saybrooke. Kaye then moved on to Port Charles, where he has been playing Patrick's long-lost brother, Ian, since 2000. Today, Kaye and Haskell share a house in L.A. with baby daughter McKenna, who was born the day after the first part of this interview.
Kaye: I have one scene to do here and then I'll rush over to the hospital. It's good because I get to have my hair and makeup done for the baby.
Weekly: Have you thought about getting married?
Kaye: I don't think it's necessary when things are good.
Weekly: There was talk about Susan going back to OLTL.
Kaye: I think they wanted to bring back Marty. They would be wise to use her because she was a great character and people liked her. I don't know if she would be into it. I guess it would depend on who she worked with.
Weekly: Then you could go too.
Kaye: No, I don't think so. But I miss Woods (Robert S. Woods, who plays Bo). I loved working with him because he is such a great actor. He is one of my best friends.
Weekly: So, your gig on OLTL got you the woman you love and one of your best friends.
Kaye: Yes, I regret a lot of things about that show, but that is certainly not two of them.
Weekly: Like what?
Kaye: I regret that it ended the way that it did. We had such a good run and then it fizzled out at the end. I had a great time on OLTL and then things changed in the [executive] offices and it was weird for me. It's sad that it did because I would like to go back and see some of my friends. The way the character went out was not cool. None of it was handled well. They didn't even come down and say goodbye. But like you said, I got two of the best things out of it.2003 © Soap Opera Weekly/click to enlarge
Weekly: Is it true that your PC dressing room is where everyone comes for advice?
Kaye: Yeah. I don't know what that is all about. I think it is because the women don't get advice unless they get naked. (Laughter and off-color jokes ensue. The interview picks up in late July; PC has been canceled, baby McKenna is almost 6 months old, and Kaye is thinking about changing careers.)
Weekly: What are your feelings about PC going off the air?
Kaye: I don't think the show was done. It's sad because we still had a lot of stuff to give to an audience that was willing to listen and we just didn't get to do it.
Weekly: Do you think that the last arc will end it in a way that works for people?
Kaye: It works for the end of an arc; it doesn't work for the end of a show. Absolutely not.
Weekly: Are they talking about any kind of a wrap-up?
Kaye: No, it's done. You can buy some of the wardrobe if you want. Here's the other thing -- everything ends, and you don't want to be a child about this going, "Oh, I miss my family." It's not that. But if you're doing a play for two weeks or 10 years, you know when it's over most of the time. They tell you. "This is going to be your last show." That's very different from sitting at home waiting to start work and somebody calling you saying, "By the way, this is done." There was no closure. You know what it's like? It's like somebody's dying and you're trying to come to grips with that 'cause they talked about cancellation for such a long time. But then this person was getting better and better, and after a while you stopped worrying about them, and you looked forward to spending more time with them. And then they died.
Weekly: But you guys have all gotten together since you heard the news, right?
Kaye: Yeah, we have. But it's not the same thing.
Weekly: So if it had been a real last day at work people would have been cleaning out their dressing rooms and hugging and crying and taking pictures.
Kaye: Yeah. All that stuff. And you would have closure. That's very important.
Weekly: You don't have closure now, even though you've seen some of the people?
Kaye: No, because the show is still on the air. You do see people, but everyone's looking for other jobs and doing all kinds of stuff. But again you want to say f--- it, let it go.
Weekly: Has any other ABC show offered you a job?
Kaye: No. That's OK. They're looking for the 20-year-olds. I understand that. But, no. I got nothing.
Weekly: How is McKenna? Are you a good dad?
Kaye: Well, I haven't dropped her...McKenna's awesome. She's cool. But then, you look at her and think, she's gotta go to college, gotta eat. What are we doing now?
Weekly: And?
Kaye: And I might go back to school and start teaching full time. Go back to Detroit (where Kaye got his masters at Wayne State University) and finish my Ph.D.
Weekly: What would you teach?
Kaye: Theater history and classical theater. And then I could, you know, watch hockey.
Weekly: What about Susan? Is she auditioning?
Kaye: She had a couple of meetings, and she's getting back into it. She certainly wants to go back to work and that's cool. But there's not much going on. Some of the scripts she gets you're just going, "Wow...Someone's gonna make that?"
Weekly: Would she move to Detroit with you?
Kaye: Either that or I'd go back and forth. But I've got to make a little money before I do that.
Weekly: Would you do another soap?
Kaye: Sure. Where do you think I should go?
Weekly: Well, if I can't have you back on OLTL, I'll take Ian Thornhart on General Hospital.
Kaye: I don't think [Jill Farren Phelps] wants any of us over there.
Weekly: I'm sure she's as sorry as the rest of us about PC.
Kaye: Well, you were always good to us. I know you thought we had a shot at winning the Emmy.
Weekly: I really did.
Kaye: Yeah, I did, too.