In Print
Follow the links to our archive of Thorsten's print interviews and articles about the characters he's portrayed.
Above: On the cover of the June 26, 2007 issue of Soap Opera Digest.
Main Section
Words of Love
Thorsten Kaye's A Poet Of The Heart
Super Soap Opera Special
Published October 1997
Women around the country have fallen hard for the romantic character Patrick Thornhart on One Life to Live, and the same goes for the actor who portrays him, Thorsten Kaye.
You seem to have met your soul mate on the show in Margaret. Have you ever experienced those feelings in real-life?
Thorsten: Who knows about that? I certainly have met women that I have cared for, but I don't know if you know that you have met your soul mate until it is all over. When you are sitting on a beach when you are seventy-five years old and think, 'that was my soul mate,' I might be too young to know what my soul mate is.
How has your reaction been as far as being called the new hunk of daytime?
Thorsten: Never believe your own press. I don't see myself as a heartthrob at all. I am an average guy who has a job in a great story. I am in a situation that will last as long as the story lasts. I am aware of that and as soon as this is over, we will do something else. If it is a heartthrob thing, great. If not, that is fine as well.
When you came to the United States from London, were your designs to be an actor, or were you headed down a different path?
Thorsten: I still don't know that this is what I want to do. When I came here from England, I was an athlete and things got away from me a little bit and I wasn't an athlete anymore, I was a drama minor and then, a drama major. It is one of those things that will be a lifetime commitment to the arts if I decide to spend my life doing this. Right now, this is what I want to be doing, but I'm not sure what down the road is.
What kind of athlete were you?
Thorsten: A very good one (laughs)! Decathlon, track and field.
Regarding Patrick's Notebook (on sale in bookstores everywhere), is there any one poem in particular that is your favorite:
Thorsten: A Yeats poem that starts, "when you are old and gray." That is my favorite from the book.
Was it difficult recording the accompanying audiotape?
Thorsten: I have always liked poetry and literature and I like recording things. My big dream would be to do a voice-over for a big animation feature.
Did you approach them about the idea, or did they come to you?
Thorsten: It was their idea. It was very much a publicity ploy and it seemed like a good idea to me and it was an honor to have a book written about my character.
Patrick has gotten away from being a soap hero and has returned to being a romantic lover again.
Thorsten: I was asked to do a soap a few years ago when I was in graduate school, but I didn't see myself as a soap guy. I turned that down and they sent me a script from OLTL and the breakdown of the character of Patrick. I am playing him because he is different than the typical soap heroes that you see on other shows.
Do you think the writers are trying to get back to what your character was in the beginning?
Thorsten: As I said before, I am not a beautifully polished soap super hunk, and what they are taking away from me are my weapons. What I was asked to do when I came on the show was to read poetry and be a romantic hero instead of a cool-looking California guy with a surfboard. Lately, they are taking that away from me and they want me to be like those guys, but still be me. How confusing!