Northwest Afternoon
With Host Cindi Rhinehart
~ 1986 ~
(This is possibly Stephen’s first talk show appearance)
Stephen enters, wearing the patch.
Cindi: My goodness! Well Stephen, welcome to Northwest Afternoon, and Seattle.
Stephen: Thank you.
Cindi: You’ve got the patch on and we all know that you have another eye under there.
Stephen: I do?
(Laughs from Cindi and the audience)
Cindi: Oh, I hope so!
Stephen: That’s news to me.
(Laughs)
Stephen: It was already part of the story before I came on. Actually, one of the executives at NBC had an idea to bring a character on to bring some of Bo’s past out. There were no plans of long term, you know…long term stay for this character. It was supposed to be a recurring role just to bring Bo’s past up, and this guy remembered a miniseries, in which a character had a patch. I won’t mention the name, you can just guess, but that’s how it came about. I was called up, and they said go to work the next day, this guy’s probably not going to last long, and just do it.
Cindi: Did you have any, did you not? Did you feel bad and say ‘Gee, I don’t want to wear this patch’? Did you have a problem with it?
Stephen: Well, no! At first it was very exciting because it’s such a character, and I love to play characters that are not just boring, dull, normal people.
(Laughs)
Cindi: Patch is not that.
Stephen: I like to play people who are interesting and mysterious, and I thought the patch would give the character a lot of mystery.
Cindi: Did you have a problem ever? I mean anytime you, when all of a sudden you don’t have one eye, did you ever miss kissing Britta or something?
Stephen: No, I missed…no, I never miss kissing anyone.
(Laughs)
Stephen: That, I am a good aim at that. I missed a few steps. There were some scenes on air, that aired, and you can see me just stumbling up steps, and I sort of incorporated that into the character because he’s kind of klutzy. He’ll tempt anyone to come after him. He’ll challenge anyone, even though he’s not all that good of a fighter. I mean, he gets beat up a lot.
Cindi: He keeps going after it!
Stephen: He keeps going, he just doesn’t give up.
Cindi: We know that you have another lovely eye, can we see it? Can you lose the patch, Patch?
(Stephen takes the patch off. Audience claps and cheers)
Cindi: (holding the patch) It is reassuring that both sides do match up and you are incredibly handsome. I understand that there’s a story behind the patch. Patch had something special happen with his patch.
Stephen: With his patch?
Cindi: With your patch? Didn’t you have that made or something?
Stephen (takes the patch from Cindi): Well these are custom made. When I first came on the show, they gave me patches like those girls were wearing up there (looks up at the audience). You can get them at a drugstore. They have an elastic band around them. They’re kind of uncomfortable, not too much fun. So I decided to go to a leather shop and I got these made…custom made, with the long tassels that hang down the back…and little studs there.
Cindi: I’m sure many people call and ask for them. Let me talk about Patch for a second, and the actor…the actor acting out Patch. When you do scenes like that…uh…do you find yourself becoming Patch?
Stephen: Well, I certainly have to become Patch for a certain amount of time. I wear the patch most of the day at the studio because it is like acting with one half of a face. You know, it’s a very strange sensation to put one of these on, and I felt at first like I had half a face. I didn’t know where my concentration would be. When I’m concentrated and I’m in the scene, I forget that I have it on. It’s like having two eyes. I need to wear it before because I need to uh…the guy, Patch, the character, has been wearing it for seven years, so I have to look like I’ve been wearing it a long time and I’m used to it.
Cindi: You’re not moving it, moving it and touching it.
Stephen: So my concentration takes over and I don’t really know it’s there, except for the fact that he’s a bit self conscious about it, and in front of certain people, there are times when I’ll reach up and move it and try to make sure it’s adjusted and no one can see in there, because Patch’s greatest fear, is for someone to see under that patch.
Cindi: You know you’ve got the scenes that you have…right from day one, every scene. I can’t think of any that I didn’t watch and didn’t think- “God, is this guy GOOD!” We have a scene of…I want to take a look at a scene of Patch, and Kayla, and this is one of my favorite scenes. Let’s take a look:
KAYLA: You have to trust him…and you have to trust me.
STEVE: (angry) I don’t have to trust him, and I don’t have to trust you!! I trust me! I’ve learned my lesson, Kayla.
KAYLA: Alright. I’m going to give you a choice. You can keep on running, or you can trust me and come back with me. It’s up to you.
STEVE: I… I’m just spent Kayla. I can’t afford to trust anymore.
(END OF CLIP)
Stephen laughs along with the audience
Cindi: How do you feel when you wrap a scene like that? Where do you go?
Stephen: Usually when it feels good, I feel kind of disoriented. Then I feel uplifted. I feel acting is a spiritual art. I think all the arts are, and basically what you have to do is open your instrument, whatever art you’re pursuing. You just have to open it up and let the creativity flow through you. So the main task in acting is relaxation and concentration.
Cindi: And actually becoming that person.
Stephen: If I can do that, then I let whatever it is, that creative instinct take over and come through me. That’s the ideal. Now that happens, you know.
Cindi: Does that happen all the time?
Stephen: You can’t have that in every moment. Because of the medium and how we’re rushed and it’s very hard to get that all the time, but you do have moments like that if you really work at it.
Cindi: Must feel…
Stephen: It feels great. I mean, that’s why I love acting. That feeling is something that I’m addicted to. I’m attached to it. And I feel that I’m giving something away.
(Cut off /edited here….then a break)
Back from break, Stephen is receiving armloads of gifts and flowers from the audience. Flowers, patched stuffed animals, wrapped presents. Seems everyone in the audience has gifts for him.
(Cindi Marvels at all the gifts)
Stephen: Ya, these are great! (Smells flowers)
Cindi: Stephen! How do you feel about all of this adoration?
Stephen: I don’t know, I guess I deserve it (laughs). I don’t know. I really love fans because they, especially on soaps, support us. I try to read…I used to read all of my mail, but I have to be honest, I don’t have time to read it all now. I just don’t have time. If I had time, I would.
Cindi: You wouldn’t be able to work!
Stephen: No, that’s the thing. I really appreciate it though.
Cindi: Patch had a pretty…supposedly…what kind of background did he have? What kind of childhood did Patch have?
Stephen: Well, he was probably abused; beat up by his father, his mother left him. (Laughs) Happy childhood! He spent a lot of time in orphanages. Rebelled from the very beginning. He had a strong spirit, compassionate heart, and is sort of a victim of his environment. He always tried to fight his way out of that. He’s been trying to fight his way out of that.
Cindi: When you play Patch, is there anything in your childhood that would parallel what he went through for you to draw on?
Stephen: Well, I had some difficulty in my childhood. There’s certain things I don’t want to talk about, don’t want to mention because there are other people involved who might be hurt by what I say, but I will leave it at that. I had some trouble in my childhood. I didn’t come from a real happy home, you know, but that’s ok. Today, that’s ok with me. I feel that the past doesn’t really exist, because it is the past. I have no resentments or regrets. I feel that everything flows the way it’s supposed to, and from moment to moment.
Cindi: Sometimes, even if you do have a rough childhood, I think it makes you stronger.
Stephen: Ya, well I’m very grateful for the things that happened to me.
Cindi: Made you a fighter.
Stephen: Ya, because if I didn’t have it the way I had it, I don’t think I would be as grateful for what I have today. If everything was easy and smooth and lovely all along, I just wouldn’t be as appreciative of my life today.
Cindi: I think that’s very true, hear a lot of new people say, you know I had a rough upbringing, good for you (taps Stephen on the arm). It made you a stronger person; you love your life now. Your life could have been a lot different too, had you done what you started to do. Tell me about becoming a monk or thinking about becoming a monk.
Stephen: I came out of kind of a rough adolescent period feeling that I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life. And at that time, I hadn’t tapped into any kind of creative instincts…because it was kind of kept from me. Members of my family didn’t want me to do it, because my father was a Jazz Pianist, and he was an alcoholic, and he had it kind of rough. And they thought if I got into the arts, that would happen to me. That was their narrow viewpoint. They didn’t know any better. Consequently, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I wasn’t very interested in school, though every year I would vow to do well, you know. (Laughs)
Cindi: (smiles) We all did.
Stephen: So I came out to Los Angeles to study to become a monk in the Self Realization Fellowship. And I found a lot of peace, and found all the answers as far as I’m concerned.
Cindi: And studied…
Stephen: Studying…meditating. Mostly, it’s not so much the studying, it’s the meditating.
Cindi: And how did you make that decision to not become a monk?
Stephen: The day I was to go in.
Cindi: The DAY? The VERY day?
Stephen: The very day, one of the monks came to me, the guy who was in charge, and said, ‘It’s time. Do you want to go?’ And I said, ’No I don’t think so’. (Laughs). I just knew in that moment that it wasn’t right for me, that I couldn’t make that commitment for the rest of my life. There was something else that I needed to do.
Cindi: Did you know at that point?
Stephen: What it was?
Cindi: Where would you go?
Stephen: I had no idea.
Cindi: What did you do then? Did you just turn around and walk out of the building?
Stephen: I was a bit confused. But I just knew that I wasn’t supposed to do that, and I knew eventually it would be revealed to me what I should do. And it was.
Cindi: But you still became a father, and a very good one.
Stephen (smiles): Ya.
Cindi: You have?
Stephen: I have two beautiful children. Vanessa is 8 ½, and Aaron is…hey there they are (picture of Stephen with his kids comes onscreen). Aaron is six. And they’re my pride and joy. They mean everything to me, more than my work, they mean more to me than my work.
Cindi: You’re married?
Stephen: Ya, got married again.
Cindi: Oh, you were divorced, you got married again?
Stephen: Ya.
Cindi: And there’s something pretty special about your children. For someone that grew up, you grew up with your parents saying don’t get in the business, don’t get in the business, cuz it’s only going to be awful for you, you finally get into the business and you have children, and they got in the business, already.
Stephen: Yes.
Cindi: Well, tell us about it.
Stephen: One of the producers said there were going to be some flashbacks of Patch as a little boy. Your son looks a lot like you. Would he like to do it? And I went to Aaron and I asked him, and he’s a ham.
Cindi: And he’s how old?
Stephen: He’s six, and he said ‘Ya, that will be fun, you know’. His nickname is Mr. Mellow. Nothing really excites him. That was his attitude on the set too, and he had highly emotional scenes to play. He was just so laid back. I had to say Aaron, c’mon, man. This is what you’re supposed to do now here. I really had to coach him a lot, but he really did a wonderful job. And then Vanessa –when I made the deal with the producer I said if Aaron is on, you have to promise me that Vanessa will have a part, because she had more of a desire to do it. They said sure, so they found a little part for her. She played Kelly in the abuse clinic one day, had a beautiful, beautiful scene with Kimberly. Just brought tears to my eyes.
Cindi: I saw it, I saw the scene. She actually played the abused child. Are you proud of them?
Stephen: I’m proud of them, in so many ways. Not just-not for that. I mean, that was something that brought their self esteem up another notch.
Cindi: No matter what you went through, it obviously was worth it. You’re a wonderful actor and a fine father. So things kind of turned out, they turned out pretty good.
Stephen smiles
Cindi: Not bad huh?
Stephen: Not bad.
Cindi: How do you feel about your life right now?
Stephen: It’s better than it’s ever been. I feel there’s a good balance between the work that I do. I’m doing what I love to do. I’m able to provide for my children. It’s just wonderful.
Cindi: Well, one of the wonderful things I think you do is you play the harmonica …and I bought this for you.
(Hands him a harmonica box, wrapped in a bow)
Stephen: (smiling, receives the box) You did?
Cindi: You can open it
Stephen is untying the bow
Cindi: Because I was hoping….because one of the wonderful things you do when you shut that door and leave Kayla on the other side of it, you play that harmonica. I just die!
Stephen: This is one of the best harps to play Blues on.
Cindi: Thank you very much Sir for coming. You’re wonderful. I wish you the best of luck.
Stephen: Thank you.
Stephen plays the harmonica as Cindi’s show goes to break.
(Transcript and pictures courtesy of nicholsevansfan)
**Please do not copy photographs without permission.**
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