Interview: 'Days of our Lives' Galen Gering

 

 

 

 

Move over, Bo Brady — there’s a new hero in Salem and his name is Galen Gering.

As former FBI agent, Rafael Hernandez, Gering is proving to the soap industry that his talents were highly underestimated on Passions where he played intellectually challenged cop, Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald ever since the campy show’s inception in 1999.

Passions discovered the former model when he was still a creative film-writing student at the University of Miami. Luckily, the show worked around his schedule so the fledgling actor could graduate.

Today, the 39-year-old Los Angeles native is thrilled to be working on Days of our Lives, which is more reality-based than his alma mater. He’s also over the moon regarding his popular coupling with Alison Sweeney’s Sami Brady.

TVGuide.ca spoke with the gorgeous actor about love in the afternoon, DAYS’ creative renaissance, Rafe’s mysterious past, James E. Reilly’s shocking death, and saying goodbye to Passions.

TVGuide.ca: Welcome back to daytime, Galen! I have to admit I was a little worried when you signed with DAYS, but you’ve become one of my favourite characters in Salem. You’re a hit!
Galen Gering: Thanks. That means a lot coming from you. Working on DAYS is a lot more fun than working on Passions from an acting point of view. We had fun at Passions messing around but this character is much better written than Luis was.

TVG: How much did you know about Rafe going in? It’s funny that there are three Rafes on daytime now despite it being an obscure name …
GG: Oh, really? Wow. I didn’t know too much about Rafe. I had a meeting with Gary Tomlin, our executive producer, and all he said was this was going to be a great storyline, and I’d be working with Alison Sweeney [Sami]. Of course, a few things have changed since I started on DAYS, but that’s the nature of the business. I’m certainly working a lot more. Also, my storyline is a lot more pivotal to the show.

TVG: DAYS took their time introducing Rafe to the rest of the canvas, which I think was a smart decision. At first, it didn’t look like they knew what they were going to do with Rafe. Did you offer any input?
GG: I didn’t want Rafe to be this one-note FBI guy. I wanted him to be quirky. I didn’t offer a lot of input because we move so quickly on the show. That said, there is a lot of room for improv because scenes change at the very last minute, so we can add things to the script when it warrants it. This role has been a great marriage of acting and writing. I also think Gary knew what my strengths were as an actor. He’ll often say, ‘I like what you did in rehearsal, so do that.’ Gary also likes the tone I’m bringing to the role. Gary is on the floor a lot, so it’s been great to have a producer who used to be a director right there with you on the set. He gives our company of actors a lot of feedback. Sometimes soap directors are creatively handcuffed, but since Gary is our boss and our director, we don’t have to wait for a [middle man] to approve certain ideas.

TVG: I’m pretty proud of what Gary’s done with DAYS. He’s a triple threat: he’s directed, produced, and written in his other soap incarnations. Remind me again: did you sign with DAYS right after Passions?
GG: I booked DAYS a few months after Passions went off the air. I started here in November. They didn’t offer me the role outright. [Executive producer] Ken Corday wasn’t too familiar with my work on Passions so I did have to audition. Or maybe he was familiar with my work, which is why he wasn’t sure I was right for this role! [Laughs]

TVG: That’s funny!
GG: Gary was really in my corner. He championed my hiring. When I joined the soap, it was a weird time at DAYS. Drake Hogestyn [ex-John] and Deidre Hall [ex-Marlena] were just fired and DAYS was dealing with cutbacks. Heck, they didn’t even know if they would be staying on the air. It was a weird time. Ironically, I tested for Luis on the DAYS set. Since then, a lot of our Passions crew moved over to DAYS.

TVG: Originally, I thought DAYS would’ve paired you with Kristian Alfonso [Hope], not Ali. Are you happy with the Sami and Rafe romance?
GG: I’m thankful that DAYS took its time to slowly build up to the Sami and Rafe romance. As a new guy, I didn’t want to be thrown into the fire right away with Ali because Sami has a crazy, complicated romantic past. I think they did a great job allowing the audience to see Sami and Rafe fall in love. [Birds are tweeting in the background]

TVG: Is that Precious in the background? GG: [Laughs] No, it’s not Precious. It’s bird city in my house. TVG: So the rumours about you and Precious having a sizzling backstage romance are not true? GG: [Laughs] We need to keep that on the down low! But to answer your question, I had known Ali before I joined the show. Obviously, she has a fiery personality, and she brings that element to her character, so I knew I’d have fun working with Ali. I love working with her and I think we have a lot of chemistry. She respects what I bring to the table, and vice versa.

TVG: I agree, and this is coming from a major Sami and EJ fan. Let’s talk about Grace’s death: You have children of your own; how hard were those death scenes to film?
GG: It definitely hit home, that’s for sure. When my second son, Jensen, was born, the doctors came to us at 2:30 in the morning to inform us they had to take a spinal tap because they worried he might have meningitis. So I had already been through this entire frickin’ drill already. I actually lived out this whole drama out in real life. Sometimes soap stories are fantastical, but in this instance, Grace’s death, due to meningitis, made sense and felt very real to me.

TVG: Wow. I didn’t know that. GG: As hard as it was to film those scenes, it was also easy because I had lived through this horrific storyline in real life. Of course, Jensen is alive and healthy. Grace wasn’t so lucky. It was definitely heavy stuff. That week, I didn’t talk to anyone — I just hung out in my dressing room. A couple of times after work, I would just sit in my car for an hour before entering my house. TVG: I would say your performance during Grace’s death was the best work of your career. Would you agree with that? GG: [pauses] I would say I was very present in those scenes, for sure. As an actor, it’s hard for me to say it’s the best work because I’m not sure what defines best.

TVG: Currently, the show is delving into Rafe’s past. Without revealing the storyline, do you know his back story?
GG: I do know. His past definitely colours who he is today. There are a lot of tragic circumstances in his past which certainly defines him. Rafe has a fear of commitment because of his history. The guy is super-loyal and he’s not afraid of conflict professionally, but he’s fragile personally. I think that’s why Grace’s death hit home for him. I don’t know if the audience will like him more or less after they learn about his past. I would hope so, but I don’t know. Having said that, I think it’s a great story and it’s pretty relevant. I’m excited to see how it plays out and I rarely feel that way.

TVG: EJami fans are pretty passionate. Have you gotten any grief from fans for “stealing” Sami away from EJ?
GG: No, not at all. Surprisingly, fans are very supportive of Sami and Rafe. I guess it depends which messageboards you visit. It’s great that that viewers are split down the middle. That’s the sign of a successful love triangle. There’s going to be a lot of interesting stuff coming up with the triangle. I thought fans would turn on me when Rafe kept the fact that EJ is the father of Grace, but so far, the fans still like him.

TVG: You’re part Jewish and Spanish but you always get cast in Latino roles.
GG: My mom side is Spanish. Her last name is de Onate. She comes from a pretty illustrious Spanish history. She’s the granddaughter of a Basque immigrant from Spain. My father is a Jewish American. I don’t mind being cast in Latino roles; I’m not complaining. It’s paying the bills!

TVG: Why did you jump to another soap after Passions was cancelled? I thought you may have tried out your luck in film and prime-time TV.
GG: It crossed my mind, of course. However, it was a fragile time for me. My wife was nine months pregnant, her father was sick, and our contractor had screwed us over, so I had to get back to work immediately. There was a show in New York City that offered me a role, but I turned that down because I didn’t want to leave L.A. Soaps are a great gig. I am happy I stuck with daytime.

TVG: Were you shocked that Passions lasted as long as it did? GG: I wasn’t shocked that it was cancelled. I was shocked that it stayed on the air as long as it did. I thought some of [head writer] James E. Reilly’s stories worked. As far as consistency and character-driven storylines, I didn’t think they worked. I think the [contrived] relationships on the show ultimately killed it. No one really cared anymore about the characters or love stories because the soap became way too over the top. I know Passions was suppose to be campy and mock the industry but it just became too ridiculous to invest in. You have to care about the characters, and unfortunately the audience fell out of love with the show and we lost a lot of viewers that way.

TVG: Passions was a great satire during its first two years on the air, but towards the end, it went absolutely crazy. Were you shocked when James E. Reilly died just a few months after Passions’ cancellation?
GG: Yeah, for sure. I am always surprised whenever anyone dies unless they are in the hospital for a long time. He certainly wasn’t the healthiest guy on the planet. While I am extremely grateful for all the opportunities Passions offered me, it was hard as an actor to understand what he was writing half the time. I’m not sure if there were inter-office politics at play, or if he was handcuffed creatively. What’s nice is that the DAYS writers seem to have autonomy in the writing department. There seems to be less network interference in soaps right now. Maybe James used the religious angle … [sighs] I don’t know; Passions became a mess in the end.

TVG: Would you have preferred if Passions had ended its run on NBC instead of DirecTV?
GG: I think everyone was happy when we moved over to DirecTV because Passions could be racier and riskier. James thought he could realize his original vision of the show better on DirecTV, but it didn’t turn out that way. Also, the writers’ strike happened around that time. Yes, DirecTV promoted Passions a lot, but in the end, I don’t think they were that invested in the show. To me, it felt like the show was being driven into the ground on purpose.

TVG: Do you keep in touch with anyone from the Passions family?
GG: Yeah, I do. James Hyde [ex-Sam] was just in town recently, so we hung out with him. He’s living in New York right now. I keep in touch with Travis Schuldt [ex-Ethan] still. Of course, Eric Martsolf [ex-Ethan; Brady, DAYS], who is my co-star on this show.

TVG: Why isn’t Lindsay Hartley [ex-Theresa] working? She is so talented and gorgeous. I was sure she’d be the first Passions star to land a gig. GG: You know, I was just asking that question to a friend a few weeks ago. Of all people, I thought soaps would see Linds as a viable commodity. I don’t understand why another soap hasn’t courted her. The girl can memorize an extraordinary amount of dialogue and play it beautifully. It’s definitely a mystery. TVG: Back to you: Can we expect you to stay on DAYS? GG: Yeah, I’m here for at least a couple of years. Hopefully longer. I’m happy here.

 

 

 

 

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Nelson Branco is a Toronto freelance entertainment journalist, who regularly contributes to Hello! Canada, The National Post, The Los Angeles Times' theenvelope.com, TV Guide USA, tvguide.com, Inside Entertainment, OUT, and fab magazine, along with spearheading the soap coverage for TVGuide.ca's popular daytime TV hub. After graduating from Ryerson University in 1997, he moved from Toronto to New York in 1998 to take on the roles as senior news editor at Soap Opera Update. Branco first freelanced for Soap Opera Weekly as an intern in 1994, and after leaving Soap Update to help create and launch Bauer Publishing's In Touch Weekly in 2003, Branco continued to freelance occasionally for its sister publication, Soaps In Depth. Most recently, he helped create and launch Canada's first celebrity magazine, Weekly Scoop in 2005 as its news and entertainment director. Branco is also a contributor to a new TV show titled Planet Soap to air in Canada and America.