SOAP OPERA MAGAZINE'S
Star Of The Week
DAYS' Drake Hogestyn, as John Black, personifies the perfect soap opera hero. Women swoon over him, commit adultery for him, bear his children. He's saved more than one, more than once, from certain death.
Men challenge him. He stands his ground, fights back, survives even the most desperate situations: brainwashing, drugging and dungeon captivity.
Drake's riveting portrayal of the handsome priest, torn between his love for Kristen, and his vows to God, have earned Drake our designation as SOAP OPERA MAGAZINE'S Star Of The Week.
Since John learned he was, and still is, a priest, Kristen is determined to play by the rules. She's married and will remain faithful. He's taken a vow to remain celibate, and to do God's work.
It would be impossible for most other actors to keep John from being seen as a victim of fate. Who can argue with God and fully expect to win?
Drake's John Black, of course. In recent weeks, John's impassioned pleas to Kristen to give up her marriage to Tony and return to him have subsided. Drake has managed to maintain John's dignity, strength and romantic charm, which was no easy task.
John's recent toned-down scenes no longer rely upon his eloquent entreaties, replete with grand, sweeping gestures. Now Drake is playing it subtle, with long lingering looks, fleeting stolen touches and quiet determination as he finds a way out of the priesthood.
John's strength of character draws from Drake's presence. Drake proves over and over again that he has the talent and charisma to preserve John's status as a romantic hero, no matter how often Kristen turns, albeit unwillingly, away from him. John even stands up to God to keep the woman he loves and Drake makes it seem plausible that he can do it.
Drake's storylines are often demanding mentally, physically, psychologically, emotionally and spiritually. John, and Drake with him, has run a full gamut this year and has emerged victorious. "Yes, and it's ending in high fashion. This is really new turf," Drake says of his latest storyline.
He uses a familiar baseball analogy to convey his trepidations. "I can't walk out of the batter's box knowing if I've got a base hit or I've struck out. I'm flying by the seat of my pants, but I think John's confusion is starting to dissipate. He's looking at that part of his spiritual nature that's not confined to the priesthood. There's something out there for all of us."
Drake admits that the spirituality of the storyline is "thought-provoking" for him. "I find myself opening up to considering there's more than this-earth reality. That works for me in the way I approach the scenes, too."
Drake's exploration of new possibilities and John's reluctant acceptance of his former life as a priest complement each other beautifully in the story.
"It's a slow awakening," says Drake. "This story is providing me with a big challenge. The spiritual area, the celibate life, is new to John."
John has not given up on Kristen, but his emotions are simmering. He needs to be released from his vows and he's in the process of doing that. "Meanwhile, things are happening on a higher level that are confusing to him," says Drake. John is suddenly center stage in a strange new triangle.
Good guys and bad have rarely been taken to such unearthly extremes on soaps and Drake frankly admits, "I'm more comfortable playing a romantic leading man with a woman" than the pivotal character between the devil and mere mortals.
Luckily, there's a hint that John has a special helpmate. During the Christmas tree lighting, the mysterious Desecrator beleaguering Salem shuts down the electrical power. A homeless man named Gabe tells John how to restore the power. Only later, after Shawn-Douglas refers to Gabe as an angel, does John consider there may be more going on than he first realized.
Later, John finds that someone has stolen his church keys and he rightly anticipates trouble. At the church he gets into a tussle with the Desecrator who was about to smash the créche. Before he can uncover the cloaked person, the Desecrator gets away. John doesn't yet realize that someone close to him is diabolically possessed.
His encounter in the church makes him realize he's dealing with a strange and very powerful force. There will also be more with Father Francis that reveals the source of evil in Salem.
Prior to this recent turn of events, Drake thought he had survived his ultimate challenge while he was held captive in Maison Blanche. "That was physically and mentally demanding. It was the first storyline since the start of my character on this show that I brought home with me. I stayed in that frame of mind a lot."
John Black is a perfect romantic hero. Drake Hogestyn has consistently proven himself a powerful actor, giving John strength, tenacity and deeper levels of resources at every challenge. Bravo!
Lorraine Zenka, SOAP OPERA MAGAZINE, 12/27/94
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