Van Hansis (Lucas Jones) is not a doctor, but he does play one on General Hospital.…and he’s doing a mighty fine job of it, if he does say so himself!
Van Hansis On Playing Doctor
In an interview with Soap Opera Digest, Hansis relayed: “As an actor, you have certain types [of characters] that you go out for a lot; you kind of have your niche. For me, I’ve auditioned for doctors, but I would say that a doctor or a lawyer or whatever is maybe not the obvious choice for me. So, being cast as one, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is going to stretch my muscles.’ ”
Speaking of muscles… “One of the things Frank asked me was, ‘So, how are you medically?’ And I thought he meant, like, [how was my health]! Thank God I didn’t say this, but I was almost like, ‘Well, I tore my meniscus a couple of years ago, but besides that, I feel good [laughs].’ But then I realized he meant, like, ‘How are you with medical jargon?’ And he explained, ‘[I’m asking] because you’d be a doctor.’ ” And not just any doctor.
Unbeknownst to Hansis, he was taking on a much beloved (and much recast) legacy role: Dr. Lucas Jones! And since practice makes perfect, he made sure to bone up on all that medical mumbo jumbo. “For me, when that day came along, I was looking up [the terminology] — I literally had a spreadsheet of all the terms that I needed to say and what they all meant. And I enjoy it because it’s such a learning experience…
“I think I did well with it. I felt good about it and people [on set] said I did a good job with it. After my doctoring [scenes], one of the camera guys was even like, ‘So, did you do this on your previous show [As The World Turns, where he played Luke Snyder].’ And I was like, ‘On my previous show, I played a 16-year-old!’ Like, ‘No, I didn’t have any medical jargon there!’ ”
What say YOU GH devotees? Have you taken Van Hansis’ portrayal of Lucas? Do you think he screams “Doctor”? Let us know in the comments section below.
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