B&B's John McCook has found the formula for success and happiness in his personal life and career
About the only thing my character (Eric Forrester) and I have in common is we wear the same boxer shorts," jests The Bold and the Beautiful's John McCook. A quick glance at the details of the 52-year-old actor's life shows he isn't joking.
In an industry where most marriages have the shelf life of an issue of People magazine, McCook and his wife, former actress Laurette Spang, have been happily wed for 17 years. Their secret? "Communication and honesty. Without them, you have nothing," says McCook, who prides himself on the stability of his marital relationship. "Laurette and I are pals, soul mates, best friends."
The two met back in the late '70s, when both shuffled off to Buffalo to appear on a March of Dimes telethon. (Spang was starring on Battlestar Galactica at the time.) Though they occasionally ran into each other because they shared the same agent, they didn't really become acquainted until the telethon. A week later, The Hollywood Reporter linked them romantically, despite the fact that it wasn't true... yet. "I called up Laurette and said, 'Look, we're supposedly seeing each other, so why don't we get together for coffee?' "Spang agreed, and the two married in February 1980, shortly after McCook ended his four-year tenure as playboy Lance Prentiss on The Young and the Restless.
That McCook adores Spang is obvious. When he speaks about her, his voice takes on a tender, reverential quality. The same is true when he speaks of his children: Seth, 25, from a previous marriage; and Jake, 16, Becky, 14, and Molly, 7, from his marriage to Spang. "Laurette and I have been blessed with kids who are smart and have really good hearts," he says. "And we both work very hard at making sure they stay grounded. We've heard too many horror stories about kids who are screwed up because their parents are in the business."
One way of keeping his kids' feet planted firmly on the ground has been a deliberate avoidance of life in the fast lane. McCook and his family live in a moderate-size house in the 'burbs, and he and his wife make a conscious effort to get to know their children's friends. "We constantly encourage them to bring friends home. Not only because it's important to know who your kids are spending time with but also because this is their home, too; they should be able to hang out and feel comfortable." To that end, the McCooks have set up a playroom, complete with TV, VCR, popcorn machine, the works. "Unlike their bedrooms, they don't have to keep it clean," McCook says with a laugh.
But the most important factor in creating a healthy family life, the actor says, "is just being there. That's why I love this job so much. I don't travel. I don't have to be away six months at a time to make a feature film. I usually don't have to work five days a week, but even when I do, I'm almost always home for dinner. I spend more time with my family than someone working 9 to 5 would. It's great."
McCook has managed to imbue his character with this kind of joie de vivre, which pleases him immensely. "Eric was an incredible stick-in-the-mud when the show first started," he points out. "He's a lot more youthful and enthusiastic now, which makes him much more interesting to play."
And to watch. B&B recently celebrated its 19th anniversary, and McCook, who's been on from the beginning isn't shy about analyzing the show's success. "I think the show goes well because the characters are all very well-known, and the core relationships are all very complex. Over the past 10 years, the show has changed many times, often not for the better. But whenever we go back to basics - that is, focusing on the Forresters and the Spectras - things soar. Having so small a canvas might seem incestuous, but I think it's what works best within a half-hour format."
According to McCook, the show isn't the only thing that's changed over the past decade: He has changed as well. "I think I'm a lot more relaxed, a lot less somber." While he acknowledges his character's storyline "always has and always will be Eric and Stephanie," he enjoyed his character's involvement with Brooke, as well as Eric's recent playful dalliance with Lauren. "in the situation with Brooke, you really got to see Eric's nurturing side. He wanted to take care of her. It was very sweet and romantics. The stuff with Lauren has been very sexy and playful, which has also been great to play."
The long-running popularity of the show in Europe has allowed McCook to pursue his passion for music. In the early '90s, he released a CD titled John McCook Sings Bold and Beautiful Love Songs for Arcade, a Dutch record company. The disc sold phenomenally well abroad, thanks in part to McCook's traveling to Europe to help promote it. That is an experience he vows never to repeat. "Making the record was fun. Publicizing it was not, which is the main reason why I've withdrawn completely from doing another. It's simply too time-consuming. I also hate to bureaucracy involved in making records. As I said, I was doing it for fun. But believe me, no on at the business and of things is in it for fun, and I didn't want to play their game."
Another part of the problem was the celebrity status that actors from the show attain in Europe. "Over there, they think we're movie stars. The soap is shown twice, sometimes three times a day in some countries. On one hand, it's fun. But on the other, it means my family can never have a normal vacation in Europe. We'd be mobbed. It happens here, sometimes: European fans visiting the States spot us, and they begin screaming. Gad forbid we should go someplace like Disneyland! It would be unreal."
Domestic fans are much more respectful of McCook's privacy, although they have been know to deliver the occasional backhanded compliment. "I frequently run into fans who remember me from The Young and the Restless, and I love that. It always makes me feel wonderful - except when they say things like, 'Wow, you got a lot older!' I'm always tempted to reply, 'What, and you got younger?' "He laughs. "Another thing fans who remember me from Y&R say is, 'What have you been up to since playing Lance?' I always want to tell them to leave their set on for another half-hour, and they'll find out."
Fame doesn't faze McCook, perhaps because he's put it in perspective. "When you're young, the sex, drugs and glamour of this business can be incredibly enticing. But it's extremely ephemeral, and if you don't have a solid sense of yourself, it can kill you. It's important to stay grounded, whether it's through your family, friendships, God or involving yourself in other interests."
For McCook, hat includes camping, hiking, but most of all, music. A talented pianist who also has conducted, McCook has played for ballet and other dance classes, and as a struggling actor managed to avoid waiting tables by playing piano for other singers. his love of music extends back into his childhood, when he began taking piano lessons at age 7. By the time he reached high school, playing sports had taken a backseat to playing piano.
As for acting, "that came into the picture when I was about 11. I went to see Peter Pan and was just enchanted," he recalls. "From then on, I wanted to do theater in a bad way. I got involved in community theater as a teen, which completely scandalized my mother. She thought it was a hotbet of god-knows-what - which it can be!"
McCook grew up in Ventura, Calif., which he describes as "a wonderful place. It was like growing up in a small Midwest town, except it happened to be on the Pacific coast." As a youngster, McCook was outgoing and popular, involved in student activities as diverse a choir, football, student government and theater. But despite his love of academia, he lasted only one year at Long Beach State College before pursuing his career. "Staying in college didn't make sense to me. I thought: You want to act? Get out there and do it. So I did. I've been an actor since 1963."
Not surprisingly for someone who's been in the business so long, McCook has developed a personal philosophy when it comes to his work: "Look, there's not a lot of dignity in being a 53-year-old man whose job requires him to put on makeup and stand around whining about love relationships on-camera. But you know what? It's a hell of a lot of fun, and that's what matters. Life's too short to do things you don't enjoy."
By Deirdre Martin
Soap Opera Weekly, 14 October 1997