| Michael Easton Fan Encounters p. 2B |
| Photos and Story by Tina Payne |
| On August 22, 2003 I attended the last ever Port Charles Dinner. My ticket was ordered well in advance so I did not know PC would be cancelled and it would be everyone's final goodbye, all together. It was a very touching experience. I had planned to attend this event on the hope that Michael Easton would attend, and he did.
The event started with everyone being introduced and then they were given the awards fans voted on, and of course, I'd voted half my ballot's categories to Michael. I was glad the awards were pretty well spread out though, considering how bittersweet this was for the actors, and it was good to hear from nearly everyone. Michael and Thorsten came in late, as they had recently come from their personal event, as had I, "Irish Coffee With the Boys". What really touched me was that Brian Gaskill had gone up to get his 2nd award and said he wanted to say something since they had not been there earlier. When he addressed Michael and Thorsten, people started laughing thinking it'd be something crazy, with those 2! Brian said something like, "No, seriously, I'm not making a joke. When I was on the set, it was hard and I was tied pretty tight. Thorsten Kaye and Michael Easton, you made me laugh constantly. You made the set a better place to be and I'm really happy you were on the show.". Need I really say more about ME's and TK's character than that? They were obviously really moved by Brian's honest and sincere compliments, especially Michael. I knew what Brian was saying having just experienced ME's and TK's humor in their Irish Coffee. They were sweet and funny for hours on their own. While they teased about each other getting PC cancelled, they were confident and proud of what an awesome, Emmy nominated show they took part in for a few years. So were the actors at the dinner. It was such a family feeling between all of them. Michael spoke and said he was going to miss that job he loved a lot; and that he hadn't wanted to love the job, after keeping to himself at first, but they drew him in. Having had jobs, with friends, where I felt similar in the beginning and end myself, I could relate. I relate more to this guy than any other celebrity and I'm proud to say that. I've read early quotes from Michael online and asked my husband who said that, years ago, and he answered "You did." I think we all feel drawn to people who remind us a little of ourselves, and these people can inspire us and even teach us a little about ourselves when they've lived through some of the same. I admire the way Michael handles things with dignity time after time. Any time you ask a co-worker about Michael, you get very similar to what Brian said so well. Michael took the award for "Favorite Villian" for his role of Caleb and joked "It wasn't like I was the ONLY villian on the show!" He pretty much was at the time! He was still very gracious and said it belongs to all of them. He said they were the sweetest people in the world and it was the best job he ever had. I knew he was sweet before I even met him, and it was so nice to keep seeing it reconfirmed. When my husband Ted and I were in ME's picture and autograph line, they announced everyone needed to speed the lines up and stop getting so many autographs per person, so Ted told me to give him my Irish Coffee cup and he'd ask Michael to sign it. We had our camcorder going since the battery died right before Michael got to me in the Irish Coffee, though we got him with my friend Amy there when he was so sweet to her. So I got to Michael, and Ted was recording and talking to him when I realized I still had my camera, which a fan then offered to snap for us. Ted asked if ME was happy about moving to NYC and if he was a Yankees fan, and he was both. Michael said to me "You've changed." I pointed out he'd changed himself, into a warm, cuddly long sleeved pull-over, so I figured he'd be freezing soon in NYC after being used to CA. When a group of us girls got together, past ME's line, it was funny when we were asking each other what he said, and we were so delighted no matter what he'd said to us! He was making normal conversation, but he's just sweet and well received no matter what he says. When asked, I told the girls that he'd remarked how I'd changed clothes, like it was thrilling, since he let me know he remembered me, and Ted said "It sure doesn't take much!" Heck, he had me at "Hello"! Now backing up to Ted's minute in ME's autograph line. I don't know what made me think Ted was just going to ask Michael to sign the cup and say thanks, but after I floated off to retrieve cameras, I heard Ted yacking up a storm and Michael laughing and apologizing! Some of it can just barely be heard on our tape. Ted told him that he worked during the day and didn't get to watch his show much, but he sure heard about him every single day from me! Michael said "I'm sorry."! Ted was like "It's OK, you just put a lot of pressure on a fella!", or some such craziness! I got Ted outta there before I died of embarrassment. What was funny is, that if Ted's in a talkative mood and if there's not a huge rush, he usually carries on like that and I never even think twice about it with my other soap actors. After his talking to ME like that though, I grabbed Ted by the shoulders, looked him in his eyes and asked "Are you SURE he knew you were kidding? I can't believe you had him apologizing!" Ted said "Yeah, he was laughing the whole time, even when he was apologizing!" Usually, when Ted is doing his comedy routine with one actor, I'm so unconcerned I'm walking off to my next guy's line! Michael is special though, so I was concerned for a moment he might think I was married to a nut; then I remembered how nuts he and Thorsten just were a few hours earlier and I quit worrying about it! When our pix came back, Ted showed me how Michael was smiling in the picture with him and said "See, I told you he knew I was kidding!" Actually, I think Michael encouraged Ted because I had to hear variations of his jokes all PC/GH fan weekend. The funniest was probably when Maurice Benard maintained his serious Sonny look and took my side 100% while telling Ted how much he could learn from Sonny on being a good, romantic husband. As we approached Chad Brannon, Ted whispered to me "I'm gonna use my line on Chad I used on Michael last night." When Ted told Chad he sure made it rough on a fella, I thought Chad would fall out of his chair laughing! Ted asked him "Will you explain to her you have writers and I don't?" Barely able, through his laughter, Chad told me he had writers! I said "I realize that, Sweety! I'm not one of those who thinks soaps are real, as implied by Goofy here!" Ted told Ted King (who's character was then so evil he did nothing for me even though Ted King is gorgeous) he was glad to meet him, HIS favorite, because those sexy, romantic types I liked were killing him! My Ted thanked Ted King for "not raising the bar too high"! Truth be told, Michael Easton is probably Ted's fave of my guys because he loves to watch ME in shows like "Two" or his action-adventure type work, plus Ted likes Michael Easton, Michael E. Knight, Roger Howarth and Thorsten Kaye a lot because of how sincerely sweet they are to me. OK, Madam Web-Master who wanted me to ask Ted if he'd write a ME encounter, he said "No", and that I could write his for him; so I tossed his experience and pic in with mine! This was probably safer, judging by what Ted keeps walking by the office and dictating to me, such as "My favorite Michael Easton experience was the time my wife nearly flipped out when Disney tried to cheat her out of her Fast Pass to see Michael Easton!" The Port Charles Dinner was great because we witnessed Michael open his big heart with the co-stars and fans who love him. He proved to be very naturally as cool, witty and sexy as he got to be on that show, playing a vampire and a rock star, with the difference being that he is also humble, modest and sweet as can be in person. Tina Payne |
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