SOD Online October 1998
Another World's Michael Rodrick bares all about brothers, Bay City and Brooklyn.
Actor:
Michael Rodrick
Role:
Another World's Cameron Sinclair
Hometown:
Jersey City, New Jersey
Birthday:
February 22
Family Ties: Parents Walter and Eleanor; three brothers
Education: "I left Jersey City and went to Washington D.C. to college. I studied theater at the Catholic University for four years. I loved it. It's a great city, very cosmopolitan, not New York, of course. Different, change of pace, it's a southern city, a little slower. They emulate us, at least they try."
Marital Status: Single. "I'm dating, definitely. I'm with one person, her name is Julissa."
AW Debut: April 1998
Soaps He Watched Before: "I used to watch Melrose Place. And I thought Jack Wagner [Peter] was cool, really cool to watch."
New York, New York: "I'd love to eventually move to Manhattan [from New Jersey]. I'd love to be on the lower East side or Hell's Kitchen. That would be great."
Must See TV: "Seinfeld, Frasier, and Another World. Friends is good, too."
Make Reservations: "I know how to cook, I just haven't cooked in a long time. I eat out constantly."
Movies of Summer: "Something About Mary had me splitting at the sides I was laughing so hard! I just saw Saving Private Ryan, and it was great."
On those Cancellation Rumors:
"From what I understand, there was always rumors and
threats of canceling other soap operas, and you just ride
the wave. People tune in to the storylines that they like.
I think that people are fickle, and for a while they weren't
watching Another World and now they are again. So,
I think that we're here to stay."
DIGEST ONLINE: What has it been like working on Another World?
MICHAEL RODRICK: It's been an invaluable experience for me to just learn how to flex my acting muscles. I mean, you really have very little time to make things work, and so you just keep it going and keep it moving and pretty soon you get good at it.
DIGEST ONLINE: What was your first day on the set like?
MICHAEL RODRICK: First day on the set was glorious. They just had me jogging through the park. Amanda sees you, so we just want you to jog. So, I was completely just like, "Cool. I'll jog. How do you want me to jog? How fast do you want me to jog?"
DIGEST ONLINE: Has everyone been welcoming?
MICHAEL RODRICK: Oh, yeah, they were great. Mike Eilbaum was directing that day, and he's a really nice guy. We had a really good time.
DIGEST ONLINE: Have your family and friends been watching?
MICHAEL RODRICK: They all watch. I mean, they love it. They get more joy out of it than I do. That's a joke, of course. But, actually, they do. They get a lot of joy out of it.
DIGEST ONLINE: Do you watch yourself?
MICHAEL RODRICK: Yeah, I watch myself all the time. I tape [the show] because it helps you get better. So, that's exactly what I do. I tape it, I study it, just to learn about camera angles and everything.
DIGEST ONLINE: Are you recognized in your neighborhood or in Manhattan?
MICHAEL RODRICK: Not in my neighborhood so much. But I'm recognized when I'm in Manhattan and I'm walking around. People recognize me there.
DIGEST ONLINE: Was it wild the first time you were approached?
MICHAEL RODRICK: Yeah. I was kind of freaked out. I also got this really cool webpage, and I was like, "Wow." [The girl who put together the page] has been absolutely great, and I love the webpage that she created for me. She's really nice. I want to tell people to go log on! I mean, she knows more about me than anybody.
DIGEST ONLINE: Are you online savvy?
MICHAEL RODRICK: No! I'm computer illiterate. It's funny; it's like I just missed that. I'm 28. Anybody two years younger than me is completely computer literate. Anyone my age and older is just as dumb as a brick. The day I left high school is the day they got all the computers in all the classrooms. [Laughs]
DIGEST ONLINE: How do you like working in Brooklyn?
MICHAEL RODRICK: It's a weird neighborhood. It's like you're in Europe or something. It's just really strange. It's fun, though, I like it. It's an ethnic neighborhood: it's Italian and Hasidic Jewish. The food's really good. It reminds me of old Jersey City, where I grew up. It's just an old fashioned neighborhood. There's still a main street, there's no mall. There's a fish store, there's a shoe store, and there's an eyeglass store. I like that, as opposed to going to a huge Walmart where everything is under one roof. I like that a lot, actually.
DIGEST ONLINE: You have three brothers, so it must be exciting to have an onscreen brother. How do you like working with John Littlefield?
MICHAEL RODRICK: Oh, John's great. We've been hanging out a lot, which really helps with the acting. To come across as brothers, you have to have a good rapport with one another, and that's really worked out great between him and I. We went away together, too. Since we hung out together, it's easy to have this relationship that we're brothers come across. He's a really great guy.
DIGEST ONLINE: Did you know you would have this family connection when you first took the role?
MICHAEL RODRICK: They hinted at it, but then they were saying they weren't going to do it, and then they did it. It was like, "Welcome to soaps!" I gotta remember this, that they're going to tell me one thing and then something else happens. For the most part I think that they know what they're gonna do.
DIGEST ONLINE: Do you think there are any more Sinclairs around?
MICHAEL RODRICK: No, I don't. I hope not! Don't tell me I got more brothers around!
DIGEST ONLINE: Is the Sinclair mother dead? We know the father is.
MICHAEL RODRICK: God, I never even thought of it. I have no idea. That's good thinking. I'll go ask them now, thanks for telling me!
DIGEST ONLINE: How did you feel when they told you that you were going to sleep with your sister-in-law on the show?
MICHAEL RODRICK: I thought it would be interesting. Here's two people who are completely distraught, and then they're consoling one another like that. Is it unusual for people [where] one just spent 10 years in jail, and the other used to be a prostitute? Maybe that's how prostitutes and convicts console one another. [Laughs] I just thought it would be interesting.
DIGEST ONLINE: In grief, people are known to do extreme things.
MICHAEL RODRICK: Of course they do.
DIGEST ONLINE: Still, at the last moment, they knew what they were doing, so there was a little bit of that....
MICHAEL RODRICK: Yeah.
DIGEST ONLINE: Do you think that Cameron is attracted to Josie?
MICHAEL RODRICK: Probably. Of course he's attracted to her, he just never realized it. The same with her, too. I mean, she was attracted to him, that was made apparent. She was thinking about him. It was kinda strange. When I heard about it, I was just excited about the storyline. It sounded very primetime. I liked the whole idea of it. I was excited to do it.
DIGEST ONLINE: Is Cameron going to be able to make things up to Amanda?
MICHAEL RODRICK: I hope so. As you can see, she's not very happy. [Laughs]
DIGEST ONLINE: Do you think that Cameron and Amanda are suited for one another?
MICHAEL RODRICK: Yeah. There's something about them, that's right. And I think the audience knows that, too. They belong together, but of course they're going to have problems, because this is a soap opera!
DIGEST ONLINE: What is it like working with Sandra Ferguson [Amanda]?
MICHAEL RODRICK: She's great. She knows the medium. She has those little nuances that she can put into the performance that make it even that much better. I don't even see them and then when I watch it I'm like, "Oh!" You know, a little look here, a little movement here, and then she's able to communicate the story so well.
DIGEST ONLINE: You've had a lot of physical stuff to do.
MICHAEL RODRICK: I love the physical acting. That's my favorite part. That's what I like best, that's what I'm most suited for. The acting challenge there is good because it's like, "Okay, make it work." To do something physical as opposed to [speaking] dialogue is great. It's like doing an action picture. It's like, "Okay, jump over that fence, knock these two guys out." I love that stuff. Fight scene? I'm all there!
DIGEST ONLINE: Cameron is a little explosive to say the least. You must be able to blow off some steam at work.
MICHAEL RODRICK: Yeah. He's kind of controlled, too. Lately, he hasn't been blowing off steam. In the beginning, he was, he kept yelling at Amanda to stay the hell out of his room! [Laughs] That was cool.
DIGEST ONLINE: You're going to have some tension with Amanda, I guess, for a while.
MICHAEL RODRICK: Yeah, and then he's basically gonna ask for her forgiveness. She's not going to give it to him, and he's gonna try tough love is what he's basically gonna do. He's gonna go, "Look, I love you, this is the way it is, come back to me when you're over this. But really, I can't stress it enough, it didn't mean a thing and it was pathetic." What happened between Josie and [Cameron] was pathetic. I hope she believes him. I don't know if she will or she won't.
DIGEST ONLINE: You're going to be involved with working with the Corys to help regain their fortune.
MICHAEL RODRICK: Gary and I are going to team up and try to figure out what's going on with that.
DIGEST ONLINE: Does Cameron have a profession?
MICHAEL RODRICK: He used to work for the FBI, so he's a detective. But I don't really know what his profession is going to be now.
DIGEST ONLINE: Cameron doesn't have many friends. Who would you like to see Cameron mix it up with in Bay City?
MICHAEL RODRICK: Who would he get along well with in Bay City? I don't know! I'd love to see him strike up Sofia's fancy. He just walks into a room and she's just [smitten]. I haven't met her character yet. That'd be fun. Or the new girl -- Remy. Maybe he could walk into their lives and sweep them off their feet! I would love to see him sweep either one of them off their feet.
DIGEST ONLINE: Cameron seemed to get along with Tyrone, his attorney.
MICHAEL RODRICK: Yes! Tyrone's very cool. I just wish I was half as handsome as he is. [Laughs] I always look at him and say, "Yeah, I need to go to the gym!" [Laughs] He's a nice guy. I invited him to come with me and John to Mexico. [Editor's Note: Rodrick and Littlefield took a trip to Mexico recently.] He and I have had some really nice scenes together.
Brotherly Love:
Rodrick's fraternal twin brother Mark sells bonds.
"I'm the one who's 10 minutes older. If he was born
5 minutes later, he would have been born the next day. . .
[Mark and I] were both very competitive of one
another, which was good. We both did well in school,
we both did well in sports, because we were both very
competitive of one another. It was a really good thing.
Some [people] say that sibling rivalry can be a bad thing,
but I don't think so. I think it could be a great thing."
Oh Brother:
Rodrick also has an older brother Walter and a younger
brother Daniel. "When we were young we called [Walter]
'Wawa.' I have a younger brother named Daniel, and when
he was younger we used to just call him "Dan the Man"
because he was small. 'Mark and Michael' is what they
used to always [call us twins]. And every now and then
they'd say 'Mike and Markel,' which apparently confused my
twin brother. He just told me that, I had no idea. He
used to think his name was Markel."
Hot Fun in the Summertime:
"We went down to the shore every summer on the weekends.
That was the best."
DIGEST ONLINE: You're single. Are you currently dating anyone?
MICHAEL RODRICK: I'm dating, definitely. I'm with one person, her name is Julissa.
DIGEST ONLINE: What does she do?
MICHAEL RODRICK: She works for an asbestos removal company. She prepares bids for construction companies.
DIGEST ONLINE: How did you guys meet?
MICHAEL RODRICK: On New Year's Day, I went to see Titanic with a bunch of friends, and she went to see Titanic with a bunch of friends, and I started talking to her on the popcorn line, because I'm crazy like that! [Laughs] She's really cute. She was wearing this really cute hat. And that was that.
DIGEST ONLINE: That's the right movie to meet someone at!
MICHAEL RODRICK: I guess. It hadn't started yet. It's just kinda cute that we met at that movie especially... that movie was God, what a rage! Now it's out on video. Look out!
DIGEST ONLINE: I know! Everyone's watching it on video now.
MICHAEL RODRICK: I bought it. [Laughs] I got it for 19.99. I heard you can get it for less. If I were them, I would have charged 30 dollars. It was a good movie. It was a really good movie. I remember seeing the previews, though, and thinking, This is gonna flop.
DIGEST ONLINE: Are you working on any outside projects right now?
MICHAEL RODRICK: I just did two independent films, both leads. I'm waiting for them to start hitting festivals. One is called Under Hell Gate Bridge and the other one is called Kingdom Come. Under Hell Gate Bridge is a story of redemption, how I try to redeem myself by saving my brother from heroin addiction. Kingdom Come is like Escape from New York meets Apocalypse Now. We'll just leave it at that.
DIGEST ONLINE: You starred in another independent film before Another World, didn't you?
MICHAEL RODRICK: Yes. It's called Desolation Angels. It won the Rotterdam Film Festival, and it won Telluride Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival a few years ago. I'd love my fans to check that out. I was the lead character, and basically it's a guy who's girlfriend has been raped by someone he knows, so it's a really hard thing for him to deal with because he knows the guy and it was a date rape. It's a strange thing for somebody to deal with. Why is my girlfriend on a date with someone that I didn't know about, and now what happened? Very emotionally charged story. It did really well at the festivals. If people can't rent it, they can find out how to see it on the website. Desolation Angels put me on the map. A great, great little movie. We did for an ultra low budget, less than a hundred thousand dollars. I had just gotten out of school. I didn't know what I was doing [as far as film is concerned], but everybody loved it.
DIGEST ONLINE: If you could guest star on any primetime show, which one would you chose?
MICHAEL RODRICK: I would probably like to guest star on ER, which I don't get to watch that much. I'd like to guest star on NYPD Blue. Before I got to Another World, I had tested for NY Undercover. It went down to three guys for that new white cop role, which I lost out on. I tested also for Easy Streets, which didn't last long. That was a great show. Jason Gedrick go the part.
DIGEST ONLINE: Who is your favorite actor?
MICHAEL RODRICK: I've got a few who I think are just ultra talented. People might not be so enamored by them, but I just think that they are incredibly talented. Like Gary Oldman and Sean Penn. I think they are amazing actors. As for movie stars, who do I love as a movie star, is Mel Gibson, Jennifer Lopez, Salma Hayek, Sean Connery.
DIGEST ONLINE: What's your favorite movie of all time?
MICHAEL RODRICK: I've got a few. I think Casablanca is great. I loved A Room With A View, Fools Rush In [laughs], which is kind of an odd concoction. Jerry Maguire was great.
DIGEST ONLINE: What would be your dream role?
MICHAEL RODRICK: I don't know. I'd like to do an action film that the plot is sort of politically motivated, that the character is like a freedom fighter, a one man army. But that there's some basis to it, that he's really liberating a country or political prisoners or something like that. Something reality based, not like some of these Hollywood films that are just for fun and games. I'd love to do a romance. I'm starting to get better at it now with the soap opera. I'd love to do a: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back, but it's quite complicated. A romantic lead. I like doing art films, doing really complicated stories. Kind of like a movie like Ice Storm, something like that. Or Ordinary People. But a dream part would be to play the lead in [a movie version of] The Seagull.
DIGEST ONLINE: Do you have any pets?
MICHAEL RODRICK: A great dog, a Boston Terrier, she's a doll. Her name's Judy, and I just bought her one of those retractable leashes because she'll pull your arm out. She' great. She scratches you every time she sees you. You know, a great dog.
DIGEST ONLINE: We know you are a sports junkie. What are some of your other hobbies?
MICHAEL RODRICK: There are some sports that I would love to learn and master. I'd love to learn how to dive. There was this incredibly big diving board in Mexico that I wanted to just go to the top and ... I did, but I didn't do a dive. It would be nice to learn to do that. I'd love to learn how to be a really good boxer and a really good swimmer. I just lifted a lot of weights my whole life, I mean, since I was twelve. I took some karate, and I do a lot of running. Right now, I picked up the rollerblading and I love it. I think it's a great sport. I want to get all the material, the helmets and stuff, too, because I want to start jumping up and down on staircase rails and that kind of thing. [Laughs] I do a little hunting once in a while, just for pheasants, small birds, with my uncle. I'll go only with my uncle. I fish a lot. I went fishing a couple of weeks ago with my cousin.
DIGEST ONLINE: What kind of music do you listen to?
MICHAEL RODRICK: I'm pretty musically illiterate. I like cheesy Top 10 music. I really like R&B. I grew up with Barry White. My mom used to play Barry White all the time. I wish I could sing like those R&B guys do; they sounds great. I'd love to do a music video, because I just think that there's a real challenge there, because it's like doing a silent film. I would love to do that. I just wish somebody would field me an offer.
DIGEST ONLINE: What are your personal ambitions?
MICHAEL RODRICK: I just want to keep acting until I'm dead, whatever the medium, as long as it pays reasonably well. I'd like a beautiful wife, and two daughters, a house of my own and a couple of other houses. I'd like to travel a lot, I really enjoy traveling a lot. I'd like to rediscover that sort of bawdy behavior we all used to have when we were 16-17. Bawdy's not the word, it's more like that sort of... just try to get in touch with loving life as opposed to be so career oriented, which we all are. We're all trying to be Tom Cruise, we're all trying to get that BMW, we're all trying to get ahead in life. While we're getting ahead, we're not having any fun. We're all going to be a bunch of Willy Lomans in Death of a Salesman if we don't watch ourselves. At least in soap opera you get time to reflect on these sorts of things, you have some free time. Sometimes you don't when you're doing Boca Lynda, I didn't have any time to be philosophical.
I had a life changing thing happen to me. My focus is how can I be happy today, and my focus isn't how do I move up the corporate ladder. I was doing really well in real estate, and everything all came crashing down one day and I noticed that money is just not that important. It was just one of those things. You change your mind about things real fast. It hit me one day what's valuable and what's not valuable. And it hit me the hard way.