Charles Divins is now an anchor at the NBC affiliate WDSU, which is a total shift from where his career began. Divins is well known f...
Charles Divins is now an
anchor at the NBC affiliate WDSU, which is a total shift from where his career
began. Divins is well known for playing Chad Harris Crane on the now defunct
NBC daytime soap opera "Passions". It's quite evident that
fans of the soap miss the show and would love a reunion or a reboot in some
form. Soap Opera Intel caught up with Divins who was a part of some major
storylines during the show's run and we discussed his time on the show, the
cancellations, playing Chad, his hope to have children soon and much more. Read
the full interview below!
So, you spent 5 years
playing the role of Chad Harris Crane on "Passions", can you share a
little bit about that experience?
Charles: I can say it was the most fun I've had working
with a group of people. We worked quite hard and everybody was there to create
something, everybody was there to inject some sort of personality in the show.
As you know the show was this kind of hysterical take on soaps, so we had to
really find what was grounding about it when you're put in such creative situations.
Every day we had so much fun, it was challenging but it was interesting to see
what they came up with. And, when you've been working on a show for five years
it kinds of create this little family.
The character
"Chad" was given a bit of crazy material to work with; sleeping with
two sisters, turning out to be cheating on his wife with a man etc, was there
ever any difficulty bringing across that type of material?
Charles: Well, of course - the difficulty is you know
being in these situations with a touching subject. You have to deliver it in a
way that's really entertaining and delicate and gives some respect to the
situation and it was really a hard balance to make every day. Chad of all
characters on the show was put in those positions with his sexuality with women
and men - finding his pedigree, finding his past. In every step of the way he
was morally questioned about everything he did.
It's been 10 years
since the cancellation on NBC - how was it handling the news that this show
that you've been a part of for 5 years was coming to an end?
Charles: It was really hard. As far as hearing about it,
it was a pretty abrupt thing. We got in one morning and Jeff Zucker, the head
of NBC programming at the time came in and said you guys are done. We didn't
really have time to deal with it and of course it was sad. You spent all this
time creating a character but it's an industry where everything comes to an
end, nothing last forever even soap operas. And, it's kind of hard to say
goodbye when you came this close to your character and people came close to
you.
Since the cancellation
have you kept in touch with Brook Kerr [ex-Whitney] or any of your former
co-stars and who?
Charles: Additionally, directly after the cancellation
everybody went in different directions - their career went in a different
direction, so besides social media it's been really distant. I haven't really
heard from anybody since I have been living in L.A.
Have you ever
considered returning to daytime? A few of your former 'Passions' co-stars are
now on 'Days of Our Lives'. So if you would return what role do you think you'd
wanna play?
Charles: Yes! I would be thrilled to go back to daytime.
I'm older; I'm a different person now you know what I mean. So I think the
character that I would play would be a completely different version of me. A
man who is trying to find his way out, a man who know what he wants and what he
expects with a little bit more of experience - it would be good to
return to acting.
What would it take to
get you back on daytime?
Charles: The right role - the right opportunity - if the
timing worked out, I would really return to acting!
You're now a TV anchor
at the NBC affiliate WDSU in New Orleans and it’s quite a shift from acting,
tell us what's that like?
Charles: It's a good experience! It's completely
different in good ways, I'm no longer telling fictional stories - I'm doing
real stories everyday and it so good delivering in this genre. Live TV is
completely different from filming everyday and it's something I really enjoy,
to be able to tell real stories everyday and connect with the audience.
Is this your path for
the unforeseeable future or do you think you will be doing some acting soon?
Charles: The path is something that changes day-to-day
month-to-month, year-to-year. I think anything that is a challenge and
experience is what I’m drawn to. I'm now contracted as a morning actor but what
comes next is what's most exciting in the coming months or year.
So, what else is on
the horizon for you personally, emotionally and career wise?
Charles: Personally I got married a few years ago and I’m
considering having kids. It's a personal experience in which we're not quite
there yet but we are on that path. Career wise I'm doing a lot of speaking, I'm
thinking of developing a kind of platform to deliver my experiences - the path
to where I am. I feel like now is a good time to collect my life stories and
experiences and share it. You may just see me speaking at a convention near you
or a book might drop or you may just see me on the small screens again.
Will you be attending
the Passions event in July?
Charles: I'm trying to work that out. Unfortunately it's
scheduled at a kind of a rough weekend so at the moment it's a bit of
"TBA" on that. I would love to be there to catch up with everybody
but for now it's just "TBA".
So, fans would you love
to see Divins back on Daytime - if so, what role or what show would you love to
see him on? Sound off in the comment section below!
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