Jeff Kober Opens up About His “Intimidating” First Day as Cyrus
Before Jeff Kober joined the cast of GENERAL HOSPITAL back in February as villain Cyrus Renault, the actor had an impressive Hollywood history. His resume spans forty years in the entertainment business and includes shows like CHINA BEACH, FALCON CREST, and SONS OF ANARCHY. But there was something about joining the cast of the daytime drama that was more intense than some of his other acting gigs, he recently revealed on the popular podcast That’s Awesome! With Steve & Bradford.
“The first day I was working, I had 20 pages of dialog,” Kober said, recalling the hefty script and fast pace of working on a multi-camera soap opera after decades spent on single-camera programs. “We take [the scene] once, and we’re good. Take it once and we’re good. Take it once and we’re good. We finished the third scene… I didn’t realize I was on mic, and I said, ‘This is [expletive] nuts.’”
The whole crew laughed at his exclamation, Kober admitted. But thanks to the scene partner he was working with that particular day — Maurice Benard (Sonny) — the actor had really been thrown into the proverbial fire and didn’t want to botch up that first interaction between drug lord Cyrus and the Mob kingpin he was threatening. “He’s intimidating,” Kober confessed of Benard. “I don’t want to mess with this guy. I’m the new kid on the block, I don’t know who my character is yet, I’m trying to work it out. I’m trying to be tough behind bars, in my orange suit… It was something. But after a few days, I really started enjoying the hell out of it.”
Nearly a year into his GH run, Kober feels much more at ease in his new role. “I’m just having the time of my life,” he said. “I’m having so much fun.”
And he’s extremely grateful that the writers are now creating a bigger storyline and backstory for Cyrus. “Because I was supposed to die some time ago!” he revealed.
Stay tuned to see more of what that history is and who else Cyrus is connected to in Port Charles!