Ricky Paull Goldin Nobody in Springfield was more shocked than Guiding Light's Gus Aitoro to find out that none other than Alan Spaulding (Ron Raines) was his biological father. Coming from a family of cops and regular Joes, the rich and (mostly) unscrupulous Spauldings were not exactly the kind of people Gus ran with.
But slowly, Gus is trying to make peace with the fact that he is a Spaulding. But does Gus' portrayer, Ricky Paull Golding, ever see himself warming up to the Spaulding family? "It's tricky," Ricky explains. "He wants to love them; he wants to embrace them. But his father is a mountain in the way. He wants the love of his father, but what Alan stands for gets in the way."
At least Gus has someone to lean on, in the form of his wife, Harley (Beth Ehlers), or as Ricky puts it, "The female version of me in a lot of ways."
Preparing for something
Ricky continues: "She's very bright, a very good actor, a very natural performer. I wouldn't be able to take it if she wasn't. She's been the most incredible partner. It's not always so melodramatic. You wanna know our secret? We try to find the humour in all the pain. Our relationship mirrors real life. The set is our home. When I set foot there, I am home. I really feel that this journey is preparing me for something."
But, of course, as in soap life and real life, there are always opposing forces trying to ruin a good thing. Take Daisy, Harley's teenage daughter with Dylan Lewis - she has developed feelings for Gus. If she is anything like her mother, trouble is definitely afoot for Harley and Gus if Daisy keeps pursuing her feelings. "It's only gonna get worse," Ricky says. "There is something around the bend," he adds cryptically.
And now that Dylan, Harley's first love, is back in town to help with unruly Daisy, does Ricky see any Gus/Dylan rivalry? "Everybody's human; so yes, there might be some thoughts that cross Gus' mind. But does he really think that Dylan could break him and Harley up? No."
GL recently celebrated its 70th anniversary, a landmark that definitely is not lost on Ricky. As he explains: "I think the show was blessed by God. How else do you explain it? The show started out with a preacher's son ... maybe, just maybe, there's a little bit of magic taking place. When I talk with fans, and you've got the grandmother, the mother and the daughter who all watch the show and have for years, I feel like I am just passing through. I tell them, 'I hope I'm doing a good job'."
Very fulfilling
When Ricky thinks about possibly performing on Broadway again (he previously played Danny Zuko in Grease), he acknowledges that it's something he'd love to do. "I'm always looking for the right thing. For a while, I buried myself in this character, but I could see myself doing it again. At the end of the day, when you're making a nice living out of what you love doing, it's very fulfilling."
Ricky knows how good he's got it, and perhaps that is what spurs him to want to help others who might not be so fortunate. He's actively involved in GL's partnership with the Hands on Network through FindYourLight.net. They kicked off the campaign by traveling to Biloxi, Mississippi, for a week and helping to rebuild houses devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
"I went to Biloxi, and it was a beautiful experience. There were sad tears and happy tears. The moment I am not working, I am going to be wherever I am needed for Find Your Light. You just have to get off your butt and help."
If you want to know how you can help, please go to FindYourLight.net and sign up to volunteer at one of the next rebuilding campaigns.
- Cindy Elavsky
