Actor Josh Kelly of “General Hospital” chatted about his latest endeavors, and being an actor in the digital age.
Playing Cody Bell on ‘General Hospital’
On playing Cody Bell on the ABC soap opera “General Hospital,” he said, “I like how Cody is a complex character with a ton of flaws, but he is trying to do the right thing.”
“Being a part of ‘General Hospital’ is really cool and very humbling,” he said. “A lot of the actors on there have done hundreds of thousands of hours of work. I’ve primarily done primetime TV shows and movies.
“In primetime TV, you do a season of a show, which on average, can have a total of eight to 10 episodes. In daytime, you work year-round and it’s crazy how good a lot of the daytime actors are, and how seasoned they are. Their work ethic is really awesome,” he said.
Working with his ‘General Hospital’ co-stars
Kelly shared that he loves working with Emmy nominee Dominic Zamprogna on “General Hospital,” who plays Dante Falconeri.
“Dominic is so chill, real, and natural. It is fun to work with him. He has been acting for a long time and he is a very gifted actor,” he said. “I hope we have more scenes coming up.”
“Also, Cameron Mathison is such a positive energy source on the show, it’s so cool,” Kelly said.
“I would love to someday work with Maura West, she is fun to be around, and Cynthia Watros too. I loved when Cynthia was on ‘Lost’, she is just so good. There are so many talented people on “General Hospital’,” Kelly said.
Dialogue-heavy
When asked how he handles being dialogue-heavy (learning many pages of lines and dialogue), Kelly said, “It is really neat how your brain adjusts after a couple of weeks or months. After a while, your brain sorts it out. It is all about repetition, doing the work, studying, and caring about the craft. Also, we are lucky because we have good writers.”
‘One Life to Live’
Kelly is known for playing the role of Cutter Wentworth on the defunct ABC daytime drama “One Life to Life,” and he had great words for many of his former “One Life to Live” cast members.
“I love David A. Gregory, he is a sweetheart, and he is such a nice, muscular man,” Kelly said with a sweet laugh. “I love Kassie DePaiva too, she is just wonderful.”
“I also got to work with the legendary Erika Slezak,” he said. “Erika is an incredibly talented performer. I had one scene with her, and her character was mean to me. It was great and so cool to watch her work. That was a fun cast because we all hung out, we were like a family. Erika invited us to her house, and we played croquet there, and we had a nice time,” he said.
‘Transformers’ experience
Kelly also appeared in “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.” “Transformers was amazing,” he exclaimed.
“My favorite toy was ‘Transformers’ growing up and I used to play and pretend to be a soldier fighting them, and then I joined the army in real life, and then, as a result of that, essentially, I got to be in ‘Transformers.’ It was little kid heaven,” he said.
The digital age
On being an actor in the digital age, at a time when streaming and technology are so prevalent, Kelly said, “It has its struggles because I personally like movies, and the old Hollywood movie star system, where fewer movies come out and it’s a big deal. I also really love performing as a performer.”
“Thanks to the advancement of technology, it truly is up to the artist to make something. There is not as much gold out there but there is a lot of work, and more opportunities. There are pluses and minuses to that,” he said.
Advice for hopefuls in acting
For young and aspiring actors, Kelly said, “Make sure that you want to do it because there are a lot of ups and downs, and you have to really love to work in order to make it.”
Upcoming Zoom fan event with John J. York
Kelly shared that he is looking forward to the forthcoming Zoom fan event on Sunday, July 23, with his “General Hospital” co-star John J. York, who plays the iconic Mac Scorpio. This virtual fan event is produced by Coastal Entertainment.
“When I found out that I was going to work with John, I got so excited,” he admitted. “When I was younger, my sister would watch ‘General Hospital’ and then, I started watching it and I thought that John J. York looked cool. When I found out that I was going to work with John on the show, it was such an honor. John is such a great guy and a family man,” he said.
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Kelly said. “Enjoying the fruits of the labor.”
Jesse Kove of ‘Cobra Kai’
He also praised actor Jesse Kove of “Cobra Kai” for being “like a brother” to him.
“Jesse is super nice and gifted. I love going on adventures with him, and we put each other on tape for auditions. We both care about the artform of acting, it’s cool. It’s important to have people around you that are on the same boat,” he said.
Kelly defined the word success as “good decision-making.”
Fans
For his fans and supporters, he said, “I promise I am going to keep working hard to get better. I will keep performing for you guys. Thank you for watching, I promise that I am going to keep doing a good job.”
To learn more about actor Josh Kelly, follow him on Instagram, and check out his IMDb page.
