
Photo: Annette Tanner
Nicholas Rodriguez talks about his time at One Life to Live as the spoiler for Kish,and being part of the important same-sex storyline. Also telling is Nicholas admits his big emotional exit scene was originally cut down to a few lines, but at the last minute he went and performed it for the OLTL brass and they put it back! It was spectacular as many remember and even his acting partners, Brett Claywell and Scott Evans had detailed and commented on his performance in several recent interviews. Rodriguez is currently turning heads in his performance in the play A Light in the Piazza in Washington D.C. at the famous Arena Stage. Here are a few excerpts below from his new feature!
Nicholas on getting the opportunity to be a part of the gay storyline: “It was a surprise — and a blessing. There was an overwhelming fan reaction and from the media about that storyline, and it’s been great for me to see how the gay community is longing for these non-stereotypical characters. In a lot of ways, I felt like Nick was very similar to me. He was in the forefront of gay activism, and I relate to that. That’s why I thought I couldn’t lie about being gay while I played someone like him. It all happened so fast, I didn’t have time to be worried about being typecast as a gay man. I guess if I had time to think it through, I might have been scared.”
Nicholas on his feelings that Nick turned into a villain at the end of his run: “I was getting scared towards the end about how they were going to write him off, and I was afraid that he was getting too malicious. So I chose to play him as scared; he was the victim of this gay bashing — and that’s why he did what he did. They wrote this great final monologue for Nick, and I worked on it for weeks, and then, when I saw the script, it had been cut down to two lines. So I went to the writers and I showed them my work and they put the whole thing back in. I was so happy I stuck up for myself.”