Soap opera fans were treated to a major nostalgia trip on “Live With Kelly and Mark” when “All My Children” legend Walt Willey stopped by for a reunion with his former co-star.
Sitting down with Mark Consuelos, the actor opened up about his iconic run as Jackson Montgomery and dropped a surprising secret about how he almost missed out on the classic daytime role entirely. The surprising story had the daytime talk show host and audience hanging on every word.
Walt Willey Reminisced About His Early Days on AMC
In an interview with Mark Consuelos and guest-co-host Michelle Buteau, former AMC star Walt Willey reminisced about his days playing Jackson Montgomery on the ABC daytime soap opera.
“Live With Kelly and Mark” shared a clip to Instagram where the actor explained how he got the role on the daytime soap in 1987. He played the suave, silver-tongued attorney for more than two decades. Jackson was a central figure in Pine Valley’s biggest storylines and a love interest for Erica Kane (Susan Lucci).
Willey explained, “I never read or auditioned for Jack. But I did read for…they brought the character of Jeff Martin back and I was screen testing for that.”
He continued, “I called my agent to check in. She said, ‘Oh, Jackson Montgomery.’ I said, ‘Gee, I have kind of a distinctive voice; no, this is Walt Willey.”
The actor added, “You know, I’m your client. And she said, ‘No, you’re Jackson Montgomery.'”
“I said, ‘What are you talking about? She said, ‘Well, they want you to play Travis’ brother, Jackson,'” he continued.
The actor quipped, “So I didn’t care about this audition I was about to go into at all. Of course I got it and it proves the less you care, the more you get.”
Walt Willey Said it was a ‘Family’ Atmosphere on the AMC Set
When the actor was asked by Mark Consuelos, who played Mateo Santos on the daytime series, if he believed working on the series felt like a family, Walt Willey agreed.
“My gosh, yes,” he explained. “My first work in New York was as an extra on the show.”
“So I kind of grew up on that show,” Willey added. “I did extra work as a day player. I was the character of Palmer’s (James Mitchell) limo driver.”
“And I got to watch these terrific people. It was a great education,” Willey concluded.
On August 6, AMC fans learned they are one step closer to a movie.
According to an Instagram post by Michael Fairman, Lifetime TV will bring the project to fruition through Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos’ Mijolo company.
The post read, “‘All My Children’ reboot producer, Andrew Stearn handpicked none other than Ron Carlivati (ex-head writer, One Life to Live, General Hospital and Days of our Lives) and Jamey Giddens (who is the new co-head writer of ‘The Young and the Restless,’ following his tenures on the writing teams of ‘Beyond the Gates’ and ‘Days of Our Lives’), as the two scribes who will bring the first of two ‘All My Children’ movies to the page and screen.”
The news continued, “The second installment is said to be written by primetime writer Leo Richardson, whose credits include: ‘Star,’ ‘Katy Keene,’ ‘You,’ plus the UK soap opera ‘EastEnders,’ and was involved when the project was titled ‘Pine Valley.”
Walt Willey’s new film is called “Death on the Brandywine.” It co-stars Kate Burton, Rena Sofer (“General Hospital,” “The Bold and the Beautiful”) and Tuc Watkins (“One Life to Live.”)
