Getting to know Christopher Maleki

On March 10, Christopher Maleki debuts on "Passions" in the role of Spike, an adversary of Sam's who uses Jessica as a pawn in their war! Obviously Spike is not the nicest of characters...but Christopher Maleki proves that his real life persona is much different than his on screen persona. Read on to learn more about this Harmony newcomer.

How did the role on "Passions" come about?
It was like any other normal job for an actor. I had been in to "Passions" a few years ago for another role. I think that there's a file they keep. I guess they went to the file to find people they thought would be right for the role and the rest is history.

What did you know about the character when you first auditioned?
I didn't really get any information, which is what I like. They want to see what the actor brings to it. The only information I had was what was on the page. In the audition scene the character was shooting a game of poll. He talks about how he feels about losing his money and wanting his money back. It was a very subtle conversation with undertones.

How do you like playing the bad guy?
I have a history of playing bad guys-I don't know what that says about me! Maybe the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! This guy is to the extreme though. Every time I get a new script I find out what Spike's going to do next. I try to find the opposites in all of the stuff he's doing. The obvious is there in the words so I like to play him a little more appealing, as opposed to just vicious and mean.

Do you come up with reasons why he's doing these things?
I do-I understand where he's coming from. He's a bad guy but as an actor you have to find his reasons and motivations. With daytime television, everything goes so quickly that you can't always sit down and over-think things. You have to just be in the moment.

What was your first day like?
It was great. I worked with Justin (Hartley, Fox), Eric (Martsolf, Ethan), Charles (Divins, Chad) and James (Hyde, Sam). On the first day you want to be your best. Everything is new and you are meeting all new people and testing the waters. Everybody was great-I mean that sincerely. The next day I ran into a couple of the guys and told them how great they were. I'm running with it now. I'm having a great time.

What kind of character did you play on "Port Charles"?
He was also a bad guy. He initially came on after his sister was raped. He came to Port Charles to bring her back home for a mercy killing. There was a lot of controversy surrounding the story. And then he kept getting progressively worse. I picked up one script and he was about to hit a girl! The hate mail flowed in so I must have been doing my job. With Spike, he is who he is but I'm trying to add some humor to it. I want to have more fun with it.

Other than Sam and Jessica, which characters would you like to see Spike interact with?
I don't know all the characters yet! I'd like to get back in with the guys I worked with on the first day. But I'd like to work with everybody! I'm having a great time working with Danica (Stewart, Jessica) and James. I love working with James-he really likes to break the scenes down. As an actor I really appreciate and respect that. For him, it's not about just doing the words-it's more about why is he saying this. He's been very warm to me. There were some words changed in a scene and I stumbled a line. He told me not to worry about it and to have fun. Danica is so much fun. I'm looking forward to the stuff we have coming up.

Will you watch your first air show?
You know I will. I'm very excited. When you first see Spike, he's coming into a volatile situation. A lot of crazy things are going on. It's exciting.

You just had a birthday on February 26. How did you spend it?
I had some old friends come into town and it was a boy's night out. You know that's always trouble! I just felt great. Everyday is a birthday to me-I feel blessed and fortunate to be doing what I'm doing.