Exclusive Interview: General Hospital star Crystal Carson recalls the late Anthony Geary, Bill Eckert, and Julia Barrett

General Hospital late actor Anthony Geary didn't always play Luke Spencer on the ABC soap opera. He returned to Port Charles in 1991 as Bill Eckert, Luke’s cousin, which explained the resemblance between the two men. The show cast actress Crystal Carson to play the part of Julia Barrett, Bill’s love interest. Recently, Soap Central sat down with Carson for this exclusive interview following Geary’s passing to get her thoughts on working with the legendary actor.

General Hospital, When Bill Met Julia

Carson recalls that her audition with Geary was a bit nerve-wracking. “I would run home from school and watch Luke and Laura [Genie Francis],” the actress tells Soap Central. “Tony was a big star to me. I was a little breathless.”

Producers were considering a brunette for the role, as Carson recalls dark-haired actress Lisa Rinna (ex-Billie, Days of our Lives) was also up for the part. When Carson arrived for her screentest, she went up last, which gave her a bit more time to go over the new audition scenes she’d just received.

The actress remembers those scenes being pulled away from her shortly before she was set to go on camera. “I said, ‘I’m not sure I’m off book yet,’" she says, "but they said, ‘No, no, don’t say any of this.’ The stage manager said it would be an improv."

Putting her nerves aside, the actress decided to just have fun with it, which Geary both appreciated and responded to positively. “We had so much fun,” she recalls. “Tony kept looking for ways to make the scene funnier. He found ways to find Julia sexy. I let Julia see that and play off it.”

Carson remembers hearing through the headsets of crew members rumblings from the control booth that indicated there was a positive response to her audition. “When we were done, Tony did this slow clap,” Carson recalls. “He turned to the camera and said, 'It doesn’t get any better than that.’”

It started out in Port Charles town

Bill and Julia's romantic banter had a Moonlighting feel to it. Geary always appreciated an acting colleague who could hit the ball back, and he found a great player in Carson. Naturally, Bill and Julia's romance was wrought with conflict, as most soap love stories are.

The return of Bill’s ex-wife, Nancy (Linda Dona), and the custody battle of their son, Sly (Glenn Walker Harris, Jr.), along with Julia’s father, Harlan (the late Michael Cole), being in cahoots with an evil cartel, provided tons of conflict for the couple. After Bill was forced to kill Harlan, his relationship with Julia ended.

The lessons that Geary shared with Carson, now a successful acting coach, however, remain forever etched in the actress’s memory.

“Tony told me if there’s somebody you like to work with, let your eyes linger on them a little longer when you’re doing a scene with them,” Carson says. “A man, for example, can kind of turn and watch [his female scene partner’s] butt as she leaves.”

Carson was forever grateful that she wasn’t paired with Geary’s Luke, as comparisons to Daytime Emmy winner Genie Francis (Laura) would have inevitably followed.

“I was really happy [Bill] wasn’t Luke,” Carson shares. “Tony actually brought it up to me. He said, 'Don’t even think about what Genie Francis would do.' At the time, he was feeling that he didn’t want to be Luke. Later, he got to do both [roles].”

In time, Carson met Francis. “She’s great,” Carson raves. “I’ve worked with her in a play. She’s just great.”

Geary's key to being a great actor

Carson suggests that one of the things that made the 8-time Daytime Emmy-winning Geary a great actor was that he was such a great listener. “Tony could listen from inside the story, from inside the character with the character’s wants and fears,” the actress says. “He never rushed to his lines. He always listened. He didn’t ever worry about whether or not he said the right line. He let himself have the freedom to respond as Bill or as whoever he was playing.

“He absolutely made me a better coach because I wanted him to help me become a better actor,” the actress gratefully adds.

Geary advised Carson to pay particularly close attention to the words the writers were putting in Julia’s mouth, especially in the beginning. “He said, ‘The writers have been in love with this character that they’ve been building her longer than you have,” she says.

Sage advice from the master at General Hospital

Geary was not only a giving actor on-screen at General Hospital, but he also helped Carson with the business of acting.

“He gave me advice on how to handle myself, not just when we were acting, but when we were not,” Carson shares. Geary cautioned his co-star about not letting fans get too close while at the same time appreciating them and their devotion.

“He said, ‘Don’t let them get too close because they will start to think that you are family to them, and you will disappoint them because they’re not really your family,” she recalls.

Geary also gave his leading lady financial advice on how – and when – to best receive payments for her performances. He pointed out that the earnings of a performer in a front-burner storyline won’t be the same once the back-burner hits. “He said, ‘You’ll have more money than you’ve been used to and you’ll spend it,” she says.

It's show business, not show friends

The actor also advised Carson on how and when to do interviews, and, by example, the potential folly of hanging out with General Hospital co-workers after the studio shuts down for the day.

“Tony said, ‘Do interviews, but never do an interview that you don’t know why you’re doing it,’” she shares. “It should always benefit you. I can say I’m doing this interview because I’m still processing that he’s not here, and it’s a way to honor him.”

When General Hospital cast members would go out socializing after hours, Geary wouldn’t always go along. “He’d say, ‘I’m going to see you all tomorrow,’” Carson recalls, noting that Geary had his life away from the show and he wanted to keep that safe.

“He was such a good example of how to stay sane in this business. I felt very fortunate to have the ‘King of the Hill’ giving me advice," says Carson.

"Tony knew how to make someone feel special. He knew how to make Julia feel special as Bill, and he knew how to make Crystal feel special as Tony," the actress concludes. "That’s a really cool thing.”

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.