Days Star Goes North
Tinseltowners like Michael Jackson spend megabucks to attain the perfectly chiseled facial features that Jay Kenneth Johnson was born with. Who is this cutie? Soap-opera fans know him by only one name. "I think I'll always be called Philip," he tells TV Guide Online, laughing. "They watched me every day on Days of Our Lives and they always think of me like that."
He's not complaining. His Days fame helped win him the role of Christopher on Fox's new nighttime soap, North Shore (Mondays at 8 pm/ET). "It's very hot and sunny here," he says via phone from the set in Waikiki, Hawaii. "I get a tan while I work." Don't rub it in, Johnson. Guess we needn't ask if he misses his old daytime digs...
"I've caught the show a few times," he says. "It got pretty crazy there for a while with Deirdre Hall turning into a serial killer, but I guess it's working for them. I definitely miss it a lot and I would never count out going back to a soap. I had no problems there. It was just my time to explore other things, to see if there was something out there for me. I've booked jobs since Days, and hopefully, North Shore will take off."
Well, the ratings
ain't fabulous so far, but who knows? Meanwhile, Johnson's enjoying tropical-island life on Oahu. Plus, playing Christopher — who escorts tourists on hair-raising adventures — is a young actor's dream. "I did rappelling on a mountain in the second episode," he enthuses. "Well, they actually had a stunt guy [do it], but it looks like me! They have me jet skiing, hang gliding and riding motorcycles. I'm getting to do a lot of fun stuff I probably never would've done without this show. They can pretty much throw anything at me and [I'll] give it a whirl."
