Guiding Light - NEWS ROOM

It’s been 14 years since he took over the role of Alan Spaulding, but Ron Raines is still having just as much fun playing the controlling tycoon as when he first started. I recently had the chance to speak with Ron who shared his thoughts on Alan, Guiding Light’s new look and his other creative interests.

His first major TV gig, Ron came to Guiding Light in 1994 to resurrect the infamous character who had been off the canvas for a few years. The theater actor was given all the necessary background information, but ultimately put his own spin on the role. “They were very helpful at the beginning because they really wanted this character of Alan to be a hit. He had been gone for 5 years and the audience loved him and they wanted me to make it my own, but they wanted me to also capture the character of Alan and bring to it what I could bring to it. I like to think that I have,” Ron mused.

As for what makes playing the manipulative tycoon so interesting, Ron explained, “He just turns on a dime and he’s crazier than a loon, which is a lot of fun to play. He’s unpredictable. He always screws things up. His heart is in the right place, but he’s such a control freak and manipulator and I don’t think he’s the kind of guy who will ever get it. You’ll see him start off right, with the right intentions and low and behold, he screws things up big time. Of course he doesn’t think he screws it up. He thinks other people screw it up for him.”

As the Spaulding patriarch, Alan has a complicated relationship, to say the least, with every member of his family, but that’s what makes him so compelling. “I love Alan and Alexandra’s relationship. I’ve always loved that. I love Lizzie’s relationship with Alan. Of course my sons. All the guys that played my sons. They’re all volatile and wonderful with highs and lows and lefts and rights. It’s fun to do,” Ron shared.

While he enjoyed playing off the character of Philip, Raines would like the issue of whether or not he is returning to be put to rest. Recalling that it’s been four years since he left the show, Ron said, “I would love to have him come back, but I don’t think Grant’s (Alexander, ex-Philip) going to be coming back anytime soon. I mean, I’d love it if he did, but I don’t think that’s ever going to happen.”

When it comes to one of Alan’s other sons, Alan-Michael, returning, Ron speculated, “I don’t know if they’re going to bring another Spaulding back for a while. They’re really developing this Alan and Lizzie thing and she’s kind of my new hope, being that I don’t have any sons. And they’re trying to work a little something with Rafe, the grandson that I can shape and mold.” And, we joked, screw up!

Now that Alan is out of his coma, fans can expect to see him back to his old ways. “Alan’s going to come back Alan. The blood is flowing again and Gus is not stuck in that blood clot,” he laughed. However, Alan, being who he is, will pretend to be affected by his condition, when in fact he’s just fine. “He’s playing it while he groups his thoughts and observes and plans his next move,” Ron previewed.

Although a controversial issue among the fans and even some of the cast, Ron is a huge supporter of the new production style Guiding Light adopted earlier this year. Admitting they had huge kinks to work out in the beginning, Ron explained that it was a learning process and the show fixed the problems when the budget allowed. “It’s a work in progress and we really did a radical surgery there,” he stated.

The point Ron really wants to get across is that if they didn’t make those production changes, Guiding Light would be just a memory right now. “We wouldn’t be on if we hadn’t done it. We’d be off the air, because the money that it saved doing this and going in a new direction has kept us on the air. I mean everybody was bitching, but it’s all or nothing. We’re going to try to make this work or it’s buh-bye!”

With most of the kinks worked out, Ron looks forward to an exciting future on the CBS soap. “I really think the next couple of months, the stories are going to be terrific,” he teased. “I think the audience that have gone through the journey with us are happier now and more adjusted to the style, and the lighting and the sound and everything has gotten better.”

While he’s happy in Springfield, Ron also has outside interests that help keep his creative juices flowing. As a theater actor and vocalist, Ron appears all over the country performing Broadway hits and singing with orchestras. For a list of his upcoming appearances, check out our article here.

Balancing out his numerous concert dates with his Daytime schedule is made a whole lot easier due to the supportive atmosphere at Guiding Light. “They know that we all need other things in life. Whether it’s going to do a play once in awhile or whatever it is, we all need kind of a balance,” Ron said.

Even though Ron is an accomplished singer, don’t expect Alan to start belting out any show tunes. The only way Ron sees incorporating his singing onto the show would be to make it a fantasy sequence, and with GL’s new style of shooting, they don’t do that anymore. Besides, as Ron quipped, “Alan can’t carry a tune!”

Soaps.com is excited for all of Ron’s success on and off the Daytime screen and hopes to see him stir up trouble in Springfield for a long time to come!

Lori Wilson
Writer/Journalist
Soaps.com