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Soaps.com Exclusive Chat with Matthew Borlenghi! Tuesday, March 18 2008

Several former soap stars have taken Hollywood by storm, Meg Ryan and Sarah Michelle Gellar are two such actors. In a few short weeks several of our favorite soap stars, past and present, will make their own move on Hollywood in a fun new film. "Jack Rio" stars several of our favorite daytime names and is described as "Silence of the Lambs" meets "Entourage"!

Sounds like fun, eh? I thought so, too, so a few days ago I caught up with Matthew Borlenghi (ex-Brian All My Children) who stars in and produced the movie!

"It all started when I was on AMC. I would walk six blocks from the studio to my apartment and in those blocks I'd be stopped thirty or forty times," said Matthew. "I wasn't Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise but at that point in my life I was really overwhelmed by that kind of fame. I needed to go find a different frame of mind, but I took with me this idea: what would happen if the wrong person were given that kind of intimacy level, that kind of familiarity from the fans around him?"

In the movie Matthew plays actor Tommy Jamison, who is trying to escape his on-screen persona, Jack Rio. Tommy is also tired of Jack's adoring fans and wants to reconnect with his own life! However as Tommy tries to escape Jack, a string of murders begins.

"It is really a dual role," he said. "It's me playing Tommy (an actor) who plays Jack (a character on a show). It's the story of this guy trying to escape the fame of a show that has created him. He just can't take hearing "Jack, Jack, Jack" anymore."

Matthew wrote and directed a short version of the film, simple called "Jack", a few years ago. It was a hit on the festival circuit and won several awards. But fans kept asking Matthew to finish the story of Tommy/Jack. So, while he was working on the film "Skeletons in the Desert" last year, he gave the short film to Gregori J. Martin (director of the "Skeletons" film). Martin contacted Matthew a few days later and then began to write a long-version of the film. The two of them collaborated on "Jack Rio" but Matthew insists Gregori is the genius behind the writing this time around. And the rest, as they say, is film-making history.

"I was able to call in a lot of favors from a lot of actors. Having been through daytime, I looked through some people that I thought would be the best at pulling it off. I asked favors of Sean (Kanan, ex-AJ General Hospital, ex-Deacon The Bold and The Beautiful, Monti Sharp (ex-Justus General Hospital, and Nadia (Bjorlin, Chloe Days of Our Lives."

The rest of the cast reads like a veritable who's-who of soap actors. Tristan Rogers (Robert, General Hospital), James Patrick Stuart (ex-Will, AMC), Justin Torklidsen (ex-Rick, B&B), Mark Arnold (ex-Joe, Santa Barbara; ex-Gavin, Edge of Night; ex-Buck, GL) and Roy B. Steinberg (former DOOL, GL and AMC director) are all among the stars.

Matthew didn't just lend his acting and producing expertise to the film. He lent his own house! Both Matthew and Sean Kanan used their own homes as homes in the film! "[Filming] really was and is a labor of love," said Matthew. "The best thing, though, is that [the finished product] looks good."

How did Matthew do it all?

"Gregori and I really connected on what we needed out of me, out of the character and we were single-minded in our purpose," he said. "Having seen the film as many times as I have, no one will believe what we spent on the film because it looks and sounds like a multi-million dollar picture. I couldn't be more proud."

Several film distributors have already contacted Matthew about releasing the film, but so far no release date has been set. Matthew hopes it will hit theaters later this year. We'll stay in touch and let you know the official release date.

I would like to thank Matthew for spending some time with us on a busy Friday afternoon. It is always fun to catch up with our favorite stars. The film sounds very cool and Soaps.com wishes you the very best of luck!


Kristi Knight
Writer/Journalist
Soaps.com