WRITE DIRECTION

GH’s New Co-Head Writer, Dan O’Connor, Shares His Journey From Fan To Scribe.

- Mara Levinsky

Digest: Before you began working in the soap opera industry, what was your relationship to it as a fan?

Dan O’Connor: Well, the first soap that ever sucked me in was GENERAL HOSPITAL. I remember very vividly the first time I watched the show, and I was probably far too young to be watching it, but my aunt was babysitting me — either that or I was too old to be babysat! But the show came on and if I remember this correctly, Jax was flashing back to Brenda’s car having gone over a cliff and then grieving and he sort of, like, aimlessly walks into the ocean. I wanted to know what was going on with this show. As I was still a kid at the time, I noticed a lot of familiar faces that were members of the cast from shows that I watched as an even younger child, like Becky Herbst [Elizabeth] was on a Nickelodeon show [SPACE CASES], Steve Burton [Jason] was on OUT OF THIS WORLD, and they were sort of the gateways that got me hooked into this wild and crazy world that is Port Charles. I guess I haven’t been able to get the place out of my mind since. I’ve watched almost every episode for over 20 years at this point, including PORT CHARLES and GH: NIGHT SHIFT.

Digest: When you went to college, did you have designs on a career in daytime?

O’Connor: No. I was a film and television major [at NYU] and the program was designed more for directing [than writing]. Very early on, I figured out that is not my strength. I started doing internships around the city to try to figure out where I fit. I must admit that with my entry into daytime, there’s a little bit of luck of being in the right place at the right time — and I’m forever grateful for that. But I was an intern at