Michael E. Knight Calculates The Cost

For more than 30 years, Michael E. Knight delighted viewers of ABC’s daytime drama All My Children with his cheeky portrayal of Tad “the Cad” Martin, which earned the actor three Daytime Emmy Awards and four additional nominations. Now, with the show off the air after its 40-year-run, Knight is returning to his roots as a stage actor as Marc, an architect in the midst of both a professional and personal crisis, in Jon Marans’ The Cost of the Erection at the Blank Theatre’s 2nd Stage Theatre in Los Angeles. TheaterMania recently spoke to Knight about the play, adjusting to life in Los Angeles, and his future plans.

THEATERMANIA: Was your goal to do a play once All My Children was over?
MICHAEL E. KNIGHT: I gotta tell you, the only thing that what went through my mind after All My Children was over was panic. Fortunately, our former associate casting director saw this character breakdown when it went out, and thought it would be a good fit for me. So I went in and auditioned, and I got along with Daniel Henning [the director and the Blank Theatre’s artistic director] famously. It was a small miracle that I got this part — I consider it an unlooked for gift.

TM: What was it about the role that appealed to you?

MK: Jon Marans has a real love for eccentrics, and I’ve always enjoyed playing them. I think part of what kept me alive on All My Children over the years was that my own eccentricities bubbled to the top and that endeared me to the audience. I like that Marc is very unapologetic and doesn’t care what other people think. He’s the most childlike of the four characters, even though he is the oldest. And he’s the one best rooted morally; his truth is simple — that he loves his wife and that loyalty matters more than anything. I also like the fact that Marc can be silly. In the play, they call me a dancing bear and I’ve earned the nickname of Panda in the cast, which I love. And the part lets me be my age, which is definitely refreshing after spending so much time in an industry that’s centered on youth and beauty.

TM: You’re playing a world-famous architect. Is that a personal passion?
MK: I know nothing about architecture per se, and I haven’t done as much homework as I should. But I like the idea that it’s the only form of art that you live in, which is something I believe Brad Pitt said. And I think what Jon is trying to say is that people try to construct both their lives and their physical environments with these pre-conceived notions of what they should be, but at any time, these constructs can become vulnerable.

TM: You hadn’t actually done a play for about 15 years, even through you were trained at Circle in the Square. Tell me what it was like getting back into theater?
MK: The one thing I was feeling immediately in rehearsal was sheer panic. I come from an immediate industry — soaps are all about where do I stand and where’s my close up — and the challenge I faced was to let things evolve naturally at a slower pace. I learned to rely on Daniel; not only is he technically brilliant, but he had a great deal of faith in the piece. And Daniel assured me early on that I would find all the answers to my questions if I just let it simmer. He’s not interested in being the puppet master, but he will give you “no, and I will tell you why it’s no” or “I love it.” And he’s not above being surprised by the cast; he really gave us the latitude to get these characters under our skins for two or three weeks.

TM: The play has its own soap opera elements in the relationships among its characters. Do you feel it’s very different than All My Children?
MK: Yes. What I appreciated about these relationships is that they are a little more realistic than in soaps, where you have six marriages and five illegitimate children in like five years. I think Marc is much closer to me than Tad. I’ve been married and divorced once [to actress Catherine Hickland]; so I find a realism to someone like Marc, who loves his wife and fights for his marriage. I think if people in real life went through what characters on soaps go through, they’d end up in the Happy Tablet facility fingerpainting every day.

TM: Would you go back to daytime if someone asked?
MK: I enjoy working and my reputation is as a daytime performer, so I don’t know if I would say no to a steady paycheck, especially if I got a call from someone like Brad Bell [the producer of The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful]. I like that he really does his shows as a singular entity, and I think where soaps began to get in trouble is when too many chefs began to get involved. But I don’t know if the comedy I infuse Tad with would work on a show like The Young and the Restless.

TM: Have you finally adjusted to life in Los Angeles after over 35 years in New York?
MK: It was strange being here at first, even though I was raised out here. I think I’ve finally started to slow down a little. It was hard to learn to drive again. I hadn’t had a car for 20 years, so when I got here, I leased the biggest auto I could find and did $3000 worth of damage immediately. The nicest thing was being a steadily working actor in L.A. Now that I’m just another actor looking for work, there’s a little more anxiety.