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Actor Rib Hillis
ABC's "Port Charles"

May 28, 1998

Actor Rib Hillis discusses his role as Dr. Jake Marshak on ABC’s “Port Charles”.

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JaxCCC: TalkCity Presents(tm), in association with BOXTOP LIVE(tm) Welcomes You! Tonight please welcome our special guest Rib Hillis. Rib Hillis currently stars as Dr. Jake Marshak on the ABC daytime soap "Port Charles". Rib is here today to chat with his many fans and talk about new projects. Welcome Rib!

RibHillis: Glad to be here!

Katccc: Welcome to Talk City, Rib. Thank you for being with us tonight!

RibHillis: Cool lets go.

Alan: How long have you been an actor?

RibHillis: About a year so far, I am a newbie! I did an episode of Baywatch last season - I was onscreen for like 5 minutes or so. So Port Charles is my first real show. My first 6 months on Port Charles, my learning curve has been exponential. I know there is a lot to learn, with camera work and lighting and dealing with other actors, there is much more going on with doing a TV production then I ever imagined.

Terry: Did you always want to be an actor?

RibHillis: No actually, I wanted to be a professional football athlete when I was growing up. When I was in college in Colorado someone introduced me to a modeling agency where I worked my summers in Europe as a model and then returned to the US to finish my studies. After graduating I returned to Paris for two years and then I moved to New York for around a year and half where I was introduced to acting at a weekend workshop. And I was hooked - I loved it. It is the kind of job you have to really, really want to do. Because there is a lot of down sides to the career.

Minerva: Since you play a doctor do you have any medical background? How do you learn all the lingo?

RibHillis: Well my father was a doctor. He was a doctor of veterinary medicine. Both of my sisters are pre-med at the University of Georgetown. While I do DNA research on the show it is funny, one of my sisters is doing research in genetic endeavors , she is doing an internship at M.I.T. So I do pick up some of the lingo from my family.

Marvolous: Does playing a Doctor on TV ever convince you that maybe you'd like to be one in real life?

RibHillis: Yes it does actually! I have always liked medicine and science. Being an athlete for most of my life I have been in contact with doctors all my life. I do some volunteer work with children that are hospitalized and that is as close as I come to working in the medical field.

Alabaster: Jake was new in 1997 as part of the Interns.how do you feel your character has grown most over the past year?

RibHillis: Jake was really a part time person at first. In the past year he has expanded his relationship with Danielle and has become more involved with the other interns.

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