John McCook News

On today's episode of The Bold and the Beautiful, Eric lands in the hospital. The demise takes place after a particularly vicious battle with his kids... and intense sex with his new young wife, of course.

"Eric has a heart attack," John McCook, who plays the Forrester patriarch, told The New York Daily News. "After some intimacy, sweet Donna is talking to him and he doesn't respond."

Donna calls 911 after the incident, as paramedics rush Eric to the hospital. Bridget orders tests, and the family gathers at his bedside.

"What's scary about this is that it coincides with Ridge and the Forrester progeny trying to take over the company and let Eric go," said McCook.

By the end of next week on the show - spoiler alert! - Donna finds papers that prove she has Eric's power of attorney, and she won't let Ridge take over his company while he's incapacitated. Ridge, in response, vows to bring Donna down.

"It's a scary time," teases McCook.

John McCook recently talked with fans of The Bold and the Beautiful via an online chat.

Regarding his character's relationship with Stephanie (Susan Flannery), McCook said: "Eric will never stop being connected to Stephanie but he does not like who he is when he is with her anymore. He's happier with someone who is not committing felonious acts and manipulating relationships all the time.

Eric thinks Donna is wonderful. He loves her. He is surprised by that and happy to be spending this time with her."

Let's hear from one of our favorite stars of The Bold and the Beautiful. John McCook recently sat down with Soap Opera Digest...

1. How has it been for you playing this revitalized, resurgent Eric?
Oh, come on! This is really fun for me, because it's a different energy. It's fun to be a romantic leading man, always. I've never been anything other than that. But for a lot of the years that I've put in here, I've been kind of a workhorse. Eric's been Stephanie's patsy and he's been the father to the other characters.

I like it when Eric is front and center. It's revitalizing for me. It's fun to work with Jennifer Gareis. It's always fun to work with a new actress; that's always energizing on a professional level. She and I are having a lot of fun playing this affair. We're having a lot of excitement about the fact that it might continue on and be here for a long time.

2. In past interviews you've expressed concern that Eric might cave or give in to Stephanie. So far, things are going full speed ahead.
So far, yeah. I want my Eric to be a happy guy. I want him to continue on this discovery. I think he's having a wonderful time!

3. Have you and Susan Flannery talked about where this leaves Eric and Stephanie?
No, we haven't talked about it. Susan and I don't talk about story. We open up the script each morning, and we read it. We open up the dialogue everyday and learn it together. We don't speculate as to where Brad's (Bell, executive producer/head writer) is going to go with the story, we just play it every day.

Read the full interview now.

When Stephanie is away, Eric will play.

In a recent interview with Soap Opera Weekly, John McCook discusses the controversial angle on The Bold and the Beautiful that has him and Donna getting involved in a relationship.

Soap Opera Weekly: Eric and Donna's pairing came as a surprise, albeit a most pleasant one!
John McCook: We'll see how it turns out. I've had a real re-energizing of Eric. It goes way beyond a sexual relationship. She's fun, and he's actually enjoying himself. He wasn't really in touch with the reality that there was something huge missing in his life besides a warm bed. We keep trying to minimize that, because I don't want Eric to be perceived as just...[out for] sex.

Jennifer Gareis, who plays Donna, has also been very wary of playing "the sex kitten and the older guy." Bottom line is, it's going to be written that way, anyway. [But] we want to make this a different relationship. So far, it seems to be going all right.

Weekly: It started off with some nice subtlety, especially those scenes at Cafe Russe when Eric was buying Donna drinks.
McCook: It was very important to us to keep that scene above [sex], and for her not to flirt. To have a scene where it's a woman and a man talking about what's going on, rather than her flirting with him and making herself available at the bar — in spite of some of the lines they wrote for her. She played against them, and I was really pleased. Of course, everybody's going to be like, "Oh, my God! What's going to happen?" Still, our job is to try to give it the layers and the weight that are required, rather than laying herself on the bar for him.

Weekly: You mentioned this has re-energized you. How would you characterize Eric? Do you think he has gone through any kind of transformation during Stephanie's absence, with Donna by his side (and in his bed)?
McCook: Absolutely. He's absolutely closed off to Stephanie right now. He's not able to deal with her because she left town. What he is feeling is the freedom and the enjoyment of living his life as an artist, businessman and as a man. He's going through big changes. As an actor, what's happening is that, for 20 years, it's been important for me to leave a lot of who I am out of Eric.

For the first 10 years [I played the] businessman. Not a lot of humor, not a lot of energy, not a lot of joy. Just focusing on the business with Stephanie, keeping everything together and being a moral compass for the children. As a result of that, when I was first playing the part they would say, "No, don't do that, John. Just be the man, just be the father, just be the husband." My sense of humor and my energy was something that I had to omit.

But now I can put more of John into Eric. It's actually kind of hard, because I've worked so hard for 20 years to keep myself out of it. Now, it's fun to open those gates a little bit.

Continue Reading...

While the character of Eric Forrester has had approximately half a dozen wives, the actor that portrays him has been happily wed for 27 years.

Soap Opera Digest recently asked John McCook what the secret to such a relationship is...

Soap Opera Weekly: Congratulations on your "happily ever after"!
John McCook: Thank you. We're very proud and very happy people. All three of our kids are wonderful and have their own lives. Our youngest is 16, and she's still at home, of course. We've been very lucky, but we've worked hard at it. It's taken a lot of effort.

Weekly: What's your secret to a happy marriage and family?
McCook: Laurette and I have not had very many big crises in our relationship, but we've had had a few. Many years ago, when our first big crisis started, we were going to talk about it and the first thing that we said was, "This is not the end of anything. When we finish talking about this, we're going to be together and everything's going to be fine, but now we're going to talk about this." That's really important to say to one another. We're committed to each other.

Weekly: Do you feel like your happiness is a rarity in show business?
McCook: I don't know. We know a lot of people who have successful marriages - not only in show business, but the parents of kids who go to school with our children. Most of our friends are not in show business. Most of our friends are out there in the education system and out there in our suburb. Yes, I see a lot of divorce. I know how hard it is for people to be together for years and years. It's a challenge, so I respect anybody who's in a relationship and works at it and makes it a priority.

Weekly: Was it love at first sight when you met Laurette?
McCook: Yeah, pretty much. I had been through a marriage before. Laurette had not, but we were both really ready to commit to this thing. We came to a place where we thought we would be terrific together. We decided to fall in love.

Weekly: How is she doing these days?
McCook: We have been very lucky that when we first were married Laurette was still working a lot. She did a lot of episodic television, and I had just finished doing The Young and The Restless. When Laurette was pregnant with Jake, our first baby, she didn't want to work anymore. The lucky thing is that I worked enough that she didn't have to, and that's the way it's been all these years.

She has taken great pride in her skill as a mom and as a wife and as a homemaker. At the time, she knows that she did do what she did, which is leave high school and go to the American Academy in New York and come out here and do a lot of television. She accomplished a great deal.

Weekly: Has she ever talked about getting her feet wet again?
McCook: Yeah, she's thinking about it right now. It's truly funny because Molly, our youngest, just got an agent; she's starting to work a little bit and wants to be an actress. Laurette is right to the point where she's going to throw her hat in the ring to have representation for commercials. She doesn't want to do a series or try to get a big brass-ring job like that, but she thinks that she can go out and get some commercials here and there because she's that right age: The attractive, energetic mom you see in commercials a lot.

Weekly: How has grandfatherhood been treating you?
McCook: Oh, that's been wonderful! Becky's little girl is beautiful. She's going to be a year old next month. She stays with us a lot on weekdays when Becky's working, so we're spending a lot of time with that baby and it's a blessing. It's really wonderful.

Weekly: Has being a grandparent gone as you expected?
McCook: No, it's totally different. I thought I would be a doting old [man] who held the baby on his knees, but it's much more active than that!