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By Diedre Johnson
“I’m free, I’m open, I’m willing, I’m available,” declares Kristoff St. John. With taping over for the day, the jeans-clad actor settles into his spacious YOUNG AND RESTLESS dressing room, ready for conversation.
Twenty-five-year-old St. John has already proven his flexibility. He joined YOUNG AND RESTLESS within weeks of the demise of GENERATIONS, where he played rich kid Adam Marshall. GENERATIONS was a milestone in daytime TV because it featured a black core family on the front burner, but low ratings caused its cancellation in January, 1991, after almost a two-year run. St. John looks back with regret: “I tend to believe that if we’d had a different time slot, then maybe we would have found a greater audience. I don’t think NBC gave us the benefit of the doubt.”
Pointing to the positive aspects of the show, he notes, “Many of the major issues in black families were brought up as often as they could be, although I believe [Creator] Sally Sussman wanted to make the point that black people are just like white people when it comes to middle and upper class. I can agree and disagree on some levels.”
Any mention of how the show didn’t work is quickly met with disagreement. “The result is I’m seeing more minorities on daytime television. If it hadn’t been for GENERATIONS, I wouldn’t be on Y&R,” he believes.
YOUNG AND RESTLESS’s producers contacted St. John several weeks before the show ended. Originally hired as a day player with the possibility of expansion, he was offered a contract after two days of taping. Though the actor wasn’t looking to do another soap, the atmosphere, security and chance to develop the YOUNG AND RESTLESS character won him over.
Neil is a Buppie (Black Urban Professional) cosmetics executive. “Sometimes it’s a little difficult to play Neil Winters,” St. John confesses. “I read a letter from someone who wrote that Neil was a stuffy guy. That sort of hurt. Watching a young black man get ahead in the world is, I think, an enjoyable experience.”
Like Adam, Neil is an educated nice guy, but the similarities end there. “Neil is a highly aggressive, corporate type; Adam was a little more carefree.” St. John thinks the character of Adam was closer to himself. “I’m not a corporate type and I don’t need to put in sixteen hours to make me feel good,” he says.
Lately, the actor is putting in more time on the set as uptight Neil Winters’s relationship with streetwise Drucilla Barber begins to heat up. Victoria Rowell, who plays Drucilla, says that running lines with Kristoff is great because “he’s very honest with his choices.” St. John counters, “I’m very fortunate to work with someone as talented as Victoria.”
Despite good relationships with cast members, St. John maintains he is a loner. While responding to the question of who he hangs out with, he shifts slightly on the couch; the body language speaks for itself. “I’m not shy, but I find it pretty hard to get close to people and maybe that’s just me. I’d have to say I made a pretty good friend out of a cousin, Charles Smith. He plays for the L.A. Clippers.
“My father once told me that it’s unusual if you find more than two friends your whole life and I have to back that up because so far I have two; that’s my mom and my dad and I have a third — that’s my son.”
The actor’s son, Julian, is the joy of his life. When he talks about the toddler, who’s nearly two years old, the pride and fascination are obvious. “Julian has changed my life tremendously,” he offers. “I feel it’s a privilege to be in care of this little person. It’s a gift from God to be able to have a young child in one’s life.”