SOAP OPERA DIGEST 7/21/1992

"I auditioned for about ten other roles on GH before I got this one; I was always too young," recalls Gerald Hopkins, the twenty-something actor who nabbed the prize role of obnoxious eighteen-year -old A.J., Alan and Monica's bad seed son, on GENERAL HOSPITAL. He auditioned one morning, was called back that afternoon and screen-tested the next day. His competition: Brandon Hooper, who was cast as young intern Eric Simpson. "I just had the Quartermaine feel and look," Hopkins reflects. "I matched Alan and Monica."

He may look the part of a blue-blooded brat, but the character is light years away from the man portraying him. The South- erner is part philosopher, part all-American boy and part dreamer. "I'm a student of everything," he says, and who can argue? When he was ten, Hopkins read a book about Leonardo's Da Vinci and made the Renaissance man his hero. He even followed in Leonardo's scientific footsteps by graduating with a degree in chemistry from Millsaps College in Mississippi - but that's where the men part company. Hopkins discarded the notion of becoming a doctor and decided to study acting in London.

Actually, he began acting on the high school level in Biloxi, Mississippi, and continued performing in college, attracting the attention of well-known Southern writer Eudora Welty, who was a trustee at Millsaps. Each year, the college put on a play by Tennessee Williams, one of Welty's favorite playwrights. "I loved portraying his characters, and she saw some of my performances and thought I brought a new light to the character," Hopkins says. "She complimented me on being analytical." That's a strange adjective to describe good acting, but Hopkins feels it was a logical approach that helped him figure out he'd be a happier actor than doctor.

Hopkins got his first taste of professional success while he was still in college. He crashed an audition and landed in the Showtime TV movie UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. (Since Hopkins didn't have a trace of an accent - and has never had one - the cast and crew assumed he was an L.A. native and asked what part of the city he was from.) Impressed by the young actor's work, the producer encouraged him to go straight to Hollywood. Instead, Hopkins won a scholarship to London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, then headed West. In between guest stints on MATLOCK and JUST THE TEN OF US, he modeled, worked as a producer's assistant and never worried.

"I have this faith that Ill always be provided for," Hopkins explains. "Since I've been here, I've never had a negative bank account. It always happened that just at the point I was at my most desperate - and would be thinking, 'How am I gonna pay my rent next month?' - I would get a job." But don't mistake faith for an impetuous nature. "I'm not hasty," he stresses, "I think everything through before I make a decision. I know I'm like this, so once in a while, I make myself do something spontaneous."

His deliberate attitude is quite a contract to that of his girlfriend of two years, Debra, who is an actress and artist. They met at church (Catholic), and both have a strong faith, but on other counts the're very different. "It's a balance," offers Hopkins. "We're very opposite. She's very spontaneous, and I'm not. Sometimes she pushes me into things I don't really know if I'm ready for, and I pull her back from something's. We help each other that way." Hopkins admits it was love at first sight. They plan to marry, though a date hasn't been set. Who's holding out? "We both are."

It was Debra who convinced him to take a spur-of-the- moment vacation in San Diego, while he persuaded her not to invest in some shaky business deals. "It can be hard," he admits, "because you don't want to hear the opposite point of view that's not native to you. Sometimes I don't want to hear, 'Let's just go crazy.' She doesn't want to hear, 'Let's hold back.' "

Personality differences aside, things are going quite well. Ensconced in the Valley with his Samoyed huskie, Gabriel, Hopkins enjoys drawing, writing and sports in his spare time. "It's a weird balance," Hopkins concedes. "I want to do everything, but I know I can't. The compromise is I do as much as I can without killing myself."

No matter what, there's always time for THE TWILIGHT ZONE. "I think TWILIGHT ZONE is probably the best television show ever," he declares. His respect for Rod Serling's brainchild is palpable. "Not only was he a creative genius, he understood the politics and the business side well enough to stay in control. Because he was able to bar the doors to businessmen and accountants, he could keep the integrity of the show intact."

"I love integrity," he says. Ironically, it's a trait missing in his soap character. "I don't try to push or pull A.J. in a direction I don't think the writers want me to go," Hopkins explains. "I would like to see A.J. become the nicest guy in the world, then turn into the meanest guy again. I like change."

By Diane Bailey