DISCLAMER: I did not write these articles. These are various articles I found on the web, some were taken from SOD.

First of all, Mr. Callahan, I would like to say as a loyal viewer of AMC, I think you are doing some of your best work lately. You've managed to accomplish something few have ever done -- become a force with which Susan Lucci's Erica has to reckon with! I remember when you first came onto the show, and I enjoyed you being paired with Julia Barr's Brooke. I was rooting for a reunion until recently. The pairing and staying together of Maria and Edmund has made me change my mind. My question is -- with Eva leaving (or is that a rumor?) the show, what are YOUR plans? And if you stay (which I hope you do). would you like to see a Brooke/Edmund/Pierce triangle? What storyline would you most want to see Edmund involved in? Keep up the good work.... -- Chris

Everything's up in the air right now. It's not definite if she's going or when. So I really can't comment on that at this time. Thank you for hoping I stay -- I'd like to work something out to allow it to happen. In terms of the triangle, I wasn't aware that Brooke and Pierce were in need of a third angle, but I've certainly enjoyed working with Brooke in the past, and Pierce is one of the more interesting characters on the show. He's bringing in elements that might appeal to an investigative journalist like Edmund. I'd like to see Edmund in any storyline where he can use his investigative skills. He's been reacting a lot and concentrating on his family and it has served him well. But it's time to perhaps remember what got him where he is. I'd like to see him involved in a more active storyline, but I'll leave the specifics up to the writers.

What's it like working with Eva every day? Is it hard playing all the drama when you're married in real life? -- Marty Hood

It's a pleasure working with Eva every day because I get to work with my wife. It's the best of both worlds. We not only have quality time, we have quantity time. Sometimes if you're having drama in your real life and your fantasy life, you can O.D. on it, but fortunately our lives are stable now, so I welcome the drama in the show. However, I remember when I was really angry with her for sleeping with Dimitri. I said to her after shooting one scene, "Honey, I don't like being this mad at you." Still, there's acting and then there's real life, and I try to make that delineation.

What are the similarities and differences between you and Edmund? What are the things you like/dislike most about him? -- Nicole

Edmund and I are pretty similar. I'd like to think I'm a fairly strong and independent thinker. The one thing I like about him is his sincerity. The thing I dislike about him, though, is also his sincerity. Sometimes it's difficult in real life and the business I'm in, which necessitates a lot of bussing the butt. The entertainment industry does not foster, encourage or praise sincerity behind the scenes. So I admire and appreciate the consistent level of sincerity that Edmund displays, but it's frustrating, too, because I wish we'd see that in the real world.

John, which storyline of Edmund's did you enjoy the most? I personally liked when he kidnapped Erica in Budapest the best. Also, which storyline have you not cared for the most? -- Sherry

I agree. I liked kidnapping Erica because I bound her and gagged her and we've been friends ever since. It's funny how people meet. Another I enjoyed was the adoption of Sam, as long and painful a process as it was. It was just a wonderful payoff when it finally did happen. That incorporated the infertility storyline, which I think touched a nerve with many people. As boomers and yuppies are having children later and later in life, they're realizing that humans were programmed to have children in their teens and 20s. That may be genetically correct, but socially and politically in our time, it serves you better to wait until you're a mature adult, which seems to be in your later 20s and 30s. So there's that conflict people don't often see until it's too late, and I think that storyline helped a lot of people identify with what the characters experienced and it may have educated some of them.

I wasn't involved in the storyline I didn't care for, but there was a time when Maria's sister Julia was kidnapped. Edmund and Maria were preoccupied with their own personal problems. I thought the writers dropped the ball a little bit in not involving us more. It was more that lack of involvement in the storyline that I did not like.

John, how did you get into acting? I don't know much about your life, so I was wondering how you got into it and when. -- Lisa

A few years after college I auditioned for a local community theater in Northern California and was fortunate enough to get a small part. I got some praise in a local paper, and someone turned me on to a good acting coach. That started me on my journey. I don't want to say when exactly that was, but let's just say the hostages were still in Iran.

Do fans ever confuse John and Eva with Edmund and Maria? How do you keep the two separate? I was also wondering if you and Eva get to wear your own wedding rings on the set, or does wardrobe give you rings to wear? -- Megan

We're often called Edmund and Maria in the street, but I think that's because people are excited and they know us better by those names. I'm not insulted -- I just accept it as a fact of life and it usually makes me smile. I think the confusion lies only in the names and not necessarily in the characters. We keep the two separate because if you don't, you'll end up on a therapist's couch and never let go. Wardrobe did originally give us rings, but we wear our own now. I think we liked the simple ones we wore on the set and they affected our choice of wedding bands. So hats off to wardrobe.

John: I was lucky enough to get a chance to meet you in person a couple of years ago at a Builders Square in Merrillville, IN. I was even luckier to get a couple of pictures of/with you. You were gracious enough to sign my AMC scrapbook. However, I would love to get you to sign the one photo of you and I together. Is this at all possible? Where would I send the picture so you would get it and sign it for me? One of the pictures I know you don't know I have. It's of the "other side" of John Callahan. I couldn't help myself. You were just so casually bent over the counter they provided for you. Maybe Eva would like it. I would like to add one more comment about your storyline and what the writers have done. I think it's wonderful to have a couple stay together in a soap. People today just think, "Oh, well, we'll just get divorced." I think Edmund staying with Maria through thick and thin was a rarity that only AMC and Edmund and Maria would pull off. Those two are so spiritual and dedicated to each other -- a quality we all lack these days. Thank you! Thank you in advance for your time. A Forever Fan -- Barb Swift

Send it to:

John Callahan

c/o All My Children

New York, NY 10023

Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope with a piece of cardboard or something to keep it from bending.

I think the twins who play Sam are adorable. What's it like working with them? Can you tell them apart? Is one easier to work with than the other? Will they be replaced by a boy any time soon? -- Rachel

They make it easy to play a father, and I can never get enough of them. I'm embarrassed to say I still have to take an educated guess from time to time to tell them apart , because they're so close in looks. Which one's easier to work with depends upon who's teething at the time and which one slept better before getting on the set. I don't know if they'll be replaced by a boy anytime soon, but probably when they start playing with Barbie dolls, we may have a problem. Right now, though, I don't see it as an issue.

Before AMC, I remember you on Falcon Crest! Do you plan a foray into prime-time work in the future? I am also curious: Are you concerned that the ratings slippage has a causal link with the affair storyline? I know that viewers have expressed confusion over character continuity (in regard that Maria was unlikely to stray). I enjoy you and Eva as tremendous acting talents. Keep up the compelling scenes! -- Jane C.

Good memory! A prime-time foray is possible -- I wouldn't turn down any work -- but it would have to be better than All My Children, and right now that occupies most of my time. I think it's the best role that I've had, and the feeling is mutual among the producers.

How far in advance do you know the storyline -- a week at a time, a month? I heard Eva was leaving the show -- say it ain't so. How do the cast members really get along? -- Diane

We film two weeks in advance of what you see on the air, and then we get hints, perhaps. If you're around long enough, you can usually tell. If somebody's taking a plane in the middle of an oncoming hurricane, don't invite him to dinner -- he may be busy. Most of the hints are speculation. You'd be surprised at how much we don't know. People assume we know a lot, but the writers justifiably keep future storylines from us because actors love to blab, and also, I think, fans are ambivalent about wanting to know. They want to know and yet they don't want to know. And when you've got a storyline with a twist, it's just like reading a good book. Would you really want to read the last chapter first? So I think they keep us somewhat in the dark with good reason.

Shades of Grey