7 Things to Know about Jeff Kober, General Hospital’s Cyrus Renault

There’s a formidable new drug lord on General Hospital, Cyrus Renault, and veteran actor Jeff Kober is tackling the bigger-than-life role.

General Hospital’s Newest Star — Jeff Kober

While a newcomer to daytime television, Kober has an impressive resume spanning film (Out of Bounds, World Without Waves, Sully) and an array of highly recognizable primetime series. He played both Zachary Kralik and Rack in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dodger in China Beach, Mayor Jacob Hale, Jr. in Sons of Anarchy, and Joe in the fourth season of The Walking Dead.

Want to know more about the consummate actor? Here are seven things to know about Jeff Kober:

1. A native of Billings, Montana, Kober has worked as a farmer, a factory worker, and a carney. He moved to Los Angles in his early twenties with dreams of becoming an actor.

2. Cyrus might be all about power and control, but Kober is a whole lot more chill in real life. He spent much of the last 40 years studying metaphysics and meditation, traveling extensively in India, and, in 2007, became a teacher of Vedic meditation. He currently teaches from his center in Los Angeles regularly. You can sign up to take part in one of his sessions here.

3. During an interview with horrorgeeklife.com, Kober revealed that a late and beloved family member was a huge fan of General Hospital. “That was my grandmother’s favorite soap… So that’s fun,” noted the actor.

4. Kober plays bass guitar and was once a member of the rock band The Walking Wounded.

5. While filming the drama series China Beach (1988), Kober and co-star Dana Delany actually visited Vietnam. Their journey is detailed through discussion and photographs on the Dana Delany episode of Intimate Portrait.

6. Kober is also a noted artist. He created the paintings attributed to his character Daedalus in the 1996 horror series Kindred: The Embraced. He also co-wrote Art That Pays: The Emerging Artist’s Guide to Making a Living with his wife, Adele Slaughter.

7. He’s quite adept at tintype photography, a Civil War-era photography technique. In fact, in a film coming out soon titled Lie Exposed, which features photography as a large part of the plot, Kober supplied all the photographs for it. He also wrote and has a role in the feature.