General Hospital's Jonathan Jackson on His Road to Nashville

Ever-popular star Jonathan Jackson has certainly come a long way from his days as a young teen actor on “General Hospital” to his star turn as Avery on “Nashville.”

Jackson, who scored five Emmy awards for playing Lucky Spencer on the 53-year-old ABC series has won a legion of new fans as Avery Barkley, an up-and-coming singer, and songwriter on “Nashville.”

“Nashville,” which formerly aired on ABC, will make is season five premiere on CMT this fall.

Soaps are Harder Than Primetime
Jackson played GH’s Lucky from 1993 until 1999 and revived the character from 2009-2011. He also made a brief 2015 return that had fans wanting more.

“Instead of doing a scene once or twice like you do on General Hospital, you’ll have maybe three scenes in a day on Nashville, but you’ll do each scene twenty takes or more,” he revealed in a chat with Smashing Interviews Magazine.

Jonathan Jackson's Avery finds new love with Layla (Aubrey Peeples) after his relationship with Juliette (Hayden Panettiere, not pictured) ends. — Jonathan Jackson’s Avery finds new love with Layla (Aubrey Peeples) after his relationship with Juliette (Hayden Panettiere, not pictured) ends.

“The music element on Nashville, which I love, also adds a whole other dynamic to learning the songs, recording them and learning the guitar parts. That certainly makes the schedule pretty full,” the actor shared.

Music First, Acting Second
In a surprising twist, Jackson revealed he was interested in music before acting.

“Music was first, but I was so young when I got into acting, it’s kind of hard to…there’s not much of a difference. I started acting when I was nine or ten years old,” he said. “I started learning guitar when I was eight and writing songs around the same time. It was pretty much the same time for each,” he said in the interview.

Would He Return To GH?
Jackson tours the country with his indie band Jonathan Jackson + Enation, along with his duties on “Nashville.” But, would he still fit in another return appearance to the show that got him his start in television?

Jonathan Jackson won five Emmy awards for his portrayal of Lucky on GH. (L-R) Rebecca Herbst, Genie Francis, Tony Geary.

“The last I heard about Lucky, he was wandering around the hills of Ireland, so I don’t know!” he laughed.

“At least they didn’t kill him off. It’s always a schedule thing. I’ve always tried and wanted to be able to do that from time to time,” he revealed to the magazine.

“But I’m grateful that I’m not having to memorize thirty pages of script in a day like I was on GH. That’s such a grind. I have so much respect for the actors and actresses that do that year in and year out. It’s just an incredible load,” said the actor.

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