Four-time Daytime Emmy nominee Jon Lindstrom has been bringing Dr. Kevin Collins to life on the General Hospital canvas since 1993, and the character’s evil twin, Ryan Chamberlin, since 1992. The beloved actor recently spoke about spending over 30 years on and off in Port Charles.
Jon Lindstrom: A Renaissance Man
The busy actor takes full advantage of his downtime from GH by indulging in many of his passions, which he explained in a Coastal Entertainment Zoom event with fans. “What I am is really, really lucky,” he said with gratitude. “I get to spend time every day on one of my passions or another. Tomorrow, I start recording and narrating an audiobook; I love to read and I get paid to read a book in a little booth. It’s pretty great.”
He mused about how the best things just seemed to unfold for him. “I guess that’s my life. The most unexpected things happen.” Lindstrom added, “That’s how I got into audiobooks. One of the General Hospital Fan Club head’s best friends was married to the guy who ran the audiobook studio for Penguin Random House. And she said, ‘Hey, John, you know, your voice probably be pretty good. Why don’t you go talk to my friend?’ And I said that’s a good idea. I think I’ll do that.
“The next thing I knew, I was sitting in a studio in Woodland Hills,” he continued. The multi-talented artist waxed philosophical about his journey. “Everything happens the way it’s supposed to, though, I guess. Well, that’s strangely what led me to write a novel because I was reading a lot of thrillers and I went, you know, I’d like to try doing this. To be honest, it was kind of a secret desire of mine all along.”
Lindstrom discovered a new passion. “Anybody who knows me, you know, will go into my room and see a stack of as many as 10 books on my nightstand, and I’m reading them all. I just love stories and I thought one day, what the hell? I’m just going to sit down and start writing.”
Just like acting, he continues to hone his craft. “I mean, every day I get to sit down and write, sit down and write for two or three hours.” He described his process. “I’m just becoming a novelist. I get bored really easily, so I get to find time every day to do something that I love. It’s been, it’s been a great ride.”
A lifelong musician, Lindstrom has been performing with the band High Lonesome since 1995. “I love music. I listen to music, or I get to play music. I’ve got a set of drums downstairs in the basement.” He’s careful not to annoy anyone with his passion for music. “You know, I go down there and put on my headphones on an electric set, so I don’t drive the neighbors [crazy].”
The actor has found passion behind the camera, writing, producing, and directing. He hit the film festival circuit with a movie he produced, co-wrote, and directed titled, How We Got Away With It in 2014. With all he has going on, Jon Lindstrom is still grateful to be a working actor. “I get to act, and I get to act on a lot of different things. So I live an extraordinarily interesting, fortunate, and gratifying professional existence. I mean, I just could think I’m the luckiest guy alive.”
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