Peter Porte
(ex-ricky Williams, Y&R, 2011-12)
Though he’s gotten some plum parts of late, Porte is still thankful for his days in Genoa City. “Working with Doug Davidson [Paul] was such an honor and pleasure,” Porte praises. “He takes such good care of you. For someone that has been doing the show for as long as he has, he was always so excited to work on a scene and to rehearse with a new person. He said, ‘Lose the jacket. Lose the backpack. Leading men shouldn’t be carrying things. They should just come in like a hero,’ and I was like, ‘Yes, Dad, that’s it!’ Throughout that whole process it was great to have him as a mentor. He takes such good care of you.”
When Y&R decided to get rid of Ricky, the character took a very dark turn. “Basically, the producers said they were making some big changes,” Porte recalls. “I think they cleaned house at this point and since I was one of the last people in, I was one of the first people out. I was told, ‘But we are going to give you a great sendoff,’ and they did! Suddenly, this milquetoast character was a sociopath. I was very grateful that they gave me that send-off because they really didn’t have to. Ricky could’ve just left town, but instead they had me stealing babies and threatening to kill ex-girlfriends. That final scene with Doug was one of my favorite scenes I had ever performed. I can say, [being written off] was a blessing because I could’ve gone through my whole contract, still just an all right character. At least I got to go out with a bang!”
After Porte departed Y&R, a wide range of roles started coming his way. “It’s been kind of a whirlwind,” he marvels. “I went from soaps, which are very dramatic and very serious, to doing sitcoms. I did a bunch and then found a little home at this show called BABY DADDY, which was on ABC Family that became Freeform. What was supposed to be one episode turned into four years with this group of incredible performers and writers and producers. I still call them some of my closest friends in Los Angeles. That ended last year. I loved it!”
Then an unexpected opportunity arose from Hallmark Channel. “That came out of the blue,” he notes. “I had never worked with the network before and hadn’t even auditioned for them. Last year, I got a call and they had seen another movie that I’d done for Christmas [A CINDERELLA CHRISTMAS]. I think they liked my work and they asked if I wanted to do one of their movies. It was shot in Savannah,
Georgia, and then from that one, other ones came in.”
Working with Hallmark has become a successful collaboration. “They’re an incredible network,” Porte declares. “It really is like a family. They take very good care of everyone. It’s a very closeknit, family approach to television. It’s doing exceptionally well because in our current climate, people are starved for something they can watch with their whole family that is going to make them feel instantly good. I think that the last movie I did with them [LOVE, ONCE AND ALWAYS], the ratings were unreal, like 8 million viewers. I’ve even sent over a script that I’m trying to work on with them.”
Thanks to his accident, Porte has learned two things about his acting. “I shot a movie last year where [my character] was in an ambulance after a bicycle accident and in hindsight, I would’ve done things so differently because in real life I was a little hysterical,” he chuckles. “Also, I hope that
I have a really intense, gory scene in the future because I’ve got some really great memories for how to perform it!”