GALEN GERING, star of NBC's Passions at The Romance Club

Galen Gering plays Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, the ruggedly handsome and volatile oldest son of Pilar. Luis is definitely a ladies man who harbors resentment towards the upper class, particularly the Crane family.

Luis is a cop, and and suspects Julian and Alistair Crane had something to do with his father's sudden and mysterious disappearance years ago. So when Sheridan Crane, Julian's beautiful young sister returned to Harmony from Paris, he was determined he would not like her any better than he liked her brother and father.

But things never work out quite the way they are planned, and before Luis even realizes what is happening, he find himself having feelings for Sheridan that he can't explain. Then he realizes he's in love. But by then it's too late - Alistair and Julian have made Sheridan believe the worst about Luis (because they are afraid Luis will get too close and learn the truth regarding the Cranes and his father), and she flees Harmony and returns to Paris.

In Paris, hit men await Sheridan (her ex-fiance was a drug dealer, and they already murdered him). And Luis, being the heroic sort, races off to Paris to save her.

A native of Los Angeles, Gering graduated from the University of Miami this past May, with honors. While pursuing his education in film and creative writing, he began modeling, and has appeared in over 50 national commercials. Gering was recently featured in two independent films, "Road Trip" and "Pistol Whipped". His role on "Passions" is his first television series appearance.

Gering's hobbies include film making, writing and Pro-Am beach volleyball. His birthday is February 13.

GALEN GERING plays Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald, PASSIONS’ tall, dark and handsome – and sometimes brooding – police officer.

As the oldest son, Luis has taken the responsibility for his family seriously. And his goal is to make enough to support his mother, Pilar (Eva Tamargo Lemus), and younger sister, Theresa (Lindsay Korman), and brother, Miguel (Jesse Metcalfe), on his cop salary so his mother won’t have to work for the Cranes any longer.

It’s not so much that he doesn’t like the fact that his mother is the maid, but it’s that she is the housekeeper for the Cranes, Harmony’s wealthiest residents, and the people Luis holds responsible for his father’s mysterious disappearance years ago.

So when Sheridan Crane (McKenzie Westmore) returned to Harmony, after spending most of her life in Paris, he was determined he would not like her any better than he liked her brother and father.

But things never work out quite the way they are planned, and before Luis even had time to consider the effect Sheridan had on him, he found himself having feelings for her he can’t explain.

Just as he’s about to realize he’s actually in love with Sheridan, Alistair (the voice over the speaker phone) and Julian (Ben Masters) step in, afraid if Luis gets too close to their family, he’ll discover the truth about his father’s disappearance, and devise a plan to make Sheridan believe Luis is just like every other man she’s ever been involved with. How? Julian has a mask made to look like Luis’s face, and hires someone to wear it on the docks, and when Sheridan arrives on the scene, she overhears "Luis" talking on his cell phone, admitting he is just using her to get what he wants.

Sheridan flees Harmony in tears and returns to Paris, where hit men await (her last boyfriend was, unbeknownst to her, a drug dealer, and they’d already murdered him). Luis, being the heroic sort, races off to Paris to save her. And save her he does, dodging bullets and swinging from Paris balconies with Sheridan in his arms.

When Sheridan refuses to return to Harmony with him, he knocks her out and puts her on the first plane back to the United States. When she awakens, she’s angry, and, thinking it will teach him a lesson, has him arrested on kidnapping charges when they arrive in Boston.

She didn’t intend to really pursue the charges. She was going to drop them after he apologized. Of course, she couldn’t drop them once she filed them.

Sheridan returns to Harmony after Hank (Dalton James) tells her Luis said he wanted nothing more to do with her.

Meanwhile, Luis makes bail and heads back to Harmony himself. There, Julian Crane confronts him and offers Luis a deal – Julian will pull some political strings and see that all charges against him are dropped if Luis agrees to stay away from Sheridan forever. Luis takes the deal, because he has no intention of ever seeing Sheridan again.

However, the hit men have followed Sheridan from Paris. Then the FBI shows up, and who should they appoint to be Sheridan’s bodyguard, but officer Luis Lopez-Fitzgerald. And being Sheridan’s bodyguard means that Luis literally has to live with her and be with her twenty-four hours a day.

Will all that time together bring Sheridan and Luis closer? Will Sheridan finally tell Luis what she heard that night on the docks? And will Luis be able to prove his innocence and discover the truth about the "Luis mask" that Julian keeps locked in his desk? Will Luis learn the truth about his father’s disappearance? And how will Sheridan’s nightmares tie in?

If you were to ever bump into Galen Gering, it would seem as though you were talking to any regular American guy. You would, of course, notice that he has deep brown eyes that you could easily fall into and be lost forever, and that he is ruggedly handsome. But he certainly doesn’t act as though he knows it. Nor does Galen seem to have been affected by the fact that he has legions of adoring female fans or the recent People Magazine honor of being named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World".

He is soft spoken and polite. And behind those sexy dark eyes and that boyish grin, there’s a wonderful sense of humor, and sincere warmth.

LAURA: You are what would be described as "tall, dark, and handsome". Where do those dark good looks come from?

GALEN: my mother's side of the family is Basque, which is a small territory between the southwest of France and Spain, and my father's side is Russian and Jewish.

GALEN: Both. My grandfather on my mother's side was an actor. He was a good friend of Rod Serling's and was in Twilight Zone. My father was a dancer. My mother was involved indirectly - though she was a model at one time and a costume designer.

GALEN: I went to school for filmmaking. I love to go around with my video camera and put things together. And now with the advent of this great technology, you can make stuff at home. It's affordable.

In addition to that, I played semi-professional beach volleyball for a number of years. I still love to get out and do that, stay in shape, hang out with friends.

I have a dog, too. Sometimes I feel bad during the week because I work so much, and during my weekend I love to dedicate time to her and go hiking. I had her at Malibu all day yesterday, swimming in the ocean, loving life.

GALEN: I like so many different kinds of music, whether it be rap or funk or alternative. I'm not really a commercial mainstream kind of music person. There are only a couple types of music that I really don't own in my collection, and that would be opera and country.

GALEN: Yeah. Although right now… I mean, I used to read a couple novels a week. But since the start of the show, it's so hard, because so much time is spent memorizing lines and working. And my other time, I'm so fired up because I've been trapped in a studio, that I don't want to sit around and read a book.

Before that I was in college. Not that I burned out on books, but we had to read so many because I was a creative writing major and there was tons and tons of reading. When you have to read three books a day. A lot of it was stuff like Henry James.

GALEN: I like stuff that's well written, first of all. Things that will take me somewhere else, with interesting character development.

GALEN: Definitely fiction. I was never a really big non-fiction kind of guy. I'm not really into the self-help books.

GALEN: Well… there was a time when I was trapped in this house in Florida and that's all there was. I think I actually did read one.

I've also read a bit of Jane Austen. And I read Jane Eyre… Wuthering Heights.

GALEN: It probably would have been a character in Apocalypse Now. Number one, I thought the film, for its time, did so many great things. In addition to that it was such an adventure for everyone that was part of the film, and so many great actors and directors that worked on it. They took a lot of chances, and I think it would have been wild to be involved in it.

GALEN: I was actually named after a doctor from way back when, who was the first guy that figured out that the heart pumped blood. He also said that we are comprised of earth, air, fire and water. A revolutionary for his time - definitely on the cutting edge.

LAURA: Who would you say was the most influential person in your life personally while growing up?

GALEN: My father. There was a time in my life where I was headed for disaster. Both my parents were super influential. But he was tremendously influential in getting me back on the right track.

There were a couple other people that were really a positive influence in my life.

I think that in life we all need mentors. There were people that changed my life. One was my father. Another was a teacher named Susan Ward. Another was a manager of mine named Grady.

LAURA: Who would you say influenced you the most as far as acting, writing or directing?

GALEN: You mean just anyone out there in the world? I don't know that I could really single anyone out to be honest with you. I kind of take bits and pieces of things I enjoy.

GALEN: It was between my junior and senior year in high school, and I spent three months of my senior year doing correspondence work.

GALEN: Someone approached me when I was about seventeen and promised me fame and fortune. For a seventeen-year-old that's a pretty cool thing, especially when you don't have a lot. I didn't have a car, I didn't have the really nice clothes or material possessions. I had freedom and could do what I wanted, and that allowed me to go to New York and see what it was all about. It was an exciting place that I wanted to go, so when the opportunity arose, I jumped at it.

GALEN: In the beginning there was both success and failure. I wasn't as successful as I'd anticipated - because of what this particular agent said about how successful I was going to be. In addition to that I didn't realize how expensive it was… a seventeen-year-old kid trying to support himself in New York.

In whatever business you're in, whether modeling or selling cars, there are always start up costs. Next thing I knew I was seven thousand dollars in debt. It was a difficult time, but also an exciting time.

GALEN: It was a great, great life experience. And later on I was successful. It was certainly a springboard for me.

GALEN: I went back to school, graduated. After that, someone had seen my pictures at an agency in Italy. And somehow, just by seeing my pictures, a client over there booked me for a job in Africa.

This was right around the time I'd been accepted to UCLA. So then, I was like, "Am I going to go to Africa? Or am I going to start at UCLA?" It was kind of a no brainer for me at that point. I was going to go to Africa!

I thought it was going to be like a safari - lions and tigers and Ernest Hemmingway on location. But we were shooting in North Africa, in Tunisia, which is right next to Libya, which was not long after we bombed Libya.

It was totally war-torn. I was the only American. Everyone else on the crew was English or French or Italian. We were in this little village, and when they found out I was an American, it was totally hostile. It was completely out of Indiana Jones, banging pots and pans and "we're going to kill you."

A carpet weaver grabbed me and dragged me through this village and hid me in this little carpet shop for a few hours until they could sneak me out.

I flew from there straight to Italy. My first night in Italy I was locked out and had to break into a building and sleep in a stairwell. It was certainly not glamorous.

LAURA: You've got to pay your dues, and some of us have to pay them a little more than others.

GALEN: Yeah, I was in Paris, altogether, a year and a half. I would go back and forth between New York and Paris and Italy. I was living a gypsy deluxe lifestyle - vagabond from one place to the next. I didn't really keep a place anywhere - just lived out little hotel rooms.

I lived in this one place, and there were prostitutes and junkies, ambulances pulling up in the middle of the night taking people out - this was in Italy.

Paris was great, because I'd studied French for about three and one half years in high school. So I was trying to be the good American in Paris, trying to speak the language. I got along pretty well there actually.

GALEN: Yes. Not that I wasn't successful in New York - I just had to get over some hurdles. Things went well for me, I must say. But it's not the glamorous lifestyle people make it out to be.

It was a fantastic experience. I've been all over the world. I've seen nooks and crannies in the farthest corners. Egypt and Israel, remote islands. It was a job unlike any other job. I could pack up and say, "I'm going to Germany tomorrow and live in this culture." It was amazing, the freedom tremendous. You weren't guaranteed you were going to make any money - you're sort of your own boss - but it was a fantastic experience for me.

LAURA: After living in Europe for three years you returned to New York and attended NYU for a couple of years and then transferred to the University of Miami. What made you decide to go back to school?

GALEN: Everyone in my family was educated. That was always a goal for me - to have a degree, for whatever it was worth.

Modeling was like "golden handcuffs". Unlike acting, when you're an actor and working at your craft, you're getting better at it. Whereas with modeling, once you know how to work with the camera, you've got it. And that can take just a week. It wasn't a skill I could perfect.

It was always hard for me to know I was in this business that wasn’t going to go anywhere, in addition to the fact that it wasn't a job that was stimulating mentally for me, and I needed that. I felt that I'd been afforded this wonderful opportunity to make money based primarily on how you look. But I really wanted to get an education.

GALEN: I have a Bachelor of Science in Communication. I majored in Video Film, which combined video as well as film. My other major was Creative Writing.

LAURA: I understand you've also done some directing? Tell me about some of your projects…

GALEN: The first film I made was basically about gun control. I'm sort of an advocate of it, simply because the statistics are shattering. If you have a gun in the house, you're more likely to use it on someone you love. That was called Pistol Whipped. Another was Gospel Hour, which was a satire on tele-evangelists.

Another I did was Armored Heights, and that was a story about someone who comes across all this money after an armored car flips over, and how the person becomes so delusional from his own fear of being caught, that instead of being something positive in his life, it becomes something negative.

GALEN: He was in Armored Heights - he was brilliant in that. His acting was so good.

GALEN: Yeah. I've known James for around six years. Another film I made was Road Trip, which was sort of a romantic comedy/comedy of errors. He was in that as well.

GALEN: Actually, he got cast out of New York. I was out of Miami. On the second screen test we ended up on the same plane together. I didn't really know that we were going out for it at the same time. Then I saw him on the plane and we were like, "No way! This is so cool!"

He actually found out before I did because he was up for another job in New York and he sort of had to pressure them into giving him an answer. So he found out right away, and I was like "Man, I hope I get it!" It was really cool that we both ended up getting it.

LAURA: How did you hear about the casting call for PASSIONS? Through your agent?

GALEN: No, actually, my girlfriend's agent ran into her on the street and said, "You know, I was just thinking Galen would be good for this role." So she actually sent me.

The funny thing is I didn't even go when I was supposed to. I was supposed to go on a Monday, and I was shooting Gospel Hour that weekend, and we were shooting at night, up all night. So when Monday came around I was totally exhausted.

They moved it to Wednesday. So I flew out for a screen test, came back, and then they flew me out for another screen test. This was all going on during the time I was taking finals.

I found out I got the job right before graduation. It was something like two days before my last finals and I was studying so hard I couldn't even talk on the phone.

GALEN: He is… basically he's not a character - he's a symbol. He's such an underdog. The guy that was valedictorian in school. But then, with what happened to his family, his father's disappearance, he was forced to support his family and had to sacrifice going to college.

He's a symbol of what can happen when families fall apart. What sacrifices a person could and should make because of that. But because of that, he also carries a lot of resentment for people that are wealthy and people who aren't loyal to their families.

GALEN: Yeah, exactly! He's a good person. I think he's also misunderstood. I think he really wants to be a white collar guy - like he really wants to be an intellect, but he was forced into the blue collar area because that's what he had to do at that point in his life to generate income for his family and stability.

GALEN: I would love to consider myself similar in his loyalty. He's great in that regard. I always worked hard in school and got good grades, and he did. I was always athletic.

GALEN: Also, he's attracted to independent women, and I'm definitely attracted to independent women.

LAURA: When PASSIONS first aired, Luis was working hard to make detective so he could support his mother and brother and sister. But fate brought blue-eyed agony into Harmony, and her name is Sheridan Crane. And whether Luis likes it or not, most of his time these days is spent, in one way or another with Sheridan… Fans are rooting for Luis and Sheridan to get together, but every time it looks like it's going to happen, there's another obstacle put in their path. When are Sheridan and Luis going to get a break?

The writers have done a great job in perpetuating the storyline for a long time. The chemistry is undeniable between the two and it becomes hard… Luis feels like he's so close sometimes.

LAURA: Luis is pretty down on the Cranes, with good reason. But while Luis is swinging off Paris balconies like Tarzan, with a Crane in his arms, his sister, Theresa is back in Harmony trying to win Ethan's heart. Do you think Luis will ultimately give his blessing to Theresa and Ethan?

GALEN: Well… I don't think so. I don't think he feels his sister can handle what the Cranes would throw at her, whereas he can. That's just sort of his own macho, self-centered…

Who knows? Maybe there could be a lot more realizations and growth in Luis's character. Time will tell.

LAURA: How would you like to see the current storyline between Luis and Sheridan play out?

GALEN: Well, whether they end up together or not, it would be great if they could resolve some of the issues that still lie between them. Understand whatever it is that kept them apart - whether it was the mask or something to do with his father. Just all these little misunderstandings. That would be cool. Then they could really know where they stand with each other. Right now, it's just one unfortunate incident after another that creates all these obstacles.

LAURA: If you could sit Luis down, what advice would you give him about Sheridan?

GALEN: Oh, man. I think he's doing a great job actually. She needs to relax.

At this point, he's been totally trying to save her life every other second. She's being very difficult right now.

GALEN: It certainly posed constraints because of our schedule. But it was great because now I know a few little moves that I didn't know before. We rehearsed three times for an hour each time after work, and then just had to go in and do it.

GALEN: Actually I do. I watched it religiously up until about five weeks ago, but I've just been crazy lately and have only seen scattered episodes.

GALEN: Well… no. Certainly he appears to be thinking he might be in love now, but he's definitely not happy.

LAURA: When I interviewed McKenzie, she told me about some of the funny things that have happened on the set… Tell me what the funniest moments on the set have been for you.

GALEN: Oh! She told you about the wiener pants? Oh, man. I didn't even have to wear those damn wiener pants, but they made me wear them.

LAURA: She told me about the basketball scene, where she couldn't make the basket any time the camera was rolling.

LAURA: The last thing she told me about was the harness you wore when you were swinging from the balcony.

GALEN: <He cracks up> That's good stuff actually. I would have to agree with her on that. She came up with some of the best.

LAURA: Everyone I've talked to has raved about what a wonderful experience it is to work with all the other cast members. Who would you say you pal around with the most on the set?

GALEN: The guys all sort of hang out together. It's usually people you have storylines with. You'll run lines and then you'll hang out. Definitely James, Dalton, Travis, Jesse…

GALEN: I see James most often. Dalton has kids, which makes it harder for him.

LAURA: There's a great chemistry that comes across between you and McKenzie when your characters are together. Lately, Luis and Sheridan have been doing a lot of kissing - reality and fantasy. How do you feel about all those hot kissing scenes with McKenzie?

LAURA: How does Jenna feel about all those hot kissing scenes with McKenzie?

GALEN: She knows it's a job. She was on a soap before. James was on it as well. She had to kiss him.

LAURA: Speaking of Jenna - for those that don't know, you and Jenna were married in Vegas on January 3^rd. When did you meet Jenna?

GALEN: Seven years ago. We actually met bowling. But nothing developed until almost a year later. We were on a modeling shoot in Arizona. We were just friends at that point. I was living in New York, so it was this long distance correspondence because she was in Miami. She said my letters made her fall in love with me. That creative writing paid off.

GALEN: It was for me. She needs more than that. It takes her a lot to be impressed.

LAURA: How did you know she was the lady you wanted to spend the rest of your life with?

GALEN: You just know. There are a million reasons. After seven years we still laugh together every day. I'm still completely attracted to her. We know how to communicate, and we have so many similar interests. So many positive things.

In addition to all that, we're two totally different people. I think it's important to remain individuals.

All of those things sort of say, "Hey! This is the one, you big dummy! Don't let her go!"

LAURA: When you have children, would you want them to go into the entertainment field?

GALEN: I want to encourage them with what excites them. First and foremost, I want them to get an education and I want them to socialize with other kids. I think sports are a great way to build self-esteem. I'll encourage them with whatever they want to do… barring criminal behavior.

LAURA: You were just named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World? What's that like?

GALEN: That is like… now I have to brush my hair every time I go out or people are going to give me a hard time.

LAURA: Even before the People honor you were beautiful to all those adoring PASSIONS fans. How has the popularity of the show, and the amazing response of fans to the Sheridan and Luis love story changed your life?

GALEN: The most obvious answer is the recognizability factor. At first I thought everyone in LA was going to be too cool to even care. But that's not the case. They love the show, and the fact that it's modern and sort of makes fun of itself and the soap genre.

One time I was driving along, and these three guys pull up in this van. These were some rowdy characters and I thought they were going to car-jack me or something. But they were like "Hey, hey, hey, are you going to, like, get together with Sheridan?"

These guys were wearing dreadlocks. The last people you'd ever expect to be interested, but they were totally into this love story. It's so fun.

LAURA: I think everyone craves the love stories. If you look at the movies, the popular ones all have love stories in them. Even the "guy movies" like Lethal Weapon.

GALEN: It's something everyone can relate to. Everyone has either seen someone that they would like to be in love with, or felt that little bug, little twinge in their stomach and they can relate to it. They can't necessarily relate to jumping out of a helicopter, but when you combine those two things it's really exciting to watch.

When McKenzie and I went to New York it was amazing. And their feed back, and how diligently and carefully they watch the show.

LAURA: If you only had twenty-four hours left to live and could go anywhere or do anything, what would it be?

GALEN: I've never been to Hawaii. I haven't sat under an amazing waterfall in a rain forest. I would love to take Jenna somewhere like that.

GALEN: Just on the spur of the moment said, "We need to take a vacation." She just got on the phone and got the tickets.

GALEN: When we first met, Jenna and I were staying at this hotel in Arizona, and there were all these beautiful flowers all over the place. After we had dinner, she went to her room, and I went and cut flowers from all over the place. I got this big Evian bottle and cut the top off, and put them at her doorstep with a note.

GALEN: Well, I've got some offers coming in. I'm just trying to pick and choose between things.

GALEN: I would like to see Galen make a positive difference in the world. To help somehow. To make this place somehow better. I think that's why we're here.

Laura's favorite charity is the IMAGINATION LIBRARY, a literacy program that helps bring FREE books to children each month, from birth to 5 years. Read more about this wonderful program and the woman who started it! Donate any amount and receive a free book!

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