General Hospital's Jeff Kober Opens Up About The Tragedy That Changed His Life

Well-known for playing tough guy parts, actor Jeff Kober has had a substantial acting career. Beloved for his roles on "The Walking Dead," "Sons of Anarchy," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," and "China Beach," Kober is making his mark on the soap opera world as well on "General Hospital."

His character, Cyrus Renault, was a dangerous drug lord that came to Port Charles to do battle with Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard). He's mixed things up with several people, including enabling Sasha Gilmore's (Sofia Mattsson) substance abuse, blackmailing Julian Jerome (William deVry) into blowing up a local restaurant, and working with nefarious villain Peter August (Wes Ramsey), per Soaps in Depth. 

As noted by Soap Opera Spy, Cyrus is not only the brother of lawyer Martin Grey (Michael E. Knight) but also the long-lost half-brother of mayor Laura Collins (Genie Francis). Having been incarcerated for his many crimes, Cyrus now seems to have turned over a new leaf and has been focused on his family. He even protected his nephew, Spencer Cassadine (Nicholas Chavez), when the young man ended up in prison, per Soaps.

Kober has brought a lot of gravitas to his performance as the once-villainous Cyrus tries to make amends. No stranger to trauma on the screen, he recently opened up about trauma in his personal life and how acting helped him through it.

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On the show "State of Mind," host Maurice Benard interviewed "General Hospital" co-star Jeff Kober. Kober explained when he took his first acting class, he had to bring all of his emotions front and center and it led to a breakthrough in his personal life. Kober said, "I was so shut down for so long. I had this tragedy in my teenage years that just shut me down." 

Kober revealed that he was involved in a car accident that killed a boy. While he wasn't at fault, he still felt responsible for the tragedy. "I wasn't speeding," he said. "A little kid ran out in front of me and he was a friend of mine. And so ... I wasn't even able to talk about this till a few years ago, but, I really thought, you know, I was a murderer. And I wasn't worthy of life let alone happiness. But I didn't know how to kill myself. So everything was held inside."

Emoting on stage helped him realize his feelings made sense, and acting became a window for him. He could relate to his "China Beach" character that had suffered trauma and applied his experience to the role. "It was using what I was in a situation that really fit," he said. 

Kober stated that today he draws from his experiences, but he's not controlled by them. "I've cleared myself of the blocks and the trauma."

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