Nathanyael Grey Enjoys Playing Bad Guy Mason On General Hospital

We're finally starting to get some answers about Austin Gatlin-Holt's (Roger Howarth) cousin, Mason Gatlin (Nathanyael Grey), and the mysterious criminal organization he works for on "General Hospital." It turns out the newly-freed-from-jail Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober) — who obfuscates people with religious platitudes — is Mason's boss, and they had forced Ava Jerome (Maura West) to get incriminating information on ruthless racketeer Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard). Their plan to have the feds come down on Sonny backfired, as he was one step ahead of the gang. But when Mason tried to kill Ava, he was subdued by Sonny's right-hand man, Dex Heller (Evan Hofer), and detective Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna).

Soap Opera Digest spoke with Grey in the October 30 issue and asked him about portraying the villain. He gave a little backstory about his career, explaining that playing a villain is, "Kind of like my shtick, as it were." He continued, stating, "I've been playing bad guys since my first TV show and my first movie. I've never played a good guy." He said that he was given no backstory on Mason at first, but decided that his character liked Austin, and when further details — like the Gatlin family trucking company — were revealed, he felt Mason does what he does for the benefit of his family. He also noted that executive producer Frank Valentini confirmed this by saying, "You're actually a gray character. You're not all bad."

Nathanyael Grey continued his conversation with Soap Opera Digest about playing the dangerous Mason Gatlin on "General Hospital," explaining why being a villain is fun. "When it comes to being a bad guy, we get to do some crazy stuff," he said. He also stated that one of the fun aspects of being the baddie is that you can get away with doing terrible things, with no punishment. Grey is nothing like his character and once drew a line in the sand where Mason was supposed to threaten a child, as he explained, "I changed the line to, 'Don't make me.' Like, 'I don't want to do it, but I will,' as opposed to, 'I will totally kidnap a kid!' "

To further illustrate what a good guy he really is, when he was in the film "Jack Frost" (1997), his character had to bully another, and he kept apologizing to his scene partner after each take. He doesn't take Mason's villainous darkness home with him, noting, "I'm always smiling and happy." He praised a castmate when he stated, "I think the only person on the set friendlier than me is Evan [Hofer, Dex]! I mean, that guy just hugs everybody." He loved being on set and gives it his all to entertain his fans, and please his castmates and Frank Valentini.

"Honestly, I just love the job," he stated. "It's the greatest job in the world."