Kiwi actor Charles Mesure marks 20 years in LA. Photo / Kay May Photography
Kiwi actor Charles Mesure marks 20 years in LA. Photo / Kay May Photography
After a string of setbacks in Los Angeles, the Outrageous Fortune star is grateful for his new role on US soap General Hospital.
“I was so excited about having a pie today!” Charles Mesure enthuses while tucking into a meaty treat at West Hollywood’s Kiwi eatery Ponsonby Road Café.
As he marks 20 years in LA, the Outrageous Fortuneand Desperate Housewives star lights up at the café's touches of home, including good coffee and New Zealand accents.
Following a tough few years, the British-born, Australian-raised Kiwi, 54, is enjoying a new chapter as a daytime soap star on General Hospital – a gig he never would’ve considered when he hit Hollywood two decades ago.
“I came out to LA for a Xena: Warrior Princess fan convention and we just did Xena’s 25th-anniversary convention in February, so it’s full circle,” he says.
Charles Mesure in Crossing Jordan. Photo / Chris Haston, NBC
“I was stoked there are people who started watching me on Xena and have seen every show since. Crossing Jordan, Desperate Housewives, Once Upon a Time, The Magicians and now General Hospital – they asked about all of them.”
While many Los Angeles-based Kiwi actors started on our own soap,Shortland Street, Charles went from Xena and Street Legal to US shows like Bones and Ghost Whisperer.
However, the 2008 Hollywood writers’ strike saw him out of work and drowning in debt. When his parents went bankrupt, Charles headed home to Aotearoa, joining the cast of Outrageous Fortune as corrupt policeman Zane Gerard to help his folks and recover his own finances.
Returning to LA, he landed roles in star-studded series such as the iconic Lost, sci-fi show V, Tom Selleck cop drama Blue Bloods and Desperate Housewives, where he shared scenes with Vanessa Williams and Eva Longoria. Charles raves, “Eva’s like Sofía Vergara mashed up with Robin Williams – her improv is bananas!”
Charles then began enjoying the character roles he had long sought, like playing pirate Black Beard in Once Upon a Time and the Beast in The Magicians.
Charles played pirate Black Beard in Once Upon a Time. Photo / Woman's Day
But after he began dating a woman with a special-needs daughter, Charles’ priorities and daily life changed. The youngster required at-home care and faced 14 hospitalisations from 2015 to 2022. As he focused on caring for the child, whom he loved dearly, he lost the mindset for auditioning.
Things became even more challenging as Charles entered an ultra-strict Covid lockdown to protect the child’s health.
“I took the phone off the hook and hung out in my garage building guitars for three years,” he shares.
“The social isolation was brutal.
“Acting’s how I make my living, but it’s also part of my self-esteem. I feel like I have purpose and value on set, so to have that taken away during the pandemic was also brutal.
“I thought about selling my house and flying back to Auckland, but that same day, Auckland Airport was underwater due to flooding.”
Charles persevered in LA, but by 2022, he wanted his life and career back, so he and his partner split.
The actor had thought about selling his house and flying back to Auckland. Photo / Woman's Day
“I started thinking about acting again but didn’t know if I still had it, especially with ageing. During the pandemic, part of me thought it was all over.”
He promptly landed a dream role in Gotham Knights, only to have the show cancelled as the 2023 writers’ strike began. When General Hospitalcame up, Charles reluctantly went along to auditions, where he clicked with the casting director, who’d been trying to get him on the show for years.
“The past 10 years, I’ve been playing character roles rather than the romantic leading man, so I thought, ‘I can’t do that at 54. That’s ridiculous!’”
Yet his character, hunky spy Jack Brennan, is so popular, Charles has signed on as a series regular and is often approached by fans in the supermarket.
“A lot of older folks are really excited to see the dude off General Hospital,” he laughs. “I’m enormously flattered. To have folks digging this character is a lovely, unexpected surprise.
Charles' character, hunky spy Jack Brennan, is so popular. Photo / Woman's Day
“Plus, if you’d told me I’d have some of the best writing I’ve worked on in a soap, I wouldn’t have believed it. And of all the amazing actresses I’ve worked with – from Vanessa Williams to Lucy Lawless – two of the best have been General Hospital’s Laura Wright and Finola Hughes. I had no clue how good you had to be to be on a soap!”
Learning dialogue has been his biggest challenge, but Charles, who also teaches acting, credits his experience in New Zealand for showing him how to work under high pressure and nail scenes in a few takes.
Recent years also prepared him for the medical setting.
“I knew more doctors and nurses than actors because I was spending so much time in the hospital looking after this great kid. I could probably play a doctor!”
Cue Shortland Street? Charles is open to joining our Kiwi soap, saying he’d love to be closer to his mum as she gets older. His father passed away in 2017 while Charles was in Australia filming Occupation with Temuera Morrison.
“Dad and I weren’t particularly close, and when he got brain cancer, the universe went, ‘Here’s a movie in Australia, two hours from your dad. Go spend time with him.’ I did and we worked some things out. I was with Tem when I got news he’d passed away and Tem was such a good brother to me.”
Struggles like this loss and the pandemic now make Charles thankful for the good times.
“I’ve come to appreciate both ups and downs, even the pandemic years, because they were so miserable that I’m grateful every time I walk onto the General Hospital set,” he says.
“Every chance to act feels like it could be my last, so I’m like a kid again, hitting every scene with everything I’ve got.
“I don’t think I’d appreciate it as much if I hadn’t had years of setbacks, hospitalisations, lockdowns, loss and strikes. It’s been rough, but I’m enjoying things so much right now.”
