General Hospital’s Robert Palmer Watkins is ready for his next challenge.
Watkins currently plays Dillon Quartermaine on the ABC soap, and he has his sights set on another goal: competing on Dancing with the Stars.
I recently had the chance to speak with Watkins about his background, his role on General Hospital, and why he hopes to be a contestant on the reality competition show.
For Watkins, becoming an actor and a musician was a natural fit. “I have always kind of been the ham in my family. I grew up with three sisters, so whether I wanted to or not, they were always trying to put me in some skit, or some show, or throw me in their dance routine or whatever it was,” Watkins laughed.
“They just thought it was so freakin’ cute to get their little brother, you know, in all of their little shows. And eventually, I enjoyed it!” he continued.
“I like entertaining people and making people laugh, and you know, I grew up playing sports and stuff like any other little boy or whatever, and then in high school, finally my teacher was like, ‘alright, clearly you enjoy being the class clown and entertaining, try out for the freakin’ play.’”
But at that time, Watkins was focused on being an artist. “I wanted to be a Disney animator. That was like my journey all throughout my childhood.”
Eventually, though, he decided to give acting a shot. “Finally my mom and my English teacher, Mrs. Jean, convinced me to try out for the play. I tried out, got in, and I loved it. I mean, I was hooked, from that moment on,” Watkins recalled.
He became involved in theater both at the Henrico Center for the Performing Arts and Douglas Southall Freeman High School, where more and more opportunities presented themselves. “Once I did one musical, the chorus teacher found me and was like, ‘you sing?! We need guys for the guys’ a capella group. Can you please, please audition?’ And I was like, ‘alright, I’m already headed down this path! Might as well go all the way.'”
“They had this funny Mr. D.S.F. mock beauty pageant for all the guys to do at our high school. And it was, I mean, it was a complete joke, but of course they roped me into doing that,” Watkins continued. “I just was always surrounded by artistic people, and once I started doing one thing at a school I would get involved in something else.”
After high school, Watkins headed off to college, but he already knew that he wanted to make a career out of acting.
“My parents were pretty adamant that they wanted me to at least try regular college and try to get a degree before I went to New York or L.A.,” he said.
“I loved it. I am glad that I got the normal college experience for two years, but after two years of being there, I just had the itch to get out to either New York or L.A. I was twenty / twenty-one, and I just was seeing other people on TV all the time doing it, younger than me. And I was just ready, you know?”
“I auditioned for the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, because I figured if I was gonna move to a new town and not know anybody, it’d be better to start at a conservatory where I could meet people, and network, and continue to develop my training,” Watkins continued. “It made my parents feel better too that I was gonna go to L.A. but go to a school.”
That decision certainly paid off, and it helped that Watkins had the support of his family and friends.
“I think the biggest hurdle in life is just like, going for it. So many people have dreams, and they just think, ‘well no, that’s just not possible.’ I’m glad that I had a family and friends that were like, no dude, you’re meant to do this.”
Of course, it still took a little time for Watkins to land a major role. “After I finished the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, I spent a few years auditioning, and just really working every job under the sun. From dog walking, to house sitting, to valet parking cars, to bartending, to waiting tables, to catering — I mean everything just to make it by. And I was broke as hell,” Watkins remembered.
“In fact, when I booked General Hospital, I had two dollars to my name. Which really — two physical dollars I had. Nothing even in my bank account. I saved those two dollars, by the way!”
When the opportunity to audition for General Hospital finally came up, Watkins was excited.
“I didn’t know much about the soap world, honestly, growing up. My mom didn’t really watch [them],” he said. “But my manager — whenever I’d get an opportunity to go in and audition for one, throughout those few years of me just really auditioning and hustling — he would always stress and emphasize the fact that, look, soaps are a great place to start, and they are great training. And it’s a really different type of medium to work in because it’s so fast-paced, and it’s a lot of lines, and you just gotta be able to think on your feet. So for any young actor to get an opportunity on a soap, it’s a pretty amazing opportunity.”
Speaking of amazing opportunities, Watkins said he’s absolutely willing to go on Dancing with the Stars if he has the chance.
If you’ve been paying attention on social media, you know that fans have been campaigning like crazy to get Watkins on Dancing with the Stars, something that started with a simple post from his sister that hinted at him being on the show.
“I didn’t even think anything of it, but then I get on my Twitter feed the next day, and it’s just hundreds of posts about me being on Dancing with the Stars from all the fans. And it just blew my mind. I was like, wow, this is crazy. Maybe I should go for this, you know? If people want to see me on it, I’m down! I’m up for a challenge. Am I a little terrified? Yeah. I’ve had a little bit of dance training doing musical theater stuff in the past, and I did a couple of years of hip hop and stuff back in high school, but I’m definitely rocky. So it’s a little scary. But, why not?”
And thanks to that attention on social media, it might end up being a very real possibility. “The next thing I know, the PR people from ABC are talking, and my manager reached out to Dancing with the Stars, so they know about me now. And then Soaps in Depth did an article on it, so it just became a thing! Which is so funny, how the power of social media can really get something going,” Watkins added.
“I like to entertain, so even though dancing isn’t my forte or expertise, I know I would enjoy it. You know, being in front of a live audience again and just learning something new.”
In addition to General Hospital, you can also see Watkins on two different web series. “One of them is called Last Life,” Watkins said. “The first season did very well among the supernatural, sci-fi fan base. It’s a really, really good show dealing with magic, and powers, and possession — and it’s definitely a certain genre.”
The second one is for Scene Girls TV. “It’s this web series called Bad Sex with Good People, and I play kind of a player, douchebag kind of character,” Watkins laughed.
Watkins said he hopes to find new projects to continue to work on as well. “I’d love to find a really good script or work on a really good script with some writers, and produce something on my own just separate from General Hospital,” he stated. “And maybe play a character that’s completely different from Dillon on General Hospital, and just show my range a little bit. So I’m looking at a few different like, horror movie ideas, because I think that would be really fun to just play a bad guy or a weirdo.”
Being on General Hospital has given Watkins the chance to show off not only his acting skills, but his singing skills as well. “They just let me perform on General Hospital at the Nurses Ball a couple months ago. I got to sing on the show, which was great.”
In fact, Watkins continues to work on his music, which you can check out on social media.
“I do something called ‘Funk It Friday’ on social media. And I haven’t had much time to do them lately, but they got pretty big over the past year. I would do a cover of a current hit song that’s out, and post it on my Instagram. They were just little fifteen second clips, and you know the fans really responded, so I started making them longer, and then we released to music videos for ‘Funk It Friday.’ One was a Justin Bieber cover for that song ‘Love Yourself,’ and then one was a Selena Gomez cover for the song ‘Good For You,’ and we kind of did our own rendition of both those songs.”
Watkins also recently shot a pilot for his friend’s show, Lucky’s Clinic. “They’re pitching it to TNT, so that would be really cool if that gets picked up,” he said.
“I love being on General Hospital. It’s my first priority, obviously. But I definitely want to make sure that I stay busy working on other stuff as well, so that I can build my resume, and just show people that I’m working on other things, and that I can play other characters as well.”
Something else Watkins is passionate about is working with Rodan and Fields. “I’m now a consultant for that skin care company. My sister and my mom got me involved, and that’s been amazing too. I mean, that’s opened up so many things and they do so many good things for the world.”
As busy as he is, Watkins is still able to catch his favorite shows. He named Game of Thrones and Sons of Anarchy as two of his favorites. Currently, he’s watching the Netflix Original Series, Stranger Things. “I’m only on episode 5, but I really like where they’re going with it. It’s weird; it’s different.”
Be sure to catch Robert Palmer Watkins as Dillon Quartermaine on General Hospital, airing weekdays at 2/1c on ABC.
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