Sean Kanan

ILLUMINATE:  Hello, Sean! Thank you so much for being here on Illuminate Magazine. I’m so excited and honored to interview you. You’ve had quite the extraordinary career with roles in films like KARATE KID III, being on The BOLD and the BEAUTIFUL, The YOUNG and the RESTLESS, GENERAL HOSPITAL, and your series, STUDIO CITY. You’re an author. You’re a podcast host. You have so many talents. And so it’s really an amazing opportunity to get to talk to you about those today.

KANAN: Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here. When you say it all together like that, it sounds pretty good.

ILLUMINATE:  It is really good. So I’m curious. How did you get started? When did you get the acting bug?

KANAN:  When I was about 14 or 15, I remember a friend of mine wanted to be a model and so there was this open call for models and I decided I was going to tag along with them, having no interest in doing that myself. Well, unfortunately for my friend, he didn’t get signed, but I got signed. So I started doing some modeling when I was about 15 years old.

No catalog stuff, not super high-end stuff, but it beat the hell out of flipping burgers, which I was doing before. I wound up getting cast in a commercial, which was a SAG commercial, so I had no idea how important that was going to prove to be later in my career. But at 15, I got my SAG card, and it’s still crazy to think that I have been a member of SAG for 40 years.

Anyway, when I decided I really did want to pursue acting, I eventually transferred from Boston University to UCLA in ‘87 to finish my political science degree and pursue my acting career. And the fact that I already had my SAG card was an enormous advantage. I got a couple of TV jobs and then in ‘88, I got KARATE KID III and that really started to open things up for me.

ILLUMINATE:  Wow. It’s amazing that you’ve had such a long career and also that it was completely a surprise that you ended up doing it. Such a happy, exciting surprise! I wanted to also touch on the fact that yes, you did have that breakthrough role as Mike Barnes in KARATE KID III. This was one of your first major roles, and it was a major franchise. What was it like getting to be a part of that world and play one of the younger villains? And of course, did you have karate experience already? How much karate did you have to learn for the role to be a part of this universe?

KANAN:  I’m going to do a gratuitous plug here. All of this I cover in my book “Way of the Cobra”, but let’s see, there’s a lot to unpack there. I just want to say that this is a role that I did over 30 some years ago, and the fact that it still has interests from fans and has some relevance to it is just such a blessing.

Obviously, that’s a tremendous function of the success of Cobra Kai on Netflix. For me, when I was a kid, like a little kid, I used to race home from school to go watch Happy Days, and that was what was on during my lunch time, right?  And so before I ever knew that Pat Morita was Mr. Miyagi, because he wasn’t then, he was Arnold on Happy Days. But I was a guy that bought a ticket to go see The Karate Kid and The Karate Kid II in the theater. And then to find myself starring in the film alongside Ralph Macchio and Martin Kove, and it was surreal. It was there I had very little time to have that pinch me moment because it was, you know, it was serious. 

Like you said, it was part of an internationally successful franchise. And there was a lot of pressure and a lot of things to be done. Fortunately, I had begun studying martial arts when I was about 14 years old, so I had a pretty strong basic background of Japanese karate when I was auditioning for the film, and that, of course, made a huge difference. There’s no way, I believe, that in the amount of time that they had, they could have taken somebody with no martial arts experience and made him look like a national champion, high-level black belt. So that really did come in handy. It was still one of the most seminal experiences in my life. It’s dramatically affected the trajectory of my life both professionally and personally and continues to.

ILLUMINATE:  I love how that was such a full circle moment of being a fan and then getting to be a part of this world. Let’s talk a little bit more about KARATE KID and COBRA KAI. You’re a member of this universe. Have you had any crazy fan experiences as a result? And also, you’ve probably seen all the theories about you coming back now that Terry Silver is on the show. You probably can’t tell us much, but can we expect any Mike Barnes?

KANAN:  I can neither confirm nor deny. All I can say is keep watching.

ILLUMINATE:  I’m a big fan, so of course.

KANAN:  If you’re a fan of the show, keep watching.

ILLUMINATE:  I will!

KANAN: Anything crazy? I got to be honest. I’m really fortunate that there are two fan universes that I’m very firmly entrenched in. The first is obviously the Karate Kid, Cobra Kai fan universe and the second is the daytime soap opera fan-verse. You know, from all the work that I’ve done on The Bold the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, in General Hospital, and both groups of fans are absolutely incredible.

I’ve had really almost nothing but wonderful experiences with all of them with the success of my book, “Way of the Cobra.” I’ve had all these people, all over the world, that the book has really resonated with them. And just today I got a package from a guy named Dave Greer in the UK, and he is an amazing guy and a fan of the book. He sent me (let me show you what he did) he had these beautiful pins made. Let me see if I can show (shows camera) these beautiful ”Way of the Cobra” pins made.

ILLUMINATE:  Oh, those are beautiful!

KANAN:  And he had these amazing ”Way of the Cobra” shirts made, which he sent me like a bunch of them.

ILLUMINATE:  Oh, those are so cool.

KANAN:  Yeah, and he did this on his dime and sent them across the Atlantic to me. And just what a wonderful … So this is the kind of people that I’ve been exposed to, not only through Karate Kid, but my book. Part of the concept of the book is I am the sensei and people are in my dojo, but what I say is that I recommend becoming a sensei yourself and paying it forward. And that’s one of the foundational principles of ”Way of the Cobra” and so I get all these amazing things all the time from these wonderful fans. And, you know, of course they all want to know if I’m going to do Cobra Kai. And so I just keep saying the only thing I can say, which is keep watching.

ILLUMINATE:  That’s so exciting. And I love that you have such a strong fan base, both as Mike Barnes and Deacon Sharpe. You have just a great amount of support and fans who love your work and have loved you work for such a long time. Let’s talk about that other fan base. First, let’s start with General Hospital. 

You played the iconic AJ Quartermaine. What are some of the differences you’ve experienced working in soap operas versus primetime series and feature films? Because I’ve heard that soap operas go really quickly. It’s not shot the same way as other productions, so I’m curious about that.

KANAN:  Do you see all this? (Holds up a thick stack of scripts) This is probably about 100 pages. This is what I have for this week. So when you’re doing that much volume of dialogue, you need to know what you’re saying and be able to execute it very quickly and be able to make very strong and very quick choices. As a result of COVID, we’ve basically eliminated rehearsal but they found out that the actors could actually handle it. And so we show up and we get makeup and get in wardrobe and we’ll have some time to race around and find the other actors in our scenes and run it. But when we hit the floor, when your scenes are up, you do one rehearsal, which is for camera and then it’s go time.

We really try and get every scene within one or two takes. If there’s a camera problem, obviously, we’ll keep doing it. But some days we’ll have 45 or 50 scenes and you just have to get through it. That’s one of the biggest differences from working on nighttime television. Film, you shoot much less on a day in the film. You might shoot six to eight pages… which is a luxury.

 

Obviously, when you do theater, it’s the most conducive to the very best work because you have  an elongated rehearsal process. But the caveat of theater is that once the curtain goes up, that’s it. There’s no retakes. So you’ve got a lot of time to prepare, but you’ve got no time for error. Each different medium has things that are positives and things that are challenges. I like all of them as far as having any semblance of a normal life, I like daytime because I’ll give an example tomorrow. I’m working and I think I’m in like the first three scenes and then I’m done for the day. We go on camera at nine, I’m going to shoot three scenes. I’ll be done with work by like 10:15 in the morning.

ILLUMINATE:  I love that you really want to take on the different challenges of the different mediums.

KANAN:  They’re different challenges. One of the things that you might like if you’re a single person is it’s great and exciting, sexy to go on location and do a film. But if you’re someone with a family, it may mean that you have to leave your family for six weeks. So it depends where you are as to whether or not those quote-unquote challenges are challenges or they’re things that are pluses. For some people, they are challenges. For other people, they’re some of the best aspects of doing a film.

ILLUMINATE:  Exactly. You had six younger actors playing AJ before you stepped into the role. So how did you transition into playing AJ when he was the troubled young adult that he was? And what was that character development process like?

KANAN:  I think you always have to put your own stamp on every character. And so complete respect to the other actors who portrayed the role, but I was only interested in delivering what my truth, based on the material was, within the parameters of who I am as an actor, not looking to what they had done before. So, yeah, AJ was a very troubled guy.  And it was a period in my life where I had a lot of turmoil and so I was able to draw on that. But here’s the thing. In retrospect now, in the period of my life when I don’t have turmoil, when I’ve figured a lot of things out, it wouldn’t preclude me from playing it.

ILLUMINATE:  Let’s talk about Deacon Sharpe. The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless. You started first playing Deacon in 2000. Deacon is such an iconic character who has done so many things, good and bad.

KANAN: Right.

ILLUMINATE:  We’ll talk about some of his craziness in a moment. But first, how has your portrayal of Deacon changed over the years from when you first started? 2000 to now?

Kanan:  That’s a really good question. It’s a good question. I’ve been on, off and on since 2000.  This month is the 35th anniversary of The Bold and the Beautiful, which is an extraordinary, extraordinary accomplishment.

How has it changed? Well, the character has changed because he has been to prison. He’s legitimately trying to be a better man than he was. He’s had a lot of consequences and hard life experience, which I think has allowed him to reflect. When Deacon first came on the canvas, he was just a ball of fire. He was just a bad ass and dangerous and sexy and all this great stuff. It was so much fun for me to play. I used to always joke how much cooler Deacon was than Sean, but, you know, now it’s fun for me to play the character because I think that with some of the ups and downs that I’ve encountered in my life, I’ve achieved some perspective, and I’m able to bring that to the character now where I don’t necessarily know that I would have been able to bring all of that 20 years ago.

And, if and when the time comes when Deacon has to dip into his bag of tricks, where he’s able to summon the dark side, I know how to do that now. I knew how to do it then, but I know how to do it now, but still play the other part.

So I think the character’s a much more well-rounded character. And I’ve been having a blast playing the character. This is a character that no one else has ever played Deacon Sharpe but me. You mentioned that there were six other people that played AJ prior to me. I’m fiercely protective of this character.

ILLUMINATE:  As you should be.

KANAN:  Yeah. And you know, Deacon has done a lot of very questionable things, but I have a real genuine affection for him. I see him as the flawed guy that he is that grew up not knowing his father, with an abusive stepfather. We don’t know much about his mother, but we assume she’s probably like a stripper in Vegas or something. This guy did not have an easy go of it and he’s not educated, but he’s very smart. He’s a real survivor. And there’s something about him that I can relate to because I’m a survivor. Many people have said that I’m a bit like a cat with nine lives and I think that there’s an emotional nexus between some of who Deacon is and some of who I am. I’m a guy that’s had much better breaks and much better good fortune and education than he has. But had a couple of things not gone my way, I could have very easily become more like Deacon than Sean.

ILLUMINATE:  Wow. You touched on the point that you love your character despite being this flawed person and I think that that’s an important lesson for actors. You do have to love that person despite their flaws because you portray that person. A lot of times, these characters don’t realize that if they do something wrong, that they’re villainous or bad. People aren’t black or white. There’s different shades of gray.

KANAN:  Right. I think that for me and I think for most actors, you really need to strive to find the many shades of gray in a character as opposed to the monolithic, polar sides. Good people do bad things, bad people do good things. And most people are not completely good or completely bad. I find it very interesting to play the different shades of gray and the character challenges that people face. Sometimes we rise to the occasion and overcome them, and other times, we fall short. Then it’s a question of do we learn from it or do we repeat the same mistakes. I think that those little micro challenges are the things that make human beings interesting and multifaceted. I always try and find those things, especially humor in all the characters. One thing that I’ve really fought hard to infuse Deacon with is I think he’s a pretty funny character. He can be very funny and sarcastic and witty and acerbic and all that sort of stuff and I guess I’m a little like that. I think that’s part of what makes him fun to watch.

ILLUMINATE:  Exactly. I’m a fan of the series, DALLAS and J.R. Ewing.

KANAN:  Oh, yeah.

ILLUMINATE:  He’s hilarious at times. He’s also this nuanced, villainous character. He has his good moments and his bad moments.

So let’s talk a little bit about Deacon’s craziness. Because he’s had quite the wild journey and he’s committed so many despicable acts. From kidnaping Nikki Newman, the attempted murder of Quinn Fuller, blackmailing the Forrester’s.

 

KANAN: Getting his mother-in-law pregnant.

ILLUMINATE:  Right! You have the Newman’s, like Victoria Newman in there…and Nikki Newman. You have so many different storylines going on. I was reading a fan article biography. I couldn’t read the whole thing because it was pages, and pages, and pages long. But I was really engrossed in it because Deacon is such an interesting character.

I’m curious, what have been some of the most challenging Deacon storylines, and do you have any that are particularly your favorites to have delved into?

KANAN; Oh, well, I know that the romance with Brooke has been something that was a lot of fun to play. I think there was a lot of passion between the characters. That was a lot of fun. The kind of the devil may

care, younger love thing with Amber was fun. When Deacon dressed up like Elvis to sing to her and that sort of thing. And that the part of Deacon that wanted to become a better man when he was with Bridget, falling horrendously short. I always have a good time when I get to do fight scenes on the show. I had a blast with Thorsten (Ridge) during that fight scene we just did. That was really fun.

You know, for me, I love when Deacon gets to be funny. That’s been one of the most unexpected surprises of my scenes with Kimberlin Brown is that we sort of stumbled on to this dynamic where the two of these people have kind of a very interesting way of relating to each other that is often very funny. That’s been a lot of fun. I did love when I first came on the show, the leather pants and the earrings and the godebi? He was just such a badass, and that was a lot of fun for me too. I really got to show up at work and live out this fantasy of being this guy that was just the coolest guy in the room.

ILLUMINATE:  You got to play this alter ego and all these storylines like with Brooke, that’s like everything, and all the crazy adventures and the numerous horrible things your character does. It makes your character so exciting for the audience to watch. And, you’re talking about the comedy that makes you endearing and charismatic while you’re doing all these things…because you’re still charming.

All these women think you’re Prince Charming until something happens. So I think that that is probably one of the reasons why you’re such a fan favorite is because you do bring so many different levels and nuance and layers to this character. And people never know what Deacon’s going to do next.

KANAN:  You know, I just honestly, after 20 years, still have so much fun playing the character. I just can’t wait to go to work. I love it. And, you know, it hasn’t always been the case for me. You have jobs that are more fun than others. When you have a career that’s a long career, you’re going to have some jobs that you enjoy more than others, and this is just one that I have consistently enjoyed. And I love the people I work with, both in front and behind the camera. There’s two things I get a feeling for. Every actor gets a feeling when you look at the Hollywood sign, you know, you just do. It represents hope and everything you think you want. And we always say and it’s either kind of smiling at you or smirking at you, depending on where you are in your career and what’s going on. Believe me, I’ve had both.

But I get this really special feeling too, every time I go on the lot at Television City because it’s got such an amazing history. The Carol Burnett Show was shot there and Three’s Company and just so many iconic television shows were there and to be a part of that history is something that is so very special.

ILLUMINATE:  I love that it’s either smiling at you or smirking at you. As an actor, it’s so surreal when you get to go on to these studios and these soundstages, when you get to see these films being premiered, you get excited because it’s those things that you see in movies where you’re like, Oh, wow, that’s Hollywood! And then we actually see them in real life like, wow, how am I getting these opportunities? How am I getting to live this dream?

 

ILLUMINATE:  You’ve had such an amazing career! Let’s talk about Studio City. You wrote, produced and starred in this Daytime Emmy winning series about an aging…

KANAN:  …Yeah, and there they are right there. (Shows Emmy’s)

ILLUMINATE:  So tell us about how you created this series and about your characters on the show. Just anything you want to talk about this series…

KANAN: You know, I’ve been trying for a really, really long time to get Studio City made. It wasn’t originally called Studio City. It was originally called Soap Star. It was one of those projects where I’d work on and I’d put it in the desk, and through the right series of partnerships, not the least of which is with my wife, Michelle, who is also an Emmy winning producer and writer on the show. She’s even played a couple of roles when we need somebody, we throw her in. And our showrunner, Timothy Woodward Jr. We finally got it made. And getting anything made in the entertainment business is, in itself, a Herculean task. And then, when you get it made and it gets a positive response from the audience, that’s amazing. And then, when it gets a positive response critically, that’s doubly amazing. It has been a dream come true. Sam Stevens is a guy that is also very close to my heart. There is definitely a lot of Sean in Sam. I like to say that I’m  Sam after a lot of therapy and introspection. 

 

ILLUMINATE:  I was going to ask if your character was based on any of your own experiences.

KANAN:  Well, Sam is largely based on me, although he’s frequently in situations that I haven’t necessarily encountered. But, I basically called up a bunch of my friends that were actors. They just happened to be really talented and said, “Hey, guys, I got this project” and your friends always want to do something for you if they can. And most of the time, it never sees the light of day. And to have been able to put something together that actually, Tristin Rogers won the Emmy for us. Tristin had never won in his 45 or 50 year career. He’d never been nominated for an Emmy. And I told Tristan, “If you trust me,” I said, “I’m going to write something for you and you’re going to win the Emmy because I’m going to show everybody what I know you’re capable of.” No one else has been able to see this, and you know what happened? My wife is a writer on the show. She’s a brilliant writer, has written some terrific stuff, and Tim Woodward has written some brilliant stuff, and so it’s very much a team effort.

 

 ILLUMINATE:  I love that you’re very supportive and you want your friends a part of your projects.

KANAN:  Absolutely! I’ve always felt and believe that one of the sure-fire ways of achieving your own success is to help other people achieve theirs with no ulterior motive involved in it, just helping people because you can and I just believe that the blessings come back to you.

ILLUMINATE:  Absolutely. The film industry is a really collaborative art form. And when you do get to work with your friends and make those relationships, you’re making art together. It’s such a unique experience. I’m so proud that this series has done so well and you’ve been able to take it off the ground because like you were saying, it is hard to make a project.

KANAN:  Yeah, it is, and you know, we’re very excited that this week we’re going to be releasing six new episodes.

ILLUMINATE:  Oh, everyone go binge watch it!

KANAN:  Yeah, So we’re very excited about that. They are really fun episodes. Some great moments, some great new, not new actors, but appearances by new actors to the show who are wonderful. Justin Torkildsen, who I met on Bold and the Beautiful 20 years ago, had a very small part in the first season, and he’s got a much bigger part in these new episodes, and he’s terrific. And Lilly Melgar came on and she’s terrific, and an actress named Natalie Byrne is fantastic. So I’m very excited for everybody to see these new episodes.

ILLUMINATE:  And they’re out on Amazon Prime, right?

KANAN:  Yeah, not yet. They’re going to hopefully come out this week. (March 22-28?) It takes a couple of days for Amazon to do their quality control and approve them, so we never know exactly when they’re going to go up, but they usually do it fairly quickly for us. So if everything goes well in a perfect world, hopefully this week.

ILLUMINATE:  Well, Amazon probably will, because they know it’s good. They know this series is good!

KANAN:  Oh, thank you. I really appreciate that.

ILLUMINATE:  I just wanted to touch on a few more subjects like your books. You’ve actually released two other books. You released “Success: Factor X” and also the cookbook, “The Modern Gentleman”, along with your new book, “Way of the Cobra”. Have you always wanted to be an author? And can you tell us a little bit about your inspiration in writing each of these books and the Cobra philosophy?

KANAN:  I’ve written for as long as I can remember. I actually started writing something when I was in boarding school, which later became a film called “Chasing Holden” that Lionsgate distributed about a young kid who runs away from boarding school to find J.D. Salinger and so I’d say I’ve written for as long as I can remember.

The first book, The Modern Gentleman: Cooking and Entertaining with Sean Kanan is a cookbook, but it’s a hybrid too. It shows guys how to be better guys, and it gives women some insight into how we think. And, you know, I love to cook. I find it really therapeutic. It’s just something that really I enjoy doing. And I wanted to put together a book that would teach guys not just how to cook, but how to be a gentleman, but not be a doormat. How do you know that you can be a guy’s guy but still have a sensibility about things that maybe have traditionally been associated with feminine energy. It’s a really fun book. It’s cheeky and quippy and has a lot of good information.

ILLUMINATE:  What are your favorite things to cook, now that you’re talking about cooking?

KANAN:  Wow. I really like making spiced lamb chops with roasted vegetables and couscous. I make a really good pasta puttanesca. Actually, it’s called putinaise. It’s a combination of bolognese and puttanesca. You know, I do a really great sashimi platter, too. I love to prepare sashimi. I can’t really bake very well. My wife can bake really well, but I can cook pretty well.

And then my second book Success Factor X: Inspiration, Wisdom, and Advice from 50 of America’s Best, which I co-authored with Jill Lieberman. We went out to 50 exceptional people and said, What’s your best advice about success? And we have everyone from Mark Cuban and Anthony Robbins to Darryl McDaniels, the founding member of Run DMC, the Professional Hall of Fame baseball players, football players, Jason Alexander from Seinfeld. There are so many people. And it’s great. Yeah, it’s amazing to get this wide, diverse group of people that all talk about some of their secrets to succeeding, and it’s interesting to see how there are a lot of common denominators. And so my acting teacher used to say, “I have more in common with a successful plumber than an unsuccessful acting teacher”.

And because there’s certain things that, no matter what you do, you need to do them to be successful. Simple examples are be on time, conduct yourself with integrity. Do your best to help other people. Be not just disciplined, but self-disciplined. Deliver more than is expected of you, all of those sorts of things. And it’s amazing to find a guy that’s in Run DMC says the same thing that’s a guy that’s a Hall of Fame baseball player or a guy that runs a multinational corporation. They all do many of the exact same things to achieve success.

ILLUMINATE:  That’s really fascinating. And I like that they all have those same core values and that really is the secret to success. All those things like having integrity, being on time, being honest. That’s the advice that they gave and that’s the through line between their interviews.

KANAN:  Yeah, I think character is the one quality more than anything else that defines our destiny. Way of the Cobra, COBRA is an acronym formed from the words Character, Optimization, Balance, Respect and Abundance. And I really harp on how character is everything and character is what we do when no one is watching. It’s how you treat somebody because it’s the right thing to do, not the easy thing to do. And the difference between being kind and being nice. 

The book is set up that I’m the sensei and you’re a student in my dojo. The chapters are divided up into belts from white to black. And these are the strategies and the philosophy I’ve used in my life to achieve some of my success and to get me through some of my harder times. And I absolutely believe in the words that are in the book. I use autobiographical stories to illustrate and teach some of the lessons. I wish somebody gave me this book when I was younger. That’s all I can say about it. And if people would like to order it, you can get a signed copy of Way of the Cobra dot com (wayofthecobra.com), or if you just want to get the book itself, you can get it on Amazon or the e-book on Kindle.

ILLUMINATE:  Well, I’m going to go and get your books now! I’m excited to read them.

KANAN:  If you want to get the other, if you want to get the other to get them for me because I can get them to you much quicker, but I’m happy to do it!

ILLUMINATE:  Awesome!

KANAN:  Yeah. And I really think you’ll like them. Way of the Cobra is in no way, shape or form for only people that study karate or are fans of Karate Kid or Cobra Kai. If you are, you will absolutely love it just an extra little bit more. But you don’t have to, to appreciate all of it. People ask me how I came up with the book and I was at a point in my life when I had had some pretty significant success. I had had some pretty epic failures, some of which were rather public. And I was looking in the mirror going, “All right, man, what’s next? What’s Act II here?” I was 35 lbs overweight. I had no prospects for acting work. I was interacting with some old demons more than I probably would like to admit and I realized that I needed to start doing some things very differently, very quickly.

And I did. I started doing some things very differently and very quickly. I started achieving some amazing results. And in one year, I lost the 35 lbs. We got Studio City on the air, and Season I got nominated for 19 Emmys. My second book, Success Factor X, became an Amazon release bestseller. And I don’t say that to impress people, but I say to impress upon them what can happen when you’re really willing to get specific and tap into what your “why is”. Your “why is” that thing that motivates and propels you.

It’s the thing that gets you up off the ground when you’ve had your ass kicked. And it’s the thing in the gym that gets you to do one more rep. For me, my “why is”, I look down at my wedding band. That’s my “why”. I never want to see a look of buyer’s remorse in my wife’s face. I never want to see her looking at me like I’m not living up to my potential. And so that’s what fuels me, that, and inspiring other people, and everybody’s “why’s” is different. You know what? If you get clear with your “why” and you get clear with what your success is and, you know, success is a funny thing. 

We all have certain things that we want in our lives to feel successful. We want love. We want friendship. We want a feeling of connectedness and a feeling that our work life feeds us, but there’s certain things that you have, Rachelle, that you need to feel successful that I don’t necessarily need and vice versa. Right? You’ve got to get clear with what your success is.

What would your life have to look like for you to feel successful? Success is the journey, but it’s also a destination, and you need to know where you’re headed. And so I tell people, let me tell you what success is not. Success is not the bloated Instagram feed of conspicuous consumption paraded by celebrities. And I say, “Look, I’ve worked in Hollywood for 35 years, and trust me when I tell you that much of that is not real anyway.”  And my uncle has this great saying. He said, “Things aren’t always what they seem. Skim milk masquerades as cream.” I really love that. Success is not the airbrushed covers of fitness magazines and fashion magazines telling people that they have to look like impossibly attainable, physical representations of ourselves. And it’s not the constant bombardment of Madison Avenue commercials telling us that we have to have this or that to be successful. We all have an internal barometer that tells us what it is that we need to feel successful. 

ILLUMINATE:  I agree! We all have our own timeline and our different ideas of what success is for us personally. 

Before we go, do you have any new projects you’d like to tell us about?

KANAN:  We have new episodes of Studio City coming out. I’m very excited. You can catch me on The Bold and the Beautiful, CBS, Channel 2 in Los Angeles. I do have some other very big projects coming out later in the year, but you have to wait and see what those are.

The big thing right now is that I’ve just been promoting my book, Way of the Cobra, which I’m so passionate about. We just did a huge book signing at Barnes and Noble at The Grove, and it was an amazing success, but more than just the success, it was the energy that was there among the people there interacting. Me having a chance to to talk with them about the book.

Everybody left there was such a positive, good feeling that I was really kind of walking on cloud nine for a little while there and that’s what I got going on. I look forward to you getting the book. I think you’ll really enjoy it. And I look forward to seeing this article.

I really, really appreciate it. It was wonderful talking to you, and I hope you’ll stay in touch because I would really love to hear about all the wonderful things that you’re achieving.

ILLUMINATE:  Definitely. Thank you so much!