Soap Opera Digest – September 02, 2019

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recalls. “I quit my bartending job and

that was it. I made a commitment

to it.” Not that it was smooth sailing

from there. “It’s interesting, because

every 10 to 12 years, that commit-

ment is tested. There were plenty

of times when I sat on the phone with unem-

ployment for a couple of hours. There was

a summer where I dug ditches and I framed

houses and I learned how to roof, which in

retrospect was the best thing that could’ve pos-

sibly happened to me. It was really

a great thing for me to be tested like

that. It was always, ‘How bad do you

want it? Do you really want to do

this?’ And there were other opportu-

nities presented and it was like, ‘No,

man. I’m gonna do this.’ Now I’m in my 40s

and I always keep coming back to this.”

He dipped his toes into daytime for the

first time last year, playing the short-term

role of Andrew, Ashley’s co-conspirator, on

Y&R. The experience whet

his appetite for a steadier soap

gig — which came in the form

of Shiloh, his first contract

role, a few months later. The

Dawn of Day storyline — and

McLaughlin’s sinister alter

ego — has certainly got fans

talking, and the actor appreci-

ates the feedback, both positive

and negative. “It’s interesting

how people see this guy,” he

muses. “I got my first death

threat last month! This chick

was like, ‘I hate you. I want you

dead.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s

a common response.’ And she

was like, ‘No, I really want you

dead.’ I was like, ‘Me? I like

DID YOU KNOW?

• McLaughlin made his television debut on a 1999
  episode of THE X-FILES. “That was my first job. I was
  so nervous, so scared. I walked in and [David] Duchovny
  was working out in his trailer. I knocked on his door and
  he welcomed me in and we [chatted] for a few minutes.
  I was like, ‘Oh, okay, I’m gonna be all right.’ I was feeling
  a little bit cocky. And then I walked on set and I sat in a
  chair — and it was Gillian Anderson’s chair. I stuck my
  hand out and said, ‘Hey, I’m Coby!’ And all she said to
  me was, ‘You’re in my chair.’ Yeah, that was not gonna
  turn into a recurring [role] for me.”


• In 2011, he played Melissa McCarthy’s yoga instructor
  on MIKE & MOLLY. “She’s one of the most naturally funny
  women I’ve ever met. She hated the fact that I was star-
  ing at her ass for two days — in character, of course!”

Daddy’s Girl: “She’s got a lot of my ‘isms’, ”

reports McLaughlin of 8-year-old daughter

Nico.

PH

OT

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:^ IN

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M/
MC

LA

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HL

IN

HO

WA

RD

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IS

E/J

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“I’m

having a

blast!”