How Sweet It Is: McLaughlin with
real-life love Mel.MY GIRLS
QMcLaughlin met his real-life girl-
friend of a year and a half, Mel, “at
a kid’s birthday party, of course!” he
exclaims. “That’s my social circle
now. Remember those friends you
used to have when you were young
and you’d party? Yeah, now my social
scene is like Target and Gymboree.
I took Nico to a birthday party for
one of her classmates in Malibu and
I was talking to her little friend’s father
and Mel, my girlfriend, walked in. I was
like, ‘Oh, wow!’ I was asking this guy all
these questions about her, like, ‘Does
she have a boyfriend?’ and he goes,
‘Man, I don’t know, she’s right there!
Go talk to her!’ So I did and that was it.
She’s not an actor, she’s in wealth man-
agement, and she finds [his outlandish
GH antics] highly amusing.”
Most important, Mel and Nico get
along “like peas and carrots,” the actor
beams. “Every time I grab the kid, liter-
ally the first thing out of my daughter’s
mouth isn’t, ‘Hi!’ or ‘Love you, Dad,’ or,
‘Glad to see you,’ it’s, ‘Is Mel home? Is
[Mel’s dog] Lady in the car?’ ”
McLaughlin gets along equally well
with Nico’s mother. “Her mom and I
were friends and acquaintances for a
decade. One thing led to another and
we had her. She and I are co-parents;
we have 50/50 custody. It’s worked out
quite well. We’re a modern family!”SEX AND THE CITY
and puppies. I’m an okay
dude, I swear!’ ”
McLaughlin’s
approach to the work has
helped him take it all in
stride. “Here’s the thing,”
he says. “As outrageous
as this [Shiloh’s actions]
may be, what I’ve come
to realize is that this stuff
happened somewhere at
some point. Like, right
now, there’s some sex
cult leader a--hole doing
this stuff. These people
really exist! I look at it
like, ‘Just because I
would never do this doesn’t mean that there’s
not someone else out there that would.’ What
I try to do is just put myself in a situation
where this is my reality and [think], ‘What
can I do in order to make it real for me and
bring it to life?’ The farther I go down this
rabbit hole and the farther I get along on
this journey with this character, he’s becom-
ing very primitive; his instincts, which are
almost reptilian, are kind of taking over. A
lot of fans ask if I’m going to be redeemed,
and it’s an interesting question. There are a
lot of good guys on daytime television and
having someone who’s completely morally
reprehensible provides this really interesting
yin to the yang. I don’t know if I would totally
want this guy to be redeemed!”
As Shiloh’s storyline expands, so does his
list of enemies, which McLaughlin relishes.
“I love that my tentacles are spreading far
and wide and I get to play with a bunch
of different people,” he grins. “There are
people popping up in my script and I’m like,
‘Who the hell are these people? I’ve got to
IMDb them!’ But the actors on this show
are incredible. [Kelly] Monaco [Sam], she’s
a consummate professional; [Steve] Burton
[Jason] has been wonderful. I feel really
lucky that I’ve gotten to work with them and
that I’m becoming intertwined with all of
these other people. I’m having a blast!” Fight Club:
“I love doing
all of the
fight chore-
ography and
the stunt
work,” says
McLaughlin
of Shiloh’s
occasional
status as a
punching
bag. “Steve
[Burton,
Jason] is
really good
at it. It’s like
having a
good dance
partner.”
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