Child actors on soap operas, especially those in the 12 & under set, are rarely given any good storylines, used primarily as stock characters. This is how Justin Cooper was used on General Hospital. You don't get much of a sense of how talented he is from watching him on GH because he was so underused. Before it went to its new format, Port Charles was an exception to this use of child actors. Both of the kids on the show, Colton James and Carly Schroeder, were given the opportunity to use their acting talents. In Colton's case, he came onto the show as a boy with leukemia. The writers and producers of PC have trusted him with playing Neil while he was ill, and Colton effectively portrayed Neil's fear of dying and his sadness at not being able to do what other kids his age can do. Then we saw Neil's joy as his leukemia went into remission and he began to get back to a normal life. Then came the storyline where Neil deals with the death of his father, and then he finds out that his father is really his doctor and friend Joe Scanlon. Now Colton has been given another major storyline, the return of his illness. Through this all, Colton has never faltered or failed to make his character real, and I applaud him for this. Colton left Port Charles in 2000, and I'm looking forward to seeing what else he does. I feel he has great potential, so be sure to watch for him.

Find out more about Colton.