Michael O'Leary recently spoke with CBS.com about his character, Dr. Rick Bauer, on Guiding Light. Here are excerpts from the chat:

CBS.com: What has Rick been up to lately on Guiding Light?
Michael O'Leary: I think Rick is going to the dark side a little. To summarize where he's at, I think if you look at the fact that his father is gone, his sister is gone, his best friend is in an insane asylum somewhere, Mindy is gone, he's been kicked out of his house, he has a heart condition and now he's in danger of losing his high school sweetheart and his baby.

So I think this is turning him into, as Beth would say, Alanesqe behavior. I think he's at the point where being a nice guy is not getting him anywhere so he's ready to take some prisoners.

CBS.com: Will Rick go to the dark side?
Michael O'Leary: Yes he's there. I think he's going a little crazy. I don't know about the fans, but after twenty-five years of playing this nice guy I'm glad to be playing Rick with a little bit of an edge. And it's fun to threaten people. Alan has me in jail so Rick is very erratic. Let's not forget the Bauers have substance abuse problems. I don't think the bottle is far behind.

What should happen if Rick doesn’t get the baby and Beth? I'd like to see Rick go in a spiral and have either Frank or Phillip get him out of the gutter.

Read the full interview now.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.