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'Like S CHRIS DIXON Features Editor . _ eroism, romanticism and a touch Hof eroticism make "Days of Our Lives" leading man Austin Peck a heartbreaking heartthrob to end all heartthrobs. Peck, who plays Austin Reed on the Emmy Award-winning drama, worked as a model before joining the cast of "Days of Our Lives" on April 13,1995. Peck said even though modeling paid well, becoming an actor was his goal. "When it happened, it really felt right in my life," Peck said. "A lot of things came into place, and it felt very natural. J was into acting before I was into modeling, but modeling started paying a lot faster, so I stuck with it and went with it. It took me around the world. I met a lot of different people and went to really exotic places. It was very exciting to do and pretty easy, actually. "Doing my job on the soap is a whole different story. I would say if s the hardest acting medium to work in because you have to do a show a day...There's not much energy or effort put into the artistic process...They (soaps) are not really respected as much as they should be, considering what we really put out in the amount of time." Peck said he did not feel he was doing his job very well when he originally began wnrlrincr nn TIqvc nf Aiir T nmc w TTVAAUlAg VIA J-fCtJU U1 VU1 UiTVO> ttI felt like I sucked, and sometimes I did," he said. "It was tough dealing with "i love n all craz weird. i'm Carolina Pro< c< V\ TOCStu n Ij6 A1 B AND5 that and the fact that everybody is so consumed with what they're doing that no one puts any attention into what you're doing. It's very self-discovering. "Sometimes when I saw myself, 1 thought, That's not too bad.' Sometimes when I saw myself it was like torture. Fm my biggest critic. I draw a lot, and when I do a good drawing, I don't care who likes it...Hopefully, Fll get to a point where I can be that way with my acting. I feel like Fve only tapped into what Fm really capable of showing." When Peck joined the cast, he replaced Patrick Muldoon, who left the series for "Melrose Place." "It was tough because I was coming into a role that somebody else had made popular," Peck said. "Not only was I dealing with the fact that I didn't feel I was doing a good job, but the guy that was there before me was so popular and went on into prime time. I was being compared with someone who had three years experience to me who had none." Peck said when he came to work at "Days of Our Lives," his castmates were "extremely welcoming." "They are very used to actors coming and going," he said. "They were very supportive, and I got nothing but positivity from everybody. Actually, Jason Brooks (who plays Peter Blake) was amazing. He came into my room and talked to me for 20 minutes or a half an hour. He gave me all of these tips out of the blue. It r WHEN GIRLS SCREAh y, IT JUST MAKES ME SUCH A CODEPENDAN ductions present m w dents w/ ID $12.50 neral Public $17.50 1 music available at ilockbuster Music. March 2 r HROUGI I * Austin Peck, who stars as Austlr Lives," made the transition from i was very neat." Peck is currently involved in one of the major story lines on "Days of Our Lives," along with Christie Clark, who plays Carrie Brady; Alison Sweeney, l_ _ _1 n ii n i i -n wno piays oamanma craay; ana cry an <1. Who wouldn't? If : excited, and i get in it person because my e Austin Peck, who f 3 EST* (eatui ?spn mmo st ade5 jHountau !9 Caroline ><* . H THE I m. i ^HHEH xj r \ \ t )LK rinq ^ m M; 1H1/H 1111 of Qrey x CxpreSS i Coliseum I 8 8 , J C ? t SPECIAL TO THE GAMECOCK i Reed on NBC's "Days of Our i model to soap opera actor. t Dattilo, who plays Lucas Roberts. "It's exciting being a part of it and being able to work with such a great ? cast," Peck said. "Ifs an interesting story line. It was really rough coming into a r heavy stoiy line straight from not being ^ I GO IO AN tvtNT / TO IT.JT'S WHEN EVER' :NERGY FEEDS A LOT OFI stars as Austin He Houiigi xx) laminar with professional acting. 1 jot thrown into the middle." Peck's status as a sex symbol was :onfirmed when Cosmopolitan named lim one of the hunkiest men 'on television, Playgirl said he was one of the hottest lp-and-coming men on television, and ifM included him as one of the "50 Most 3eautiful Guys in the Universe." Peck ;aid that type of attention is flattering, >ut it has a tendency to be fleeting. "I love it when girls scream," he said. Who wouldn't? If I go to an event and prls are screaming and all crazy, it just nakes me excited, and I get into it...Ifs vhen everybody is really quiet that's veird. I'm such a codependent person jecause my energy feeds a lot off of other >eople. "It's ridiculous because I can go into my modeling agency and pick 50 guys rod blow all of the guys they picked away, ooks-wise. A year- or two down the line, hey are going to pick a whole new group if guys. Ifs all for fun. Ifs all in how you ake it." Peck said a downside to being famous s that fans often lose sight of the fact hat he is a normal human being like inybody else. "People want to talk to you and hang rot with you and become your friend, jLi. 1.1 J l n i J <m )_ jul uieyuoni snow you, nesaia meres lathing wrong with that because somehow rou touched their lives, which is vonderfuL.lt can sometimes be really. KND GIRL5 ARE 5CREAf fBODY 15 REALLY QUIE F OF OTHER PEOPLE." ED ON "DAY5.0F Ol 1AI . 17! rv ACT Tickets on sale ] Carolina Colis Capitol Ticket ' Charge by phone ( 7:00 pm $ ' .A 55...' tiring and really draining because you get put on a pedestaL and you get really worried that you're going to disappoint people by not being perfect. "My belief is that we are all God's children. We are all the same...I have people waiting in line for me to sign autographs, and I go, What is this about? This is insane.' I'm learning to deal with it My life really isn't affected by it because I don't involve myself in the Hollywood lifestyle. I live my life with my friends and family. I have a very normal life, depending on what you call normal." Peck was scheduled to make an appearance at a charity event in Camden, S.C. on March 23, but the event had to be cancelled due to low ticket sales. Peck, however, donated his appearance fee to the Aimin' High Head Start Program, S.C. Cares for Children and Sistercare of Kershaw County, the charities that were going to benefit from his appearance. Casey Robinson, a junior in the College T iKnwil A?4n nr\/l Avrvmlfitrn /liwvtfnvi \ji j-iiuci cu .ni to cuivi. urcActuuvc uii cttui of the Miss Greater Camden Pageant, was involved in trying to bring Peck to Camdea He said Peck is a good man for donating his appearance fee after the fund-raiser was cancelled. "He's most generous," Robinson said. "He has a very moral character. He's a nice, down-to-earth guy, and he really cares. We are very appreciative of him for doing that (donating his appearance fee)." ^IING AND T THAT'5 JR. Lives" )6 lie now at the eum and Oil fl nfo ? UUUUIO 8 251.2222