Divide And Conquer

Coby Ryan McLaughlin Is thrilled to be at the center of controversy as GH’s sinister cult leader.

- Mara Levinsky

It was kind of meant to be,” says Coby Ryan McLaughlin of being cast last year on GH as Shiloh, the self-help guru/sex cult leader who brought Dawn of Day to Port Charles. That’s because in his early days as an actor, he spent a lot of time at the show’s studio, studying with its acting coach, John Homa, who was instrumental in getting him started in the industry. “I’ve been hanging around that place my entire professional life, and now I’m a part of it!”

McLaughlin, who grew up in California, Illinois and Missouri, was raised by his mother and stepfather, but he was first exposed to the entertainment biz via his bio dad, a production sound mixer. “By the time he retired, he was in the business for 47 years. I would go on set with him when he was working. I’d hold the boom when he would mix on some gigs. At a very young age, I knew that I was going to be involved in this line of work, I just didn’t quite know how at that point. My uncle, who was a dolly grip, got me a job scrubbing camera cases on a show called BURKE’S LAW when I was 17 years old. I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to go into camera.’ And I did. I became a camera assistant for a while.”