My chat with Cameron Mathison about "54"...

Let's face it, Cameron Mathison is one of the most handsome men on television and has enjoyed a decade-plus run on "All My Children" as Ryan Lavery. Cameron was at The Grammys Sunday working for "Good Morning America" and I was glad we had a few minutes to have a little gab about "54," one of his first acting jobs.

The film was released 10 years ago and starred Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayak and Breckin Meyer as three young people working at New York's famed Studio 54. Written and directed by Mark Christopher, it chronicled the rise and fall of the famed NYC hotspot of the 1970s. But the movie released by Miramax was far different than the director's original version - just criminally recut with additional scenes ordered by the studio beefing up a relationship between Phillippe's character and a soap actress played by Neve Campbell.

"I was on the set of '54" when I got the call about [being cast on] "All My Children," Cameron remembered. "It was my first film and like my third acting job ever."

The original director's original and far-superior version was screened last summer at the Fairfax theater to the delight of a sold-out crowd that had come to see a "secret showing" of an unnamed film. I was among those in attendance.

Phillippe's character is bisexual in this version and Meyer's character also seems ready to dabble in some man-on-man action. We also get to see a bit more of Cameron who was only seen briefly in the studio version. And his character is gay! We did not know this from before. But in the director's cut, he's in a relationship with one of the other bartenders and they even share a passionate kiss.

I tell Cameron he's in the recut version a lot more than the one that was in theaters where he is only seen fleetingly.

"Am I? I've gotta check that out!" he said. "The scene in the restaurant where we're throwing around all the drug paraphenalia?"

Yes. And I remind him of the "lip on lip man on man actiion he was involved with.

"Oh yeah! That was my first on-screen kiss!" he said. "Was it with Ryan or was it with somebody else?"

I remind him that he had a boyfriend in the movie. Sounding disappointed that it wasn't Phillippe, Cameron said: "Oh. Did I?"

Cameron was unaware of the secret screening last summer and unaware that another version even existed! He is supportive of the original seeing the light of day: "Absolutely. That's the story that Mark Christopher wanted to tell and it sounds like he did it. Good for him."

What I really like about Cameron - besides his shirtless scenes on the soap, of course - is that he is such a positive person who has worked hard to expand his career opportunities. He was signed last month as a regular contributor to "Good Morning America" which he is juggliing with his role on the soap. Cameron is good at juggling a couple of gigs at a time after flying back-and-forth across the country when he was competing in "Dancing With the Stars" and taping scenes for "Children."

"It's tough to do movies, it;s tough to do other acting gigs but the beauty of working on 'All My Children' is that "Good Morning America" airs before the show even starts taping. It really is a great fit."

"It is stupid but I get why people get fascinated by that stuff. And I gotta tell you, it looked exactly like a thong and people are gonna believe that they believe and I had fun with it. And I still hear about it man (laughs). You'd be surprised. I just laugh. Anything to make fun of myself is all good with me. You can't take anything too seriously."

Here is the a clip of Cameron on "The View" a few months back taking about thong-gate:

Cameron Mathison is a good sport and a real day-brightener whenever you see him on television.