The death of recording artist Aaliyah had a profound impact not only on fans of her music, but also on General Hospital's Ingo Rademacher (Jax). The two had met a couple of times, and had talked up a storm into the wee hours of the morning. Now, since, her passing, he has begun to look at things very differently. "It really made me cherish each moment," he tells Soaps In Depth. "In a flash, your life can be gone. It makes you reevaluate everything. It's important to [use] each day and each moment to try to see the happiness in it." The tragedy also has impacted the way that Rademacher views GH and his career...

"I have a whole different attitude coming back to the show," the actor declares. "The best thing about being back is starting fresh again. I've got a hot storyline and am working a lot with a variety of people. They're putting me everywhere, which I love. I'm really having a good time with the writers and making this work. I've been more involved with everything this time around."

During his time off, he got back to basics by returning to his homeland of Australia. "I hadn't been back for four and a half years. I caught up with a lot of my old friends and [started] to look for real estate. I don't have a house there. I'm waiting to see if I want to move back there eventually. It will be a few years down the line before I do that.

"Right now I'm looking at property in Malibu," he continues, "to perhaps move out and have some acreage, build a house and have a bit of a self-sufficient lifestyle — have a big vegetable garden and get some chickens, do a little bit of farming again."

Along with Rademacher's personal transformation has come a shift in his GH character as well. When confronted by mobster Sonny Corinthos — a onetime rival for the love of Brenda Barrett — Jax will not back down. "I stand myself above him; he puts himself above me," Rademacher observes in character. "I could destroy him financially, and he could have me killed. We both like to think we're coming out the victor."

What keeps the match between Jax and Sonny so balanced in power is the give and take in Rademacher's work with Maurice Benard. "It's always great to work with Maurice. We really care a lot about what goes on the tape at the final moment. We know that every now and then somebody has to take a hit, either Jax or Sonny. That's the way it goes.

"We run lines just to run lines," he adds. "We actually figure out who's taking a hit where. It gives us the opportunity to have nice variety in the scene. That's one of the great things with Maurice. We both understand that you can't just have Jax win all the time. Because of the show and the way it's structured, you have to have your ups and down. Sometimes Jax might be out of line, sometimes Sonny might be out of line. But we try to keep it fairly realistic about points of view on most of the things."

When asked if he has a New Year's wish list for Jax, Rademacher laughs. "Five episodes a week," he says.

Also on his mind is fine tuning Jax's relationships with everyone around him. "I care for Alexis a great deal, so Kristina is like [my] little sister, too," he says. "I feel like I need to be there for her as well as for Alexis. We've got to nail down a love interest," he adds. "We haven't really nailed it down yet. I know they're talking and that they're seeing what's working. But I don't know what their thoughts are yet."

And what are his thoughts? "I think Tamara Braun (Carly) is fabulous," he marvels. "She's awesome. She's amazing!"

-- Rosemary A. Rossi

Trying to get Sonny to forgive you can be a full time job. Just ask his estranged wife, Carly, who spent the last year trying to do just that - with little to no success.

But what a difference a change of attitude has made for the soon-to-be-ex Mrs. Corinthos. Fed up with running into the emotional brick wall that Sonny erected after Carly ''betrayed'' him to the Feds lo those many months ago, she decided to get a life right quick. What made that decision so effective is that it wasn't part of a some typical Carly scheme to manipulate Sonny into coming back to her. She was doing this for herself, by herself.

In addition to Carly feeling better, she began looking the part. Gone were the hotsy-totsy clothes, replaced by a trendy but more mature wardrobe. What a better complement to Carly's newfound focus on opening a nightclub (with biz partner Jax), a project that not only occupies her time, but strengthens her resolve that life without Sonny might not be so horrible after all (especially when she has Zander interested in her as a good friend ... and perhaps more).

This is not to say that Carly has been a bastion of maturity and grace throughout. She's still deeply in love with Sonny and wants him back. But, not at any cost this time around, despite her occasional petulance. And that's the biggest difference. How refreshing to have Carly using her head ... and landing on her own two feet.