Daytime TV's Guiding Lights

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Austin Peck: "I became a Bible-thumping Jesus freak"

In 1995 a young, brash, former GQ model and amateur boxer named Austin Peck joined the Days cast. Austin quickly rose to heartthrob status as the jaunty, daring Austin Reed. He and co-star Christie Clark earned the Soap Digest 1997 award for hottest romance of the year. Off-screen, Peck's life sizzled as much as any on-screen soap exploit.

"I smoked pot. I did everything. I was way off-center," he says.

Yet, long before the San Francisco native's network debut, God had begun the process of getting his attention. As a child, Austin heard booming warnings of an impending hell set aside for sinners.

Years later, while on a modeling assignment in Zurich, Austin asked God tough questions about life and death. To his surprise, the answers came in a clear inner voice and made sense. Later, while walking through New York's East Village, Austin talked to God about his career--even committed it to Him--yet still spent plenty of time on the wild side.

Austin's sister, Casey, started reading the Bible to the young actor over the phone. When he first arrived as a cast member for Days, Jamie-Lyn, Nancy, and Jim were there, rushing him to the top of their prayer lists.

In September 1997, God spoke to him.

"He told me, Austin, I see your heart, but you don't know My Son,'" he recounts. "That got my attention. I started reading the Bible. All of a sudden the words jumped off the page and became real." Almost immediately the sinner's prayer followed, and Austin's life hasn't been the same.

The next day at lunch, he noticed a new actor, Paige Rowland, saying grace over her meal. On the way to makeup Austin approached her and introduced himself as a Christian.

"He is phenomenal," says Paige, who attends Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles. "From the moment he was saved he shamed me [as a believer]. He was on fire from the moment he started. Everyone on the set could see it."

This spiritual passion has curried Austin some great moments--which have included leading co-star Brian Ditello to the Lord--but it also has led to some big headaches.

"I became a Bible-thumping Jesus freak," he says. "All of a sudden purpose was flooded into my life, and that tornado inside my chest calmed down, and I felt like I was full. I had to tell everyone."

On the set, Austin and co-star Julianne Morris have become friends.

"When he messes up a line, I will lay hands on him," Julianne says. "Of course, [the other cast members] have no idea what I'm doing, but Austin and I know."

Austin describes his character as a seeker who "wants to be the best person he can be...has morals and does not sleep around." In one episode, Reed prayed for a baby who was in a coma, and the child recovered.

"The baby rose from the dead--right on Days, and then [Reed] becomes self-righteous. Isn't that just like some of us?" Austin says.

Austin and his wife attend Oasis Christian Center in Los Angeles, and he says he has matured as a Christian.

"I was pretty strong. I think I scared one [co-star] and once [an actor from another show] said I was all over him [sharing the gospel] when we were waiting at the airport," Austin says. "I look at how on fire I was and see that I am just as much on fire now, but more on the inside."

In January he was given notice that his Days contract would not be renewed.

"I could not imagine going through this without faith," he says. "I have had my private moments, but people keep telling me how well I am handling it. I think that is a witness to others because they know I am a Christian."

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