Cameron as Vince. (ABC)

“I was so thrilled that they didn’t go with that cliché.”

On March 21, Cameron Mathison (Ryan) will appear on “Castle” in the soap opera themed episode entitled “One Life to Lose.” He will be joined by his All My Children co-star Rebecca Budig (Greenlee), as well as Corbin Bernsen (Father Todd, The Young and the Restless) and Jane Seymour. In the episode, the New York City detectives and writer Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion, ex-Joey, One Life to Live) must solve a murder on the set of a Daytime soap opera. Soaps.com recently spoke with Cameron about his stint on the ABC Primetime hit, as well as what’s going on in Pine Valley.

Soaps.com: “Castle” is a very soap friendly show so it seemed only a matter of time before an episode like this took place. How were you and Rebecca chosen for the episode?

Cameron Mathison: From what I understand, I think they were talking at one of ABC’s regular meetings where everybody kind of tells what’s happening on the shows – Daytime, Primetime – and I guess in one of the meetings, they were talking about this episode of “Castle” that’s coming up where there’s a murder mystery on the set of a soap opera. Brian Frons, who is in charge of ABC Daytime, heard this and said, ‘Well you have to use some of my people.’ So they kind of put it together in an ABC brainstorming session, as far as I understood. How Rebecca and I got chosen, I’m assuming that “Castle” had something to do with it. I’m not sure, but they asked us to be part of it.

Soaps.com: Do you watch “Castle?” Are you a fan of the show?

Cameron Mathison: I don’t watch a lot of television, unfortunately, because I don’t have time. I literally don’t have time to turn the TV on, but what I have seen of “Castle,” I absolutely love. I think they’re really talented. I think the show is fantastic. I’m really impressed with that show.

Soaps.com: You play Vince Bowers, the husband of the murder victim, as well as a director on the fictional soap “Temptation Lane.” What else can you tell us about your character?

Cameron Mathison: I’ll tell you this. When I was reading the script when I first got it, I was reading it expecting, totally expecting to see me playing the part of the shirtless guy or whatever. I couldn’t find that part and I was given my character name and in the script I saw I was playing the director. I was so thrilled that they didn’t go with that cliché. Anyway, the director is a great part. He’s a suspect for awhile. He’s the husband of the deceased, which is interesting. And I actually got to direct a soap scene within the “Castle” episode…It’s a really great scene at the end of the episode where they find the killer, where I’m literally directing a soap scene, which was really fun for me. I’m calling the shots. I’m directing Corbin and Rebecca and for me that was a real highlight.

Soaps.com: What is the extent of your character’s interaction with Rebecca’s character? Are you just her director or is there more to it?

Cameron Mathison: There is more to it. We’re having an affair. Rebecca’s character and my character are having an affair, although we have no scenes together on “Castle,” that all happens off camera. But yeah, our characters are having an affair.

Soaps.com: What was it like working on the set of “Castle?”

Cameron Mathison: Great. I mean, beyond great. The show is super cool. The show is such a quality show. All of the actors are amazing. It was just really cool. We’re all Canadian so we had that in common. It was pretty cool.

Soaps.com: It seems almost every week there’s a former or current soap actor guest starring on the show. Do you know where all their Daytime love stems from?

Cameron Mathison: I didn’t know that. That’s fantastic. Who else has been on?