Michael Easton said he was holding his One Life to Live costar Kamar de los Reyes‘ hand when he died of cancer last year.
“I was holding his hand when he passed, and he was surrounded by family and friends,” Easton, 57, said during the Daytime Stands Up: A Benefit for Stand Up to Cancer — We All Have a Story live stream event on Thursday, May 16. “There was so much love around him. I mean, he touched so many lives.”
According to Easton, there were “people stretched out all the way outside” at the late actor’s memorial.
“People showed [who] hadn’t seen him in 20 years. That was the effect. So many of the One Life cast members came and [the] cast from All American,” Easton recalled, referring to the sports drama series de los Reyes starred on until his death.
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Easton went on to describe his “30-year friendship with Kamar,” noting that they did their “first movie together in 1990,” which was the action thriller Coldfire.
“I was scared and I was quiet and I was instantly drawn to his bravado and his sense of himself,” he recalled. “Kamar was larger than life. He was the best man at my wedding, and I am the godfather to his son, Michael. His loss was profound on all of us.”
He added, “There hasn’t been a day gone by that I haven’t thought of him, and his family and what he brought to this world, and the contributions he made, not only to this acting community. He loved being an actor and he was a great actor.”
Throughout his health battle, de los Reyes remained committed to his work, showing up to film All American just “two weeks” before his death. “He was fierce to the end,” Easton continued. “He never talked about being sick. Even though the odds were stacked from the very beginning, and it’s still really hard for me to talk about, but I was in awe of his strength and his resolve. I would’ve shut down long before he did.”
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Easton portrayed John McBain on One Life to Live from 2003 to 2012, sharing the screen with de los Reyes, who played Antonio Vega. De los Reyes was part of the show from 1995 to 2009, while Easton also made crossover appearances on General Hospital.
De los Reyes died in December 2023 at age 56 in Los Angeles after a brief cancer battle. He is survived by his wife, fellow One Life to Live star Sherri Saum, whom he married in 2007. They shared twins John and Michael, both 10. De los Reyes also had son Caylen, 26, from a previous relationship.
In his final Instagram post before his death, de los Reyes celebrated Caylen’s graduation, writing, “Always knew you’d do great things – never dreamed how great. My pride to have you as my son overwhelms me.”
