The actor and his ex-wife, Jessica, have joint custody of their son, which is working out well, Dattilo reports. "We're both trying to live up to our responsibility and attend to a life at the same time, which any single parent or working parent knows is hard,"he notes. "There's not a lot of room for anything else after that. After work and taking care of my child, it's hard to muster up the energy to have a drink with anybody else or go out and shoot the [breeze] with the guys or whatever. That's pretty much my life: work, go to the gym and take care of my son."

But the rewards of fatherhood are worth those sacrifices, says the actor. And it's helped keep him in line. "It has made my temper diffuse,"he reports. "I used to have a pretty bad temper and be impatient. I have to check myself every day just to improve those. My son is doing that on his own just by being him. You can't get mad at every little thing a kid does; you have to let a kid be a kid. They're going to spill something. They're going to write on a wall. They're going to break something that they shouldn't be touching. You have to be patient and understanding. It's pointless to get mad."

Being a parent and a working actor leaves Dattilo little time to date. "I'll meet somebody and I'll even exchange numbers, but it doesn't get to the date part,"he admits. "It's more trouble than it's worth. So, if a girl hits me over the head and says, 'I love you. Marry me,' then I might do it. But I really think it might be five or seven years before I'm in another relationship. By that time, I'll have my life together as an actor, my son will be a little older and I'll be able to do a little more. I'll be able to give myself to another person, as opposed to squeezing her in. No one likes to feel squeezed in a schedule. And,"he adds, "a lot of girls have trouble understanding the ex-wife thing."

So for now, he's content to focus on just being Lucas. "I don't want to blow it,"he declares. "I want them to write for me more. I'm out for blood, and I'm going to try my best."

This article originally appeared in the March 18, 2003 issue of Soap Opera Digest. For information on how to order back issues, click here.