Maurice Benard has been upfront about his mental health struggles over the years. Recently, it kept him away from the set of General Hospital for about two weeks. The soap star had to take a step back from filming to focus on his mental health. There have been rumors that his beloved character Sonny Corinthos might be recast. Here is what the GH star had to say about it.
Maurice Benard Talks About Potentially Being Recast
The General Hospital star found himself in a dark place a few weeks ago. His wife, Paula, and son, Joshua, left to go on a trip to Europe. Maurice Benard stayed home to continue his work on the soap opera and his “State Of Mind” podcast. However, soon he found himself feeling extremely anxious and not wanting to leave the house.
This led him to take two weeks off from filming on the ABC soap. At the time, Maurice shared with fans on his “State Of Mind” podcast that if he had to take another week off, General Hospital would likely have to recast the role of Sonny.
It would be a shock to see anyone but Maurice Benard in the role of Sonny Corinthos. He has portrayed the character on GH since Sonny’s storyline started on August 13, 1993.
He told fans, “If I had to stay away another week. They would have to recast. And I’ll tell you right now, if they had to recast I’d have been in really bad shape.” Many people took this to mean that Maurice Benard was in danger of losing his job on General Hospital due to his mental health struggles.
However, on Tuesday, he took to Instagram to clarify his previous statement. First, he wanted to make it clear that no one on the production team pressured him into returning. He was also not threatened with a recast.
General Hospital Producers Were Supportive Of Maurice
Maurice said, “During a rough period recently, I spoke about being recast and I can’t tell you how generous and great, and amazing Frank Valentini was during that period.”
He continued, “I guess it kind of seemed that some people thought that he was threatening me in in some kind of way to recast if I didn’t come back, and that wasn’t the case at all.” Actually, Maurice said, it was the “exact opposite.” He spoke about how generous executive producer Frank Valentini was in dealing with the situation. In the end, it all worked out. Maurice got back to work when he felt well enough to do so.
The General Hospital actor captioned the post, “During one of my State of Mind’s, I mentioned that I could be temporarily recast if I didn’t get back to work. And I totally understood Frank Valentini and General Hospital were nothing less than incredible. Frank spoke to my wife, Paula every day, and spoke to me nothing but generous. 2 weeks is a long time, and I was so ready to get back to work!!!”
Sonny Corinthos is one of the main characters in the ABC soap opera. So, it is noticed when he isn’t on for several episodes. In the coming weeks, viewers will see a few Sonny-less episodes reflecting his time off.
