Dominic Zamprogna celebrates 15 years as Dante Falconeri.
In 2009, General Hospital‘s Dominic Zamprogna first debuted as Dante Falconeri, the cop who turned out to be the son of Sonny Corinthos and Oliva Falconeri. It’s 15 years later, and Zamprogna reflects on his two lives as a daytime television star: the person he was in his early days of GH and the actor and man he is now.
Happy 15th Anniversary, Dominic Zamprogna!
Back in 2009, the Canadian actor — he was born in Hamilton, Ontario — had an extensive list of credits to his name. He had appeared in various Canadian and American productions, including the first season of the then-WB drama Supernatural, the Canadian soap Edgemont, and the critically acclaimed Battlestar Galactica reboot.
When he joined GH, he was almost out of his 20s. The role of Dante Falconeri came along at the perfect time. “I was about to turn 30, and I probably had the toughest year of my acting career prior to that,” Zamprogna revealed to Soap Opera Digest.
Looking back, he appreciates the great material he played, acting opposite Maurice Benard (Sonny), Steve Burton (Jason), and Lisa LoCicero (Olivia). The dramatic storyline resulted in Sonny shooting an undercover Dante, who then found out the mobster that shot him was his father.
“It’s funny,” the actor noted. “When you’re 30 and you’re going job to job, piecing it together, you’re handling it differently because you’re young and you’re confident.” But now, the husband and father of three see things a bit differently. “I wish I had understood the text better or the gravity of a situation at a given moment better.”
But, of course, with age comes wisdom. “I still feel pretty young and in my prime, surprisingly, I don’t feel like I’m old enough to have been on the show for this long.” He also feels like a different actor than he was back in the day. He’s lost the confidence he had from his younger days. “At 45, you have those years of living under your belt, and you’ve experienced things in life, like my mother dying, and you’ve been touched more by life than most have at the age of 30.”
In 2024, Dante is one of the most solid characters in Port Charles. He and Sam (Kelly Monaco) have built a blended family together, and he’s the most valuable detective on the PCPD. Just ask Anna (Finola Hughes). In real life, Zamprogna left the show for a couple of years but returned and is now celebrating his 15th anniversary as Dante.
Ultimately, those extra years of living life, starting a family, grieving the loss of a parent, and so many other things contributed to making him a better actor. “Whereas now, you integrate so much more into what you bring to a character. So it’s really interesting to play a character for so long, which you develop on camera and in your life, and you kind of meld the two.”
