General Hospital’s Maurice Benard Nabs a Major Movie Role — Plus, a Photo Gallery of Other Soap Stars Who Made It On the Big Screen

Credit: Howard Wise/JPI

He plays a mobster in daytime and has once again been cast as one for the big screen.

His General Hospital character, Sonny, is currently suffering from amnesia and living a life as Mike in New Jersey. While many in Port Charles miss their loved one, Cyrus is happy that the town is rid of its notorious mobster — for now. So, what else has Maurice Benard been up to these days? The actor has been cast to play… drum roll, please… yes, another mobster — but this time on the big screen.

More: The GH death that never should’ve happened

Our sister site Deadline has released details for The Legitimate Wise Guy, starring Paul Ben-Victor, Harvey Keitel, Emile Hirsch and Ruby Rose. Benard will play Micheal Spilotro, the main character’s younger brother, in the film surrounding the true story of mobster Tony Spilotro, of the Chicago Outfit, a powerful 1920s crime syndicate under the infamous Al Capone.

This isn’t the first time Benard has played a well-known real-life mobster. Back in 2019, he was hand-picked by Victoria Gotti to play her father, John Gotti, in Lifetime’s Victoria Gotti: My Father’s Daughter. Of his Gotti role, compared to playing Sonny, Benard talked about his last day on the film’s set and revealed to us in an exclusive interview, “I had to go straight to General Hospital. I got in around 6 am, I went to set and while playing Sonny I realized he’s in first or second gear. Gotti is in third, fourth or fifth [gear]. That’s when I realized I did better than I thought. The energy was totally different.”

We’ll keep readers updated on the film’s release date. Until then, look through our photo gallery below featuring other soap opera actors who made it into movies and primetime… then returned to daytime.

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pacific palisades finola hughes greg evigan

3/14

Following her initial run as General Hospital badass Anna, the Emmy winner continued kicking butt in primetime — in series such as Jack’s Place (with erstwhile Barney Miller Hal Linden), Blossom (with The Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik) and Aaron Spelling’s Pacific Palisades (with General Hospital’s future Jim, Greg Evigan). Yet she came back to daytime in 1999 as Anna’s twin sister, Alex, on All My Children and eventually returned Anna to Port Charles.

knots landing donna mills michele lee joan van ark

5/14

From 1982-86, the Daytime Emmy winner pretty much owned All My Children’s frontburner as “Tad the Cad.” But we assumed that after his charming performance in the feature Date With an Angel (opposite Phoebe Cates) in 1987, soapdom would never see him again. So imagine our surprise — and delight — when he ultimately returned to All My Children (and later joined the cast of The Young and the Restless as Simon and, most recently, General Hospital as smarmy lawyer Martin).

6/14

After scoring a major role in 1996’s The Rock — she played Nicolas Cage’s girlfriend — General Hospital fans thought that Marcil was gone for good when she left the soap two years later. And she did score a frontburner role on Beverly Hills, 90210. Nonetheless, she brought Brenda back to Port Charles in 2002, moved to primetime’s Las Vegas a year later, then returned to General Hospital yet again in 2010 (and 2013 and… TBD).

tuck everlasting alexis bledel jonathan jackson

8/14

With four Daytime Emmys sparkling in his trophy case, Lucky’s portrayer was a hot property when he left General Hospital in 1999. In no time, he was starring in major motion pictures like The Deep End of the Ocean with Michelle Pfeiffer and Tuck Everlasting with Gilmore Girls’ Alexis Bledel. Still, a decade later, he reclaimed his old role (recast twice in his absence) and came back yet again for a quick visit when on-screen dad Anthony Geary (ex-Luke) retired.

maurice benard lucy desi before the laughter

13/14

More than once, this legendary sex symbol returned to her soap roots. After a four-year stint as Search for Tomorrow temptress Jennifer Pace, she struck it big in primetime sudsers like Flamingo Road, Paper Dolls and Falcon Crest. Years later, she helped transform Loving into The City in 1995 by joining the cast as Sydney Chase. Then in 2017, she passed through Days of Our Lives as the latest incarnation of Anjelica Deveraux.

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General Hospital’s Maurice Benard Nabs a Major Movie Role — Plus, a Photo Gallery of Other Soap Stars Who Made It On the Big Screen

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