General Hospital’s Maurice Benard Previews a Week of ‘Un-Freaking-Real’ Episodes
“Wait till you see these scenes,” he said.
During a February 12 Instagram live chat with fans, General Hospital leading man Maurice Benard revealed that the Carly/Nina/Sonny storyline had won over one of its toughest critics: his wife, Paula. “She was against what Nina had done to the story, to the family, but she understood what Sonny believed was right in front of him,” he began. “Now she met Cynthia [Watros] yesterday and saw some of my scenes and kinda understood.”
Later, Paula joined her spouse and clarified. “I was completely against the story of Sonny accepting Nina [after what she’d done], and I’m still against that as a story,” she said. However, “I accept that my husband loves working with Cynthia — and Laura [Wright]’s amazing as well — but sometimes actors want a challenge” and a new twist of plot. That, she can get behind.
An Especially Strong Week of Shows
Benard would wave a red flag if the polarizing affair didn’t ring true to him. “If I had to do this story, and I was working with Cynthia and… she wasn’t playing any love, I’d say something. [I’d ask,] ‘Why am I believing that he cares about this woman? This isn’t working.’
“That’s not the case here,” he added. As Sonny, “I don’t see the monster. I understand everybody else can’t say that.”
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Perhaps that will change after viewers get a load of what’s coming up. Explaining that he’s been taping episodes that will air in March, Benard exclaimed, “Wait till you see these scenes in the bar. [They’re scenes that unspool on] Monday that continue the week. Un-freaking-real how they wrote it and everything!”
Sonny’s Sin of Omission
Elsewhere in the Q&A, Benard underscored how deeply cut Sonny had been by Carly’s marriage to Jason. Tough guys like the don, “they have a code,” he said. “They don’t want you to marry the best friend. Marry a stranger. That’s how these guys are.” Even though Carly was Jason’s lover first, Stone Cold went on to marry his pal’s ex, Sam, and Sonny had a relationship with his BFF’s sister, Emily…
As for Sonny’s failure to disclose to Carly his romance with Nina, “he may have wanted to say something… but he kept going, then [Brando and Sasha’s] baby died,” he noted. “Then his best friend died.
“Should he have said something?” he continued. “Yes, probably. But he didn’t lay a hand on Nina during that period.”
What Could Have Been
Fans were almost treated to a Sonny/Brenda reunion during the chat. Unfortunately, as Benard put it, Vanessa Marcil “does not know how to do social media,” so he couldn’t get her on screen. “This is kinda like General Hospital — we can’t be together.”
As he and his followers tried in vain to get Marcil on screen, he deduced that “this has to be Vanessa’s problem.” It went on for so long that he even chuckled, “This is comedy hour!”
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You can watch the whole chat in full above. Then check out the below photo gallery — in honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re shining a spotlight on the characters we can’t believe are single!
