General Hospital’s Dex Heller (Evan Hofer) has been at the epicenter of Sonny Corinthos’ (Maurice Benard) paranoia, which led to the beatdown of Sonny’s former right hand man.

Now, Dex is licking his wounds, and trying to move on with his life after joining the PCPD; following attempting to move away from working for the mob and under Sonny’s thumb. Problem is, Dex has a soft spot for Sonny. Meanwhile, looks like there still may be a future for Dex and Josslyn (Eden McCoy) as the two are trying to mend their once-fractured relationship.

Michael Fairman TV caught up with Evan Hofer at the 51st annual Daytime Creative Arts and Lifestyle Emmys (in which Hofer was a presenter during the ceremonies), to discuss the current life and times of his Port Charles alter-ego.

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Evan has now gotten to see and feel first-hand what is like working in soaps and television, when you have to wear prosthetics on your face after Sonny accosted Dex at Brook Lynn and Chase’s wedding reception.

Hofer recalled the experience. “Our makeup team is incredible. Priscilla, my makeup artist is just so talented. She layered silicone every day so she could control the swelling, so that way, she would have control over how it looked as it progressed and, you know, decreased, increased,” Hofer revealed. “She was incredible and very, very detailed.”

Paying a nod to actors who have to take on TV or movie roles where they have to wear complete facial prosthetics, Evan shared, “I do not envy people who wear full face prosthetics. I think my longest tape day was probably seven hours in it. I got a little claustrophobic. It does cause you to have a lack of of depth perception, which is a rough one.”

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Hofer weighed-in on if he thinks Dex will ever turn in Sonny and press charges against him for his character’s recent beatdown. “I hope he doesn’t. It’s hard though, because he loves him (Sonny) and that’s the problem,” stated Evan. “That’s what we do with people we love. It’s almost an abusive parent relationship, isn’t it? I have this theory that Dex almost feels like he deserves these things.”

Now might be the time for the GH writers to explore more of Dex’s backstory which could include a backstory of abuse. “I really would love them to. I think it’d be incredible,” hoped Evan. However, he added, “I’m just grateful for whatever I get to do every day and excited for whatever story we get to tell.  Something like The Departed – undercover with the mob- would be cool (for a storyline), and then everybody’s wondering which side I’m on the whole time.”

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Is there hope for Dex and Josslyn fans that they will still may be each other’s love endgame? Hofer teased, “I think they start spending a little more time together, but who knows what’ll happen. You never know on a soap opera. Maybe Dex’s evil twin will show up and steal Josslyn away.”

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A few months back, Evan shared some major scenes with the one and only Finola Hughes (Anna). In story, Dex admits he was going to kill Cyrus on Sonny’s orders. Hofer shared it was a big moment for him since his time being on GH. “What an honor to get to do those scenes with Finola. I had only worked with her once before and that was when Dex broke her out of prison and he got shot the first time,” recalls Hofer. “She’s all about working the scenes ahead of time, which I am, too. We got to get a lot of reps in and when we get up there on stage, she’s incredibly affecting. I’ll kind of have an idea of maybe of how the scene will go, and then I’ll just look in her eyes and suddenly I am just so in a different space that she’s pulled me into. In those scenes, having Dex feel like someone cares about him was really beautiful.”

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Recently, Giovanni Mazza premiered as Gio. In Hofer’s first on-screen scenes with Mazza, the two talk about Gio’s dad having been in the military and Dex’s experience in the Army and serving in Afghanistan.

This raised some GH viewers eyebrows to what if the two characters could somehow be related? Perhaps, brothers? Evan responded to those inquiring minds, “Oh, I don’t know. We look pretty alike. There is the military connection. I think it’ll be interesting. Those first scenes we had together were incredible. I was so excited to work with Geo. He couldn’t be any nicer really. He’s an incredible person. He’s so easy to be around. We hang out outside of work all the time, already.”

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Does Evan think there will come a day where Jason (Steve Burton), Dex and Sonny will all be working together on the same side, and thus, Sonny will have both his former henchman at his disposal?  While Hofer doesn’t know what’s coming down the pike, he expressed, “It’s been incredible to have Steve around. He’s a really wonderful man. I’d only met him on Zoom previously to him coming back.  I hope we get to work together more. We got one batch of scenes together and I hope we get to do more soon.”

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As to what GH viewers should be on the lookout for in the weeks ahead, Evan teased, “We’ll see what Joss and Dex get into, and we’ll see what happens within the police department.”

So, are you rooting for Dex and Joss? Do you want Dex back working for Sonny, or hope he stays with the PCPD? Would you want to see more of Dex’s backstory explored? Comment below.

This week during a very informative and insightful conversation, General Hospital’s 11-time Emmy-winning casting director and now a Daytime Emmy Silver Circle honoree, Mark Teschner spoke on finding the talent for specific roles on the ABC daytime drama series throughout his near three and half decades with the show.

During a livestream chat on the Michael Fairman Channel, Teschner recalled some of the behind the scenes casting stories that brought many beloved favorites to the GH family including the late Johnny Wactor (ex-Brando), the newly-arrived, Giovanni Mazza (Gio), longtime fan favorite, Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth), and rising star, Nicholas Chavez (ex-Spencer) to name but a few.

When speaking with sadness over the loss of Wactor, who was shot and killed back on May 25th, and what he brought to the character of Brando, Teschner recalled, “With Johnny, what you see is what you get. You see the most kind decent, standup guy, and that’s innately who he is. So, that quality comes through in his work and with the character.”

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Mark explained, “Brando was a raw kind of hothead, troubled kind of character, and Johnny was able to go there. He had a real intensity that he was able to bring to the role, but at the same time, the character of Brando had to have this depth and this giant heart that he doesn’t necessarily reveal when you first see him. Well, Johnny had the biggest heart of anyone you’ll ever meet. So that essence was already there, and then his acting and his skill played the character. Johnny brought so much of who he was to the character, and there was something so authentic about him.”

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Giovanni Mazza recently debuted on GH as “Gio”, so what was his road to landing in Port Charles? Teschner shared, “I was casting a recurring role for a 15-year-old on the show, but when I’m doing the audition, sometimes I’ll open it up because we try to cast true to age, really within a year or so.  If you think about it, all the kids in our show are the exact age of the characters that they’re playing. Because if you have somebody that’s older playing younger, it sticks out because they’re not going to blend age-wise. But I did read a number of actors that were older just because they looked interesting. Gio’s audition came in. I was viewing this through self tapes, and there was just something about him. It wasn’t just that he was a great-looking kid, it was just there’s something very soulful about him and something very compelling, and he draws you in. ”

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Mark continued, “So with the group of the 15-year-olds that I sent to Frank Valeintini (EP, GH), I said, ‘Hey, I’m including this kid, Giovanni Mazza. I’m well aware he’s too old, but I just want you to see him.’

After having him come into audition, two weeks later, Frank called Mark and told him they were putting Gio under contract. Teschner added, “So, that was an example where it was his first week in LA, it was his first and ever audition. So we got  before anybody else.  I think he’s really gonna develop into, you know, quite a young actor.”

Becky Herbst has been beloved as Elizabeth for decades, and Teschner recounted her audition process and how she came to the role of Elizabeth. “She (originally) auditioned for the role of Sarah Webber. But the role of Elizabeth was created for Becky. While the character of Sarah did not last long, here we are with Becky 30 years later.”

Teschner cited Becky’s casting as a great example. “I always tell actors when they come into audition, you lay it out, you put it all out there, you bring everything you have to that role. You may not get the role, but if you do good work, you get remembered. And it’s so true.”

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Nicholas Chavez popped in the role of Spencer Cassadine before exiting the series. Teschner tells how Chavez came onto the GH casting radar. “Nicholas sent his self tape in from Florida and the rest is history. He had a meteoric impact on the show.” Mark added, “You always have an expectation and the hope that they’re (the actor) going to nail it and run with it. But sure, there are actors, you think, ‘They’re gonna be awesome,’ and then all of a sudden it goes to another level. With Nicholas Chavez, we knew he’d be amazing, but you know, who knew? Well, we did.”

Watch the full conversation with Mark Teschner below where he talks about even more of the casting stories behind some of your GH favorites, then and now.

What you think of the Teschner’s eye for talent casting the characters of General Hospital? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

Last Friday night at the 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards, many of the daytime drama series and performer winners took to the ‘Winners Walk’ to share their reactions on taking home the gold in their respective categories.

Speaking with Michael Fairman TV were: Outstanding Lead Actress winner, Michelle Stafford (Phyllis, The Young and the Restless), Outstanding Lead Actor, Thorsten Kaye (Ridge, The Bold and the Beautiful) along with friend and former B&B co-star, Alley Mills (ex-Pam, now Heather, GH), and his daughter McKenna, who attended the ceremonies with her dad.

In addition, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Daytime Drama Series, Robert Gossett (Marshall, General Hospital) stopped by to celebrate his win, as did Outstanding Supporting Actress, Courtney Hope (Sally, The Young and the Restless).

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General Hospital won both Outstanding Directing Team in a Daytime Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Daytime Drama Series, and both former co-head writers, Dan O’Connor and Chris Van Etten, spoke to us following their victories, as did the Directing team led by Robert Markham, Tina Keller and Allison Reames.

The Young and the Restless icon star, Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki Newman) along with her husband, The Bold and the Beautiful’s producer Edward J. Scott were the recipients of the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award honors, and spoke on what it was like to take the stage and deliver their acceptance speeches after the moving tribute from many of their colleagues.

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Make sure to check out our red carpet interviews from soap’s biggest night and all the winners conversations via You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel.

Now, watch our 2024 Daytime Emmy winners interviews below.  Then, let us know who you were most happy to see taking home an Emmy for their work via the comment section.