Soap operas tend to give actors and the characters they play, a meaty story right before they write them off, leaving the audience wondering, why didn’t they do something sooner? In the case of Michael Easton, his run as Hamilton Finn came to its conclusion when General Hospital decided to have Finn enter rehab after his old addiction reared its head and he couldn’t stop himself from drinking.

Last week in his final scenes, Michael along with Jophielle Love (Violet) delivered Michael Fairman TV’s Power Performances of the Week, but as Easton told Soap Opera Digest, getting to the place of where he had to go in Finn’s psyche was a challenge and to try to wrap it up in a neat package before his exit.

Finn’s exit story, at first, featured him taking a sip of booze seemingly out of nowhere at Brook Lynn and Chase’s wedding reception. That was followed by the death of his father, Gregory, which then escalated to Finn drinking heavily. From there, he gets in a fight with Elizabeth and for all intent and purposes breaks up with her, gets upset that the hospital is coming down on him, when he saved GH from going under and then has his Tracy take photos of him, after he cuts himself by accident and passes out drunk, so that she along with Brook Lynn and Chase, can get a restraining order against Finn from seeing his daughter, Violet and more.

Photo: ABC

In his final episode, Finn must say goodbye to his daughter which was a massive tearjerker, before his brother, Chase drives him to rehab. Now, Easton is sharing his reactions, and sentiments on leaving GH and how he had to portray, and the choices he made, to tell his exit storyline.

Michael expressed, “You get hurt a little bit and you get wounded a little bit, and part of your head’s going, ‘Well, just do it (i.e., do the work without putting much effort into it)’ — and then I ended up investing more ) in my performance), to make it even better for them. I really wanted to make it work, so my thinking was, (Finn’s descent) had to go beyond alcoholism. Addiction and things like that, I kind of know a lot about that, but to get where I needed to go (with the character), it had to be almost a complete emotional break.”

Courtesy/ABC

He added,  “You just get down to the raw forms of your emotions, you know? Everything has to be the truth, all the words had to be truthful. It just became about committing to it; you had to cleanse yourself of any feelings you had and just invest and commit yourself. So it was raw for me, and it was humbling, but it also felt good. I felt like I left everything out there.”

Easton also revealed that it took a few days for him to shake-off the emotional toll it took for him after he was finished taping, but when he went home, he received hugs from his children, Lilah Bell and Jack, and that the hugs were something he needed.

So, what did you think about Finn’s exit storyline?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Look for fireworks on CBS Daytime’s The Bold and the Beautiful, this Thursday July 4th when a special holiday episode airs as the Forrester family celebrates the 4th of July.

In story, Hope (Annika Noelle) has to come to terms with Thomas’ (Matthew Atkinson) surprise engagement to Paris (Diamond White). Meanwhile, Katie (Heather Tom) shares her concern with Bill (Don Diamont) about his newfound relationship with Poppy (Romy Park).

Meanwhile, over at the top-rated game show, The Price Is Right, nothing says national treasure like Plinko as a lucky contestant gets a chance to win $50,000 playing the iconic game and celebrates Independence Day in style!

Photo: JPI

In the 4th of July themed episode, players have the chance to win all-American cars, the ultimate backyard BBQ and a 20’ party boat. The episode also marks the 50th anniversary of the 50th anniversary of the popular “Card Game,” in which contestants take their chances with a deck of cards to win a new car.

The Price is Right is broadcast weekdays (11:00 AM-12:00 PM, ET/10:00-11:00 AM, PT), and is available to stream on Paramount+. The Bold and the Beautiful is broadcast on weekdays (1:30-2:00 PM, ET/12:30-1:00 PM, PT).

Check out a sneak peek of ‘The Price is Right’ fourth of July episode below. Now, let us know will you be catching B&B and The Price is Right while you are home for the holiday? Comment below.

Excitement continues to build for the launch of the first new network soap opera in 25 years, as The Gates gets set for its January 2025 debut. As previously announced, longtime soap opera writer, Michele Van Jean created the series and will server as writer, showrunner, and as one of the EP’s of the new CBS soap.

While speculation runs high as to who is joining Michele’s team behind the scenes and who will be in the cast, on Saturday, she shared a message on x with an update expressing “The train is in the station, people are boarding and taking seats! #ittakesavillagetobuildaworld #excited #TheGates“

That post certainly piqued soap opera fans minds, all waiting to hear who could be in the cast? Will it be actors from the world of soaps previously? Will a previous TV and film star be featured as one of the leads? What we do now is The Gates is centered around a wealthy Black family who lives in a luxurious gated community.

Photo: CBS

One fan commented to Val Jean: “In addition to all of the great Black daytime vets (Debbi Morgan, Darnell Williams, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Victoria Rowell, etc.), I *really* hope you pick up both Micheal Easton & Trevor St. John. I’d love to see them on The Gates!”

Behind the scenes Val Jean is joined by Sheila Ducksworth, Leon Russell, Derrick Johnson and Kimberly Doebereiner who also serve as executive producers. The Gates was developed through a joint venture between CBS Studios and the NAACP. The series will be produced by CBS Studios/NAACP venture in partnership with P&G Studios, which is a division of Procter & Gamble.

As for Val Jean, she is well-known for her work as a writer for both The Bold and the Beautiful and General Hospital and she has won multiple Daytime Emmy and WGA Awards.

So, who would you love to see cast in ‘The Gates]? Not much is known publicly about the characters within the upcoming new soap, but serve as our armchair casting quarterback in the comment section below and let us know which actors you would love to see it it.