It’s always tricky deciding what scenes to represent your performances to include on your Daytime Emmy Reel. In the case of two-time Daytime Emmy winner, Steve Burton (Jason Morgan, General Hospital), he knows a thing or two, or three, of what gives an actor the best shot at taking home the gold.

This year, Steve became one of the five nominees for the Outstanding Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama Series category for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards when his name was announced two weeks ago on Extra.

GH viewers know 2025 was a banner year for Burton who delivered very emotional and powerful scenes, which often revolved around the death of Jason’s mother who raised him, Monica Quartermaine (Susan Moore was his bio-mom) in tribute to her portrayer, the late Leslie Charleson.

Photo: ABC

Some of Steve’s most highly-regarded work came when Jason has to give a eulogy and share his remembrances of Monica at her funeral in front of the Quartermaine family and Monica’s friends and loved ones. It was a particularly emotional day for the cast and crew, where reality and acting blurred the lines.

On the latest episode of the That’s Awesome podcast with Steve and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli, GH), the duo welcomed to the show, a very special guest, Giovanni Mazza (Gio, GH), who himself landed a nomination for the first time in his career in the Outstanding Emerging Talent in a Daytime Drama Series category.

As the three men discussed pouring their hearts and souls into their work and scenes, Giovanni Mazza, said to Burton, “What you did, particularly with Monica’s funeral, I know that whatever prep you did and with everything that you put into it, I know that it was a culmination of everything that you have ever done and experienced, and you put it into your work and everyone saw it.”

Photo: ABC

STEVE BURTON SHOCKS GIOVANNI MAZZA

Suddenly, Steve had to correct Giovanni, with what might be to some, startling news. However, when you think about it, as Burton explains it made sense. Steve responds to Mazza, “I appreciate that. But what’s crazy was that wasn’t in my reel.”

Burton continued, “I’ve been on the show for so long. I’ve been through so many storylines and there’s times where you do scenes where you’re going, ‘This is good’ And then, when you’re getting feedback from your coworkers and the crew going, ‘Hey, man, that was really incredible,’ you go, “Yeah, that’s probably pretty good. I’m going to take a look at it for my Emmy reel.’  So, that’s all I was focused on for my Emmy reel. I go, “Man, this is so good. I can’t wait to see it. This is it.’ No. It was one of those things where there was a million cutaways.”

“There were no true closeups, really, because they had to include everybody in the scene, which is totally fine,” explained the two-time Emmy winner. “But that was an interesting process for me, because I thought that was it. I thought that was going to be the anchor to the scenes that I submitted, and it wasn’t.”

DID STEVE BURTON USE ANY OF THE SCENES FOR HIS EMMY REEL SURROUNDING MONICA’S DEATH?

As to what scenes were on Burton’s reel, all he would say is, “I had to find other material, which is great. It made me really go through the process. It’s just one of those things. I did use some of that stuff from Monica’s death, for sure.”

However, speaking of the experience to say goodbye collectively to Monica and Leslie Charleson during the funeral shows was something he will never forget. Steve explained, “(The funeral scenes) were definitely a culmination of my experience there, my time with Leslie Charleson, my relationship with Leslie, my relationship with people who were in the scenes with me. The feeling of the crew mourning her also. It was emotionally a lot. I was grateful for that opportunity. It was amazing (to be able to do).”

Watch the full conversation with Steve, Bradford and Giovanni below.

Now, weigh-in: were you shocked that Steve Burton did not include Monica’s funeral? While he has not revealed all of the scenes on his reel, Steve has to be one of the frontrunners, given the other material he did get to play surrounding losing Monica. Let us know your thoughts via the comment section.

Ryan Murphy‘s anticipated new series The Shards, based on Bret Easton Ellis‘ prep school thriller novel, will premiere August 5 on FX and Hulu, as well as Disney+ and a very familiar face is set to appear within the series, when General Hospital alum, Colin Cassidy (ex-Aiden Webber, formerly known as Aiden Spencer) took to his Instagram to reveal the exciting news.

Colin shared, “I’m super excited to share that I will be appearing in Ryan Murphy’s The Shards premiering August 5th on FX, Hulu and Disney+!  I will appear in episode 5 as Rohmer, a fun lovin’ party animal with a secret! I had a blast working on this project and I can’t wait for you all to see it!”

Cassidy played the role of Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) and Lucky Spencer’s (Jonathan Jackson) son on the ABC soap opera on and off from 2024-2025.

Courtesy/ABC

The character was written off the canvas to explain Lucky’s sudden decision to travel abroad and leave Port Charles in June of 2025, Aiden went with his dad to get to know him better. During his run on GH, one of Colin’s most memorable scenes occurred when Aiden came out to Lucky after his father had been away for over a decade.

WHAT IS ‘THE SHARDS’ ALL ABOUT?

As for the The Shards, it’s a dark coming-of-age tale with semi-autobiographical facets for Ellis. Set in Los Angeles in 1981, the story follows a 17-year-old version of Ellis during his final year at the elite Buckley prep school. Upending the character’s world is the arrival of a mysterious new student, Robert Mallory, whose unsettling presence coincides with the activities of a serial killer known as The Trawler.

According to the official loglines: “Igby Rigney stars as Bret, an aspiring writer and keenly observant teenager whose reality begins to unravel with the arrival of a mysterious and magnetic new student, Robert Mallory (Homer Gere, the son of motion picture star, Richard Gere), Transferring in just before his senior year, Robert’s appearance coincides with the growing terror of The Trawler, a serial killer targeting teenagers across the city.

Alongside Bret is his elite social circle, which includes Susan Reynolds (Kaia Gerber), Debbie Schaffer (Hayes Warner) and Thom Wright (Graham Campbell), a glamorous and deeply entangled group drawn into a life of wealth, beauty, parties and excess. The promise of their youth is contrasted with the dark and cynical world of the adults surrounding them: Terry Schaffer (Wes Bentley), Liz Schaffer (Evan Rachel Wood) and Steven Reinhardt (Jordan Roth).

You can check out the 2nd official trailer for The Shards below,

So, are you looking forward to seeing Colin Cassidy in The Shards? Do you hope that General Hospital brings Aiden back to the canvas with or without his father, Lucky? Let us know via the comment section.

The answer to what General Hospital fans have been speculating about for months has come to a conclusion, for now.

On the Thursday, July 23 episode of the ABC daytime drama series it was revealed in story that Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms), along with her man, Spinelli (Bradford Anderson) and her three children, Georgie (Lily Fisher), Bailey (Miley and Riley Plonski) and James (Gary James Fuller) are headed to Australia to live after Spinelli received a job offer he couldn’t refuse.

However, the message of the status of Maxie and her clan, came from none other than Cody (Josh Kelly) during a conversation where he explained that they were all packing up to head to the land down under the following night and they were just “itching to get out of Port Charles.” In addition, Maxie has divested her shares of Deception Cosmetics and sold them to Michael Corinthos (Rory Gibson).

Photo: ABC

IS THERE A FUTURE FOR MAXIE TO RETURN?

All of this paves the way for the series to deal with the longer absence of Kirsten Storms who is back in Tennessee and not having her figure into any immediate storyline.

While the family uprooting themselves to Australia certainly doesn’t look like any return in the near future would be likely, the series can always decide down the line and take their time of what to do with Maxie, if Kirsten Storms, should never return to the role or they would decide to recast, if needed.

This does complete Maxie’s story for now. It was back in February of 2026, that Maxie came out of her coma and was reunited with her family and saw her believed-to-be husband, Nathan West (Ryan Paevey) back from the dead, who later proved to be Cassius Faison. Storms comeback lasted about a month and by March she was no longer on the series.

It was back last month in June that Storms took to Instagram to share that “As for what is in my future, where GH is concerned…. Given what’s been going on, I can’t say I will feel comfortable heading back to Los Angeles and returning to work.”

All of this stems from her reported break-ins to her apartment, the hacking of her devices all occurring in Tennessee, coupled by the restraining order served to her by her ex-husband Brandon Barash (ex-Johnny, GH and ex-Stefan/Jake, Days).

So, how do you feel about General Hospital writing out Maxie Jones with a sudden move to Australia, taking Spinelli and the kids all seemingly off the canvas? Do you like the way this leaves a door open for Maxie to visit or return to Port Charles one day?

Do you think the series should honor the work Kirsten Storms did in the role and not recast, or should they recast down the line? Let us know via the comment section.