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‘General Hospital’ Alum Chad Duell Talks Leaving Michael Corinthos Behind and His Most Difficult Storyline

By Michael Fairman

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Courtesy: TheAbleShow

It’s been almost a full year since Daytime Emmy-winner Chad Duell stepped away from the role of Michael Corinthos on ABC’s General Hospital after a nearly 15-year run. Duell’s last on-screen episode aired on the ABC soap opera back on January 21, 2025. The character was recast with Rory Gibson, who debuted at the end of May of last year during the GH Nurses’ Ball storyline.

Duell sat down with the hosts of You Tube’s The Able Show where the series features interviews with guests from the worlds of entertainment, culture, technology, sports, and the arts. The series is produced by a a team of individuals with disabilities.

Speaking on what his takeaway from his time on General Hospital, Duell shared it was his co-stars and more: “It’s just those relationships. I mean, I grew up in a lot of ways there. That’s the most fond memories I have is the growth I’ve had as a man there.”

DECISION TO LEAVE GENERAL HOSPITAL

Photo: JPI

Duell doubled-down on what he initially said a year ago when he made the decision in late 2024 to leave his Daytime Emmy-winning role. “I’m blessed to be part of that (show) for as long as I have,” explained Chad. “But what happens sometimes is if you’re doing the same thing, especially in a creative field for such a long time, you can get a little burnt out in a way. It can make you a little depressed, so that’s kind of what happened. On top of that, I had other things going on in my life at the time. My father passed away recently and I just needed a reset. So, I stepped away. A lot of times you have to go through some stuff to really step into that next level. I needed to kind of feel uncomfortable.”

BECOMING MICHAEL CORINTHOS

Chad also explained to the co-hosts his back-story of landing the role of Michael and how he wound up replacing Drew Garrett who was his predecessor in the part. “I was reading first, not for that character. Basically, what happened was they liked me enough to basically fire the other guy for me. I had such immense pressure. They’re watching me on my first day, and I just got somebody fired. I sweated through two shirts. I also felt sick. They had me in the guy’s same wardrobe which was 10 sizes too small. For me, it was about overcoming all these limitations and fears and going through the fire. That’s really what it was, and what drew me to play Michael.”

MICHAEL’S RAPE STORYLINE

Photo: ABC

While other U.S. daytime soap operas had previously alluded to male sexual assault or featured controversial female rape storylines, this 2010-2011 storyline was the first to explore the aftermath and reality of a male prison rape in detail. The victim was a young Michael who was raped by fellow inmate Carter (Josh Wingate). It was in January of 2011 that Michael finally admitted that he was assaulted, and under then GH head writer, Bob Guza Jr., the story focused heavily on the trauma and the recovery process.

Duell shared that this story was his greatest challenge during his time on GH. “When I first started as that character, in the first year. I had to play a rape storyline. The rape happened to my character. It’s the first time in the history of any soap they’ve ever done that. That was very hard for me. It was like you had to put yourself there emotionally.”

Now below, check out Chad’s interview on The Able Show. 

Then let us know, do you remember Chad’s performance in Michael’s rape storyline? Do you hope to see him back on another spap someday? Share your thoughts via the comment section. But first, you can check out the emotional moment when Chad admits to Jason what happened to his prison also below.

 

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As much as I’ve enjoyed seeing Rory Gibson as Michael and his take on the role, I do miss Chad Duell in the role. I wouldn’t mind seeing him pop up on another soap at some point (which I know he said in previous interviews he was open to if the right role came). He looks amazing, and I wish him nothing but the best in his future.

Will always be Michael for me, Rory plays him much too cold

For me, Rory is the Michael who should have been. By that I mean, he’s the viable genetic off spring of Carly and AJ off set by being raised by Jason and Sonny. Michael should have a very dark side to him. Rory does periodically offer a smile which is like the sun parting the dark sky. Will is a bit too cherubic as Michael.

Ahem. I meant to Chad, not Will.

I might be wrong but it sounds like he needed a break but fully expected to come back when he was ready. I don’t think he expected the recast to be such a huge success. So now coming back doesn’t seem to be an option.

Right? He stepped into a very difficult storyline and he was just brilliant though, like an old pro, I just loved him.

He’s talented and I wish the absolute best for him.

Sounds like Chad’s leaving GH happened at the right time for both him and the character.

Chad had a long run as Michael with a well-deserved Emmy from the storyline of AJ’s death and its aftermath. The character, however, was getting stagnant in recent years and needed a reset.

Rory has been excellent so far and Chad seems to be enjoying his new possibilities. The best of both worlds.

General Hospital

GH’s Dominic Zamprogna On How Dante Plans to Deal with Lulu and Rocco’s Cover-Up After Learning His Son Shot Cullum

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By the end of the Friday May 8 episode of General Hospital, Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) with the help of Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) put two and two and realized, that his son, Rocco (Finn Carr) is the person who shot WSB Director Ross Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) in the back, and was the person who Jason (Steve Burton) was protecting.

This revelation hits the police commissioner like a ton of bricks, especially when he realizes his ex-wife Lulu has been in on the secret and not telling him about it. So, where does Dante go from here? In a new conversation with Soap Opera Digest, multi-Daytime Emmy nominee, Dominic Zamprogna shared what viewers can expect.

Zamprogna expressed on Lulu and Rocco not coming to him for help, “He gets that the reason they probably didn’t want to tell him is because they’re worried that he’s too by the book, but this is his son! He has a lot of anger over them not telling him.”

Courtesy/ABC

KEPT IN THE DARK – COMING INTO THE LIGHT

Armed with the truth, Dante’s caught between a rock and a hard place, “This puts him in a situation where he’s potentially going to do things that he wouldn’t normally do, and that’s a big deal for him. Dante having to confront these people for lying to him is going to be good drama and conflict. There is huge emotional fallout from all of this. It has a big effect on his relationships.”

Next week, look for Lulu (Alexa Havins) to be the first-person Dante confronts, “Alexa is so good in those scenes. She is such a powerful actress. But as far as Dante and Lulu go, I could see it taking them a very long time to heal from this, because of her lack of transparency.”

A THANK YOU TO JASON

As far as what Jason did for his son, and how Sonny’s enforcer was grabbed by the WSB and sent away, Zamprogna knows Dante will have a lot of thanking to do, if and when they connect on-screen when Steve Burton returns from his hiatus this summer.”

“Like we needed another reason to love Jason,” Zamprogna scoff, but acknowledging how Dante “definitely (is) going to be owing Jason big-time when he gets back to town!”

So, the once happy family of Dante, Rocco and Lulu is about to fall apart, but can they all work together to keep Rocco safe? Just wait till Dante finds out that his buddy “Nathan” is really Cassius Faison (Ryan Paevey) ! Something tells me in the end he is going to save Lulu from the guy.

Now, let us know are you looking forward to Dante confronting Lulu and Rocco? How can he protect his son in his position as police commissioner? Will he just look the other way? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section.

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General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Nina Stabs Brennan with Drew’s Meds During His Brawl with Valentin

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Nina Reeves (Cynthia Watros) was all over the place and frantic on the Friday, May 8 cliffhanger of General Hospital leading to disastrous consequences, plus Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) learns from intel from Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) that Rocco is the culprit who shot Cullum, and Sonny (Maurice Benard) and Ethan (Nathan Parsons) catch Ric (Rick Hearst) and Ava (Maura West) seemingly scheming over a big payday.

Here’s what went down: in the major turning point, Nina is once again unable to inject Drew (Cameron Mathison) for the second time with the syringe Willow gave her to keep Drew in his locked-in state. She starts rambling in Drew’s room on how she doesn’t want to be doing this, and for him to not stare at her. Suddenly the front door rings, and she puts down the syringe, while Drew looks on.

Once she gets to the door, it’s Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna), who Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) forced her to invite over. Nina hides the syringe and places it under a toy truck on the bookcase. When Jack entered, he questioned her as to why he is here, assuming it’s news about Valentin. Jack reminds Nina she should be concerned about their arrangement, not the one he has with Willow.

Courtesy/ABC

NEEDLE POINT

Now, Nina is becoming more hysterical as she needs an update from him on the evidence she wants to use against Drew. However, Jack does not give her any details or prognosis. He also adds that his boss is on him, and until Cullum lets up, she and Willow need to be patient. With nothing to hold over Drew she could use, Nina wants to get Jack out of the house before Valentin arrived, but it’s too late. Valentin confronts his nemesis with gun drawn.

As Valentin holds both Nina and Jack at gunpoint, he came at her for double-crossing him, and Jack realized Nina lured him into this trap! Valentin demands to  know where Jack sent Josslyn, but Jack says he has no idea what he is talking about!

Next, the two go at it for control of the gun, while Nina is screaming for them to stop. Meanwhile, Drew can hear the whole thing down the hall. Panicked once again, Nina grabs the syringe to seemingly jab Valentin, but the men switched places as they fought, and Jack got the syringe-full of Drew’s meds instead.

Courtesy/ABC

MY SON THE SHOOTER

Elizabeth comes to see Dante and they walk through who could have been on the pier the night Cullum was shot. It is then she admits that when Rocco was brought into GH for what he and Lulu claimed was a knife cut, she knew then, the hand injury looked like a slide bite from shooting a gun. Suddenly, the pieces all come together for Dante and why Jason would take the fall for his son, because he is Sonny’s grandson and Danny’s brother. Dante also figures out that Britt and Lulu have known the truth and kept it from him. He is rocked to the core.

Speaking of Rocco, Lulu (Alexa Havins) is now seeing the other more menacing side of the man she believes is Nathan West. However, his twin, Cassius Faison (Ryan Paevey) is firmly telling Lulu they have to get Rocco out of town to keep him safe now that Cullum is getting out of the hospital, but she takes his demands badly. Lulu tells Cassius he has no right to tell her what to do with her child. Could you see Lulu ending up just like Josslyn? Kidnapped under Wyndemere? Stay tuned.

Courtesy/ABC

BROTHERLY BETRAYAL?

Sonny is spiraling over his distrust for his brother Ric, especially after Ethan reported to him what he saw between Ric and Ava. Now at Ava’s gallery, Ric finishes his business with a mysterious seller. Next, he hands over a hefty commission to Ava at the moment Sonny and Ethan arrive. Sonny aims a gun at his brother,  accusing him of betraying him and Ric looks stunned. We fade to black.

So, what do you think will happen now to Brennan? Will Willow and Nina have to keep drugging him too? If Drew missed his dose, will he come out of his locked-in state and start to have some motion in his arms or legs and make some sort of escape? Do you think Sonny is truly being double-crossed by Ric? And, what did you think of when Dante realized that Rocco shot Cullum and who is the person Jason took the fall for her? Weigh-in via the comment section, but first check out these key moments from today’s GH below.

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General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Josslyn Learns She’s Been Kidnapped by Cassius Faison

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Now it’s sink or swim time for WSB agent Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy)! Can the skills she learned training under Agent Vaughn and being lured into the world of being a spy by Brennan, help her survive being locked up in the same room Anna Devane was? That is the latest wrinkle to her reality that kicked off on the Thursday, May 7 episode of General Hospital.

In story, after having a knockdown drag out fight with “Nathan,” eventually Josslyn is left unconscious and wakes up in the same room that Pascal and company had tormented Anna in for weeks. When she comes to, Josslyn is in a panic and does her best by breaking a hanger, (there are nice clothes left for her on clothing rack, and some snacks) and attempting to unlock the door to her freedom.

Enter, the ominous Cassius (Ryan Paevey). Believing he was still “Nathan” who has developed some sort of psychotic mental break, she pleads with him to let her help him. It’s at that moment, Agent Jacks gets an earful. Cassius reveals he is Nathan’s twin, Cassius Faison.

Courtesy/ABC

THE BIRTH OF CASSIUS

Josslyn tries to figure out how Liesl would not know she gave birth to twins. Cassius tells her Liesl believed he’d died at birth. It was his father, Cesar, who arranged the entire thing when he was born.

Next, Josslyn wondered how Nathan’s body could be gone from his grave, if he wasn’t still alive. Cassius shared he arranged to have Nathan’s body removed, and then hacked the PCPD database to replace Nathan’s fingerprints with his own. He gloats that no one would suspect him, since he is known as the good-guy cop at the PCPD.

Then, in a real kicker to Josslyn, she leans that Britt is the one who told Cassius she was a WSB agent, and then the lightbulb went off that Britt and Cassius are working alongside Sidwell and Cullum. Insisting he and his sister wanted out from under Sidwell and Cullum, and that he doesn’t want to have to kill Josslyn, Cassius warns her that her best shot at surviving is to do as he tells her and not cause trouble.

NO ONE WOULD SUSPECT

Josslyn says people will come looking her for, but in a smug manner, Cassius says nobody will ever suspect that “Nathan” would have anything to do with her disappearing. As she pleads, he walks out and locks her back in the room and regains his composure before he leaves.

Eden McCoy spoke with Soap Opera Digest about Josslyn’s shocking new predicament and shared, “I  think Josslyn’s whole journey here is walking the line between being really vulnerable and really, really scared in this situation, but not being able to show that because it’s her job not to react that way. She’s trapped, she’s been kidnapped by a stranger and now she has to work overtime not to give in to her instinct to be scared. Instead, she’s got to incorporate her new training (as an agent).”

So, who will find Josslyn? What will happen when she comes face to face with Pascal again? Are they leaving just enough room for Cassius to come out of this without being a total “bad guy,” so when this storyline ends, it keeps Ryan Paevey on the canvas? Weigh-in via the comment section. In case you missed it, watch the moments below where Josslyn learns her captor is Cassius Faison!

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