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 Friday, July 24 episode ended with quite the cliffhanger with Nina Reeves (Cynthia Watros), pushing a wheelchair-bound Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison) into the lake surrounding the Quartermaine boathouse.

Previously, Nina received a call from Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) telling her that she received very bad news from Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna).

The WSB Port Charles Bureau Chief called the congresswoman to inform her that the black box containing the leverage he has over Drew has gone missing. Saying he owed Nina, Jack was willing to provide a plane out of town for her and her children, Wiley and Amelia, with passports for new identifies, but they must leave tonight.

Courtesy/ABC

Willow tells her mother she can join them if she wants to, but it’s up to her since she has a life in Port Charles, but she has to go and get ready and to let her know. Suddenly, Chase (Josh Swickard) shows up at Willow’s office telling her he has to take her down to the PCPD.

DREW PUSHED INTO THE WATER IN A WHEELCHAIR

After her call with Willow, Nina becomes desperate, so she unlocks the wheels of Drew’s wheelchair in horror, when suddenly Drew speaks (as had been in the ABC promo for GH released on Monday), “What’s wrong, Nina? Get some bad news?” A shocked Nina replied, “Bad for me. Worse for you.” Suddenly, she pushes Drew’s wheelchair with Drew in it into the lake.

Meanwhile, the heart of the episode was brought by Steve Burton and Finn Carr who finally had the scenes where Jason and Rocco talk about what happened the night on the pier, when Rocco shot Cullum and Jason took the blame and was carted off by the WSB for several months.

Jason attempted to ease Rocco’s guilt telling him he is indebted to him for saving his life and Britt’s. When Rocco questioned if Jason would do the same thing all over again knowing how much it cost him, he told Rocco, that they both have to find a way to move on with their lives. Jason tells Rocco its best for him to try to let this all go. Can Rocco? Can Jason?

BRITT IS A COMMON THREAD OF JASON AND ROCCO

Rocco becomes emotional when talking to Jason about going on the run with Britt (Kelly Thiebaud), and how scared he was for her due to her “illness” with symptoms of Huntington’s.

Later, Jason comes to General Hospital and runs right into Britt, who is all smiles when she lays eyes on Jason. However, with Jason seemingly looking for a fresh start and a new outlook, is there any future for Britt and Jason after all that has happened? Stay tuned for the Monday, July 27 episode for some answers/

Now below, and in case you missed it, check out the scenes between Jason and Rocco from today’s GH.

Then let us know, what did you think of the performances of Steve Burton and Finn Carr? Do you think Nina just made everything 10,000 times worse, and Drew will be swimming around in no time in the water revealing he is A-OK much to the chagrin of Willow and Nina? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section.