After General Hospital viewers learned this week from Molly Lansing-Davis (Kristen Vaganos) that Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota) was sentenced to 31 years in prison with a possibility for parole in 26 years for all of his crimes (after he had taken a plea deal with the Port Charles court system), fans were wondering the status of Rota with the show.

With so many recent on-screen exits, GH viewers were concerned that Rota was the next casualty, although his character of Sidwell deserves to be put a way for life, it appears we may see him back, and from his jail cell. Could he wind up being the cellmate of Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner), who on today’s August 13 episode was sentenced to 10 years in prison with a possibility of parole for two years, for physically attacking Dr. Isaiah Gannon (Sawandi Wilson)? Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, Sidwell’s portrayer, Carlo Rota gave a clue as to his character’s whereabouts during his General Hospital Fan Club Weekend event, along with his wife Nazneen Contractor (Justine, GH), according to a report from Soap Central.

Photo: ABC

WHAT IS SIDWELL’S FUTURE AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN WITH HIS BUSINESS HOLDINGS?

Rota told the crowd in attendance that Sidwell will soon be seen in Pentonville and his scenes will also include another familiar face from the Port Charles canvas. Could it be Curtis or someone else yet to be thrown into the slammer? Carlo teased, “I am in prison with another character from the show. We share a cell.”

The last time anyone saw Jenz Sidwell was back on the July 6 episode when he was in the interrogation room at the PCPD and tried to make a deal with Jordan Ashford (Tanisha Harper).

The deal was that he wanted Jordan to get her hands on his money from his offshore bank accounts and in return, he can get her hooked up with the best plastic surgeon in the world (the one in Germany that Michael went to) and she can jump ahead over the waiting list. However, Jordan turned him down flat, although the thought of fixing her face still weighs heavily upon her.

GH viewers first met Sidwell, the newest villain in town to go up against Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) for the his territory, back in August of 2024.

Flash-forward to late summer of 2026, there has been plenty of talk by Sonny and now Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison) to take over Sidwell’s business holdings that will be up for auction, most likely setting the stage for Drew and Sidwell to be in cahoots, or some other shenanigans to get back at Sonny.

So, are you glad to know that there will be more Sidwell on the way soon? Do you wish the character would just already be off the canvas for good? Glad that Curtis got 10-year prison sentence, or don’t care? Let us know your thoughts via the comment section.

James Franco (ex-Franco, GH), who has been trying to make a comeback of sorts, is now starring in Love, Lies and Frank, a new vertical drama for Shortical. Love Lies and Frank is among the first microdramas produced under the new SAG-AFTRA agreement verticals agreement.

The two-time Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner, and former General Hospital guest star is sharing the vertical screen with mainstay microdrama stars, Eric Guilmette and Neela Jolene.

In story, Love, Lies and Frank follows Jimmy Frank (Franco), the CEO of a high-powered ad agency. A man with confidence and humor but marred with risk and unresolved consequence, Jimmy navigates running his company while also dealing with criminal and supernatural underworld threats. Meanwhile, one of Jimmy’s ambitious employees, Daniella Hanson (Jolene), lands her dream campaign and reignites a forbidden romance with her eccentric boss’s stepbrother Cameron Frank (Guilmette), forcing her to choose between the career she’s fought for and the love she’s been hiding.

Photo: Shortical

JAMES FRANCO HEADLINES A MICRODRAMA

Guy Shimoni, CEO of Shortical said of adding James Franco to the cast, “Hollywood is beginning to embrace vertical storytelling in a meaningful way. To see a talent like James Franco headlining an original microdrama is an important milestone for the industry. We at Shortical are proud to be setting the standard by bringing world-class talent, filmmakers, and stories to audiences in an entirely new way, proving that premium entertainment can thrive in a mobile-first world.”

Love, Lies & Frank is directed by Eric Wang Schwager, written by Melissa Lynn Moore and produced by Knockout Shorts with Peter Gold of Gold Films. No AI generated performances or digital replicas were used in the production, which has been a recent move by several vertical short companies.

Matthew Ko, Co-Founder and CEO of Knockout Shorts added, “Love, Lies & Frank was a really fun collision of worlds. It gave us the opportunity to play with the conventions of the genre, and subvert them just enough without losing sight of what audiences already love about these stories. The goal was always to make something that felt both familiar and completely unexpected.”

Photo: ABC

THE ARTIST KNOWN AS FRANCO ON GENERAL HOSPITAL

General Hospital fans will recall it was back in 2009, that James Franco, played the artist known as “Franco” who was fixated on death and became a main villain of the show and nemesis to Jason Morgan (Steve Burton). At the time, James Franco explained about his GH alter-ego. “Franco works in a lot of different ways. He does graffiti, performances, photographs. He creates installations based on murder scenes featuring murders he possibly was involved with. He’s interested in pushing the boundaries of art – both aesthetically and ethically – and he will go way too far.”

James played “Franco” for a few runs on the soap opera from 2009-2010 and again for stint from the fall of 2011 to early 2012. Later in 2013, the role of Franco was recast with Roger Howarth playing the role until 2021.

The last several years have been difficult for James Franco to find work in Hollywood, following a 2019 sexual misconduct scandal and abuse of power allegations of inappropriate behavior towards aspiring actresses at his now-defunct acting school, Studio 4. Franco settled a lawsuit for $2.2 million in 2021, later admitting he slept with students and addressing issues surrounding power imbalances. The actor maintained he did not open his acting school to lure women for sexual advances. Since the scandal broke in 2019, James has only appeared in five films and mostly from international distributors.

Love, Lies & Frank is now available exclusively on Shortical here.

So, what do you think of James Franco starring in a microdrama? Did you enjoy him as General Hospital’s OG Franco? Let us know via the comment section below.

For just under 24 hours, fans of ABC’s General Hospital took to social media and, for the most part, were unhappy to see that character of Jacinda Bracken written off the soap opera on the Tuesday, August 11 episode.

The story turn marked the end of the latest run of Paige Herschell who had initially joined the show back in April of 2025.  Many viewers liked the romance between Michael Corinthos (Rory Gibson) and the often down on her luck former escort.

However now, the beginnings of their love story was aborted, as previously reported, in a story-line dictated move, after Michael learned Jacinda drugged Willow’s (Katelyn MacMullen) iced coffee, while his ex-wife was with his children, Amelia and Wiley.

Courtesy/ABC

In Herschell’s final scenes, Michael tells her that Willow is going to come after him for full custody of his children after Jacinda’s actions, and he cannot lose his kids. He informs her he has to break-up with her, and he set up a bank account for her, so she can start a new life anywhere in the world. They shared a tearful goodbye. From the looks of it, GH may be heading back to a Michael and Willow reconciliation. Time will tell.

PAIGE HERSCHELL OPEN TO A RETURN AS JACINDA

After her final episode aired, Paige Herschell took to her Instagram story, and shared these heartfelt words: “Thank you General Hospital for giving me Jacinda. I’ve loved every moment with her, on stage and off. And thank you to the fns for your sweet messages and encouragement. I’m overwhelmed with your kindness. I’ve loved sharing this journey with you all.”

In closing, Paige left the door open, that she would definitely be interested to return down the line to GH as Jacinda. Herschell expressed, “If you need me … I’ll be in the character closet.”

With Jacinda, you never know when she might show up. She has come and gone from the Port Charles canvas before, and she may prove be useful a character to come back and seek revenge or extort money from Michael or someone else down the line.

General Hospital had been making a lot of moves in front of the camera recently with several new cast additions and several exits. Who might be coming or leaving next? Stay tuned.

So, what did you think of Paige’s heartfelt goodbye? Did you get emotional watching Jacinda lose the man she loved, and once again finding herself down on her luck and feeling less than? Let us know via the comment section.