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Rick Hearst Shares ‘General Hospital’ and ‘Guiding Light’ Most Felt Like Daytime Home; and The Road to Ric Lansing

By Michael Fairman

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Photo: ABC

Three-time Daytime Emmy winner, Rick Hearst (Ric Lansing, General Hospital) is this week’s special guest on Soapy Hosted by Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart.

Hearst. who also previously has played: Scott Banning on Days of our Lives, Alan-Michael Spaulding on Guiding Light, Matt Clark on The Young and the Restless, and Whip “Whipple” Jones on The Bold and the Beautiful, was asked by Budig, of all of the soaps he has appeared on which felt most like home?

Rick shared: “I’ve been fortunate that I would say that there were two shows, I think that I can say felt most ‘familial’ as in like a family. One, I would say would be Guiding Light, because it was such a unique growth period in my life as a human being, as a father, all of that. I really felt like I cut my teeth as an actor in daytime on Guiding Light.” Hearst played Alan-Michael #2 from 1990-1996.

Photo: JPI

His second pick was his current home at GH. Hearst then revealed how he actually landed the role of Ric and how the character didn’t even have a name at his beginnings of the show, dating back to his initial run in 2002. Since that time, Rick has returned fo three times runs: 2002–09; 2014–16, and 2024 till the present.

“When I came to General Hospital, it really was a character that I got a chance to make my own,” recalled Rick. “The funny thing is when I went in and met Bob Guza and Chuck Pratt who were writing the show (at that time, I didn’t have to audition. I didn’t have a screen test. I went in and I met them, and this may sound funny, but in auditions, I tend not to be chatty. I just sort of lay back, let them do all the talking, and then respond in kind, and kind of feel them out at the same time.”

Following the meeting, Rick explained, “Mark Teschner (casting director, GH) called my agent. So, I said, ‘So, what’s the deal? He said, ‘They want to know if you want to screen test for it.’ I said, “‘Wait.  I thought this was an offer?'” So, Rick eventually decided, “No” and he shared, “That’s the first time I ever said that and I was panicked.”

Photo: ABC

Hearst elaborated: ‘I said to my agent, ‘Send my reel over to them so they can at least see a body of work.’ And when I did that, they still screen tested other guys. But, then I got a call from my agent on a Friday night. It’s 10 30 pm. They want me to start early Monday. I said, ‘I have no script. I don’t even know the name of the character, and they didn’t either. They sent over a stack of scripts. So, I show up on the day, and looked to see the character’s name and at first. nobody could speak the character’s name. It was Peter, and then it was Daniel, and then they’d settled on Rick, but RIC. I became Ric Lansing but that didn’t happen until two weeks into the role.”

You can learn more about Rick’s entrée into GH, and his very first scenes, where he had to speak Spanish and he didn’t know how and muchmore by checking out the full episode of Soapy below.

So, have your favorite soap roles of Rick’s through the years been that of Alan-Michael Spaulding on Guiding Light and Ric Lansing on General Hospital? Let us know via the comment section below.

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I agree: his roles on General Hospital and Guiding Light felt the best for him in my eyes. And hopefully, one day, he will pop up on Beyond the Gates, where I know he would excel, too.

I first saw his work and loved his portrayal as Alan Michael on GL
Love him on GH.

I have a big soft spot for Carl T Evans the first Alan-Michael but Rick was wonderful in the part too and deserved his Emmy for it (or Emmys can’t remember).

When he was on bold and beautiful as Whip I used to cringe when Brooke would pronounce it as “Wheee-up” lmao

Definitely my favorite role of his was Alan-Michael

All I know is that when he appears on the screen, I’m watching- riveted actually. This is a rarity for me.

Interesting tidbit on how the character of Ric Lansing got his name. JFP and Guza generally ignored the “don’t reuse character first names” rule as you never know if/when they’ll need to bring back the original.

Case in point, Ric Lansing was driving story when the writers chose to bring back Rick Webber for the dreaded retcon that sent Laura to catatonic land.

Olivia Falconeri had been on for a number of years when Ron had Olivia Jerome return from the dead.

General rule is you don’t even use names that sound alike. Kiki was used instead of Lauren to avoid having someone talk about Lauren in one scene then Laura in the next.

Love Alan Michael and miss GL forever! And having Rick show up on our screens is always a gift. His comedic timing is pitch-on. Hopefully we will get to see more of him in the upcoming year.

General Hospital

‘General Hospital’s’ Finn Carr Weighs-In on Potential Rocco and Scout Teen Romance

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Finn Carr, Kayden Brenna Tokarski

Finn Carr, who delivered powerful performances on General Hospital, when Rocco shot WSB director Ross Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) and its aftermath, may be headed for his first on-screen love story on the ABC soap opera.

Ever since it was announced that the long-running daytime drama decided to age-up Scout Cain, and in a few recent scenes between Rocco and Scout, it’s clear these two share similar interests and like each other.

Scout is now played by Kayden Brenna Tokarski, who made her GH debut back on July 20 as the daughter of Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison) and the late Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco).

Rocco and Scout

Photo: ABC

In a newly-released virtual segment with ABC11 North Carolina’s GH virtual insider, Dearon Smith, both Finn Carr and Asher Antonyzyn talked about working on a soap opera, while finishing high school, and teasing what’s ahead for Danny and Rocco. While Finn and Asher couldn’t give too much away, Smith asked Finn Carr if there is something brewing between Scout and Rocco?

WHAT’S NEXT FOR ROCCO AND DANNY?

Carr responded, “That’s an interesting question. Kaden is great to work with, and I love working with her. There definitely is some great stuff coming up that people are going to want to watch. It’s good stuff and really fun.”

Apparently, Danny and Rocco will also find themselves once again in some trouble, but as Finn tells it looks like this time, Danny will take the brunt of it. “We get into a lot of trouble … well, Danny gets into a lot of trouble … but I do a lot though.” Very cryptic indeed!

You can check out the full conversation with Finn and Asher with ABC11 below.

Now, let us know, would you like to see Rocco have a girlfriend, and that it would be Scout? Do you think Finn and Kayden work well together on-screen? Share your thoughts via the comment section.

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Laura Wright Signs New Contract with ‘General Hospital’

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Laura Wright

While there have been plenty of on-screen newcomers in recent weeks on General Hospital, no need to worry about one of its mainstays, with the news from Daytime Emmy winner, Laura Wright, herself. Wright who plays Carly Spencer on the ABC soap opera has revealed on X, that she just re-signed a new deal with the soap opera to remain in Port Charles.

Wright is the fourth actress to play Carly, following in the footsteps of the OG Carly, Sarah Brown, Tamara Brown, and Jennifer Bransford. In fact, Laura left her major role on Guiding Light as Cassie Layne Winslow to take over the role of Bobbie Spencer’s (the late Jackie Zeman) complex daughter in November of 2005. Now almost 21 years later, Laura has made Carly her own and has delivered memorable performance after memorable performance throughout her run.

When a fans commented on X, “Can I just say if you ever leave General Hospital as Carly I will stop watching the show. I honestly have loved you and think that you are the best person to play Carly,” Laura Wright jumped in to the thread and assured her and other GH fans, that she has no plans to go anywhere else.

Photo: ABC

LAURA WRIGHT STAYING PUT AT GENERAL HOSPITAL AND FANS ARE HAPPY SHE’S STICKING AROUND

Laura expressed, “I’m not going anywhere, just signed a new contract!!!” Since she made her public statement, many GH fans were thrilled with the news with comments such as: I would’ve been devastated if you weren’t sticking around. You’ve truly made Carly your own after so many years, ” and Happy to hear this, I always enjoy #GH more when Carly is on,” plus “So glad you’re sticking around as Carly. Love Carly and can’t wait for more #Caradine and #Jarly”

One fans hopes Laura will be on for years to come a la Jane Elliot’s tenure as Tracy Quartermaine saying, “Awesome. It’s so fun getting to see the full life of a character. Hope you stick around for many more years. I think Carly will be a hoot in her Tracy Quartermaine era.”

Laura Wright’s road to General Hospital started back on ABC’s Loving when she first played  Allison “Ally” Rescott on Loving (1991 to 1995) and then its spinoff The City (1995 to 1997). She later joined Guiding Light as Cassie, who was revealed to be the sister of Reva Shayne played by Kim Zimmer. She played the part from 1997-2005. From then on its been all GH scoring a Lead Actress Daytime Emmy win in 2011, along with eight total nominations throughout her daytime career.

Currently, Carly is involved in a romance with Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart), but it’s on shaky ground with Anna Devane back in the picture not so happy to see the two canoodling, and Carly having been warned by Sonny that Valentin is not trustworthy.

However, after seeing Laura’s post that she has signed on to stay at GH, James Patrick Stuart commented on X  reacted by stating, “Phew!”

So, happy to hear Laura has re-signed with General Hospital and will continue her role as Carly Spencer? Let us know via the comment section below.

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GENERAL HOSPITAL: Willow Feels The Effects of Jacinda’s Drugs; Josslyn Find Out She’s CEO of Jasper Jacks Enterprises

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Willow

On the Friday, August 7, episode of General Hospital, Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) unknowingly has put her children Amelia and Wiley in danger, Drew (Cameron Mathison) and Ava (Maura West) appear to be in collusion against Sonny, and Josslyn (Eden McCoy) and Hudson (Troy Lennon Appel) get off to a rocky start (which as you know in soaps could be a love match down the line!).

Here’s what went down as most of the action took place at the Metro Court pool area: First, Josslyn meets with Hudson, who reveals himself to be none other than the VP of Operations for JJE (Jasper Jacks Enterprises). Hudson tells Josslyn he was sent to Port Charles from Australia, while her dad was sailing around the world as he had named her the new CEO of his company.

Josslyn immediately puts her foot down and tells Hudson she is not accepting the position. He asks, why? She informs him that she works as a WSB agent. Hudson seems stunned and his interest is piqued.

Hudson

Courtesy/ABC

HUDSON DOESN’T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF JOSSLYN

In turn, they get into a tiff, where Hudson is annoyed that he flew all the way around the world and wasted his time. Meanwhile, Josslyn is annoyed that her father didn’t even bother to ask her if she wanted to run the company. In the end, Josslyn tells Hudson to get her a list of qualified candidates, one of which she can sign the company over to.  She then storms off.

However, Hudson spots Ava Jerome, whom he knows was speaking with Ethan in Norway, and who knows about Ethan’s involvement with baby Phoebe. Ava is busy talking with Drew on how they mutual disdain of Sonny, and it should be the driving force for them to work together to take him down. Ava wants no more threats over her head of having Avery taken away from her by her father. Drew is all ears!

Michael (Rory Gibson) meets up at the pool with Jacinda. She shows him the restraining order that Willow got from the courts against her to stay away from the children. Michael promises to get his lawyers to fight it.

However, Michael knows something is up when Jacinda said, “Willow is about to make a public mistake,” hoping that pills she put in Willow’s iced coffee have begun to spin the congresswoman out of control. Michael demanded to know what Jacinda had done to Willow.

Josslyn

Courtesy/ABC

WILLOW’S ABOUT TO GO FOR A DANGEROUS DRIVE

Elsewhere at Nina’s, Willow got a surprise when Amelia and Wiley showed up. Now, she will have them for the afternoon and decides they are going to have fun day. After a slight scare when Wiley picked up her iced coffee, Willow told her son to put down the drink because it has caffeine in it. However, then Willow began to drink it herself unaware that Jacinda spiked it with drugs.

In the final moments of the episode, Willow’s behavior changes as she is now over-excited about taking the kids to the arcade. A drugged Willow grabs her car keys, and she and Amelia and Wiley head out to the car. We fade to black.

So, did you feel on-screen chemistry between Hudson and Josslyn? Do you like Drew and Ava teaming up? Do you think Willow gets into a car accident with Amelia and Wiley in the car, which in turn, will kick Jacinda to the curb with Michael? Share your thoughts on what happens next and more in the comment section below. But first for some clues, take a look at the General Hospital preview that aired for Monday’s August 10th episode during the closing of today’s GH.

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Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

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