WSB Director Ross Cullum’s (Andrew Hawkes) reign of terror came to an end last week on the July 2 episode of ABC’s General Hospital, after WSB agent Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy) shot him dead. That ended the run of Andrew Hawkes who will go down for his portrayal of one of the ruthless, bad guys in the soaps in a very long time.

Just look at a partial laundry list of his crimes: stabbing Marco Rios (Adrian Anchondo) brutally to his death, gaslighting Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) to where he was held captive and then was sent to mental institution in France, attempting to kill WSB Bureau Chief, Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna), by tying him to his hospital bed at Turning Woods, putting a gas mask on it and making him breathe a full tank of carbon monoxide.

How about being the person responsible for the penthouse fire targeting Sonny (Maurice Benard) that instead got Michael (then Chad Duell, now Rory Gibson) burned so badly he had to be sent away to a clinic in Germany, and then there is the matter of lying to Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) for years, that she never had Huntington’s disease, instead she was injecting herself with saline, until near the end of his life, he had put poison in the vials of her medication, and let’s not forget taking a weaponized baton and attempting to beat the life out of Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) and kill him, till Cullum was stopped by shots to his back fired by Rocco Falconeri (Finn Carr).

Photo: ABC

HOW CULLUM TURNED INTO A RUTHLESS MASTERMIND AND KILLER REVEALED

This week, Andrew Hawkes participated in a livestream chat on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel where he touched on many subjects of his six-month run as Cullum. One of the more intriguing moments came when Hawkes explained in-depth for the first time what drove Cullum to become a double agent, and to become this heinous of a man.  While it was never given to him by the soap opera, as an actor it is always helpful to fill in the blanks for yourself to help with your performance and the “why” a character is behaving the way they are.

Andrew explained, “This has nothing to do with the writers, or anything that anybody ever said, because we don’t get that backstory on Cullum, but I’ll let you in on a little secret. The reason why Cullum is so single-minded and ruthless is because he was on a job, did his job, which was taking out a high ranking government official in a foreign country. Then, he was turned out by the WSB, locked out of getting back to the United States, and therefore missed holding his daughter who died of leukemia because they froze everything.”

Photo: ABC

“Cullum had no health insurance, Cullum had no money, Cullum had no anything”, continued Hawkes. “What I’ve done with Cullum is he’s coming back to rip everything to shreds from the inside out. So, that was my secret. It’s much more detailed than that. Being a parent is so personal, and  Cullum could not get to his child in her time of greatest need, and he couldn’t do anything because the WSB turned on him. They wouldn’t bring him from out of the cold.”

HEROES AND VILLAINS

Hawkes added, “I played it as I played it, and I am not trying to make it about these mitigating circumstances. It’s just an example of why this guy is so full of rage and violence and that was what I was trying to do as that character is as I said, destroy everything from the inside out.”

On TV, in the movies or on the stage there are usually heroes and villains to every story.  Hawkes explains more on what caused Cullum’s vendetta with the world, “It’s a gasket being blown in your brain plus trauma. I heard somebody talking about what’s the difference between a hero and a villain. A hero says, ‘the world hurt me, and I don’t want to hurt anybody else.’ A villain says, ‘the world hurts me and I’m going to hurt the world.’ So, it’s a very fine distinction.”

Photo: ABC

MEETING JOHN OLIVER AND HIS PERFORMANCE AS Z

In addition, Andrew spoke on his last day of shooting and getting to meet guest star, John Oliver and how impressed he was with his performances, even though he, personally, didn’t get to share any spoken screen-time with the late night Emmy-nominated talk show host.

“I did meet him and talk to him, and when I was down on the ground (after Cullum was shot) I was going, ‘Wow, I’m done.’ I don’t have to sweat anything more today. But he came through, and I’ve been a fan of his for a long time and he was so cool and so prepared. I think he’s amazing. I was like, if you never knew this actor and watched him on GH, he’s just fascination to watch. He’s just so committed. I get the biggest kick out of it, and I hope they keep bringing him back.”

Photo ABC

FINDING OUT CASSIUS HAD LIVED

Hawkes admitted, “I thought Z was only in for one episode/day, but then I found out all the other stuff from watching the show that he had scenes with Carly (Laura Wright) and and then Cassius (Ryan Paevey). I didn’t even know that Cassius wasn’t dead. Of course, Ryan and I had talked a lot and it was the end of his contract and he was leaving the show, but I didn’t know that Cassius had lived through it.”

“As for John Oliver, it’s not easy walking in there with all these incredible professionals being like, “we’ve done it for a long time.” I mean, luckily he has his own show and it’s him talking for 30 minutes. He put in the work. The first behavior, you really see of him is him walking. And then, the way he just pulls out his gun and casually caps the guy on the ground who’s going try to shoot him was just the coolest. I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with him, but he was gracious and kind and cool, and you couldn’t ask for a better scene partner.

In case you missed our conversation with Andrew Hawkes on the Michael Fairman Channel, you can check it out below.

Now, let us know, what did you think of the incredible backstory that Andrew creating for himself to rationalize and play all the scenes and nefarious activities of WSB Director, Ross Cullum? What did you think of his final moments on GH in the shootout with Josslyn and Cassius shortly before Z arrived? Let us know via the comment section below.

On General Hospital, the current PCPD commissioner Dante Falconeri  (Dominic Zamprogna) has been lied to, and kept in the dark, by those he thought he could trust which includes his ex-wife Lulu (Alexa Havins), his own son, Rocco (Finn Carr) and a man he considers a good friend and police partner, “Nathan” West, only Dante doesn’t know that “Nathan” is a fraud, and really his twin brother, Cassius Faison (Ryan Paevey)!

The only person, who seems to be a good friend and reliable is ‘General Hospital’ head nurse Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst). For months, GH viewers are witnessing key moments when Dante and Elizabeth are there for each other. In fact, she helped Dante realize it was Rocco who shot Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) and was willing to help him cover up the crime so his son does not go to prison. Problem is, Rocco took off with Britt Westbourne (Kelly Theibaud) and as of now Dante has no idea where they are.

In a new and exclusive interview out this weekend on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel, Dominic Zamprogna chats about the potential pairing of Dante and Elizabeth and the opportunity to work with beloved longtime GH favorite, Rebecca Herbst, and if he thinks when all is said and done, Dante will wind up back with Lulu. Here’s some excerpts from the conversation below.

Courtesy/ABC

ELIZABETH HAS PROVEN HERSELF TRUSTWORTHY TO DANTE

Speaking on how Dante feels currently about Elizabeth, Zamprogna explained, “At this point, Elizabeth is the only person, he can trust. She’s the only one who’s essentially told Dante what’s what. But. there’s also this connection for sure beyond that, right? That’s something that we’ve tried to play. We don’t know what the end game is, honestly, as actors, I don’t know what the end game is. You have to assume that every time you’re in a scene with anybody, you’re chemistry testing, and you want to do right by the characters.”

Although Dante’s primary romances have been with Lulu and the late Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco), a paring of Dante and Liz has never been approached by the series until now.

“To me, it’s interesting because they’ve never really explored anything between Dante and Elizabeth before. So, it’s all kind of new,” shared Dominic. “That’s the most exciting part of any relationship, the new stuff, before you jump into the domesticated stuff. That’s maybe where Ric (Rick Hearst) and Elizabeth are. They’re kind of more in this domesticated thing, or experiencing that, whereas Dante and Elizabeth truly are kind of needing each other at this moment.”

As Dominic explains it, Dante has found himself needing Elizabeth as his sounding board, since everyone else betrayed him. “Dante definitely needs Elizabeth and has reached out to her. She’s been honest, and provided him with things that he needed (to help cover up that his son, Rocco shot Cullum), explains the five-time Daytime Emmy nominee. “There’s also the other stuff that he’s finding out about her that he didn’t know. Like when she’s in the office with him and she’s talking about her past and the trauma that she’s been through (referring to Elizabeth’s rape).”

Courtesy/ABC

COULD THERE BE A DANTE/ELIZABETH/RIC TRIANGLE AHEAD?

Dominic continued with high praise for his co-star, “It’s interesting for me to play, because I don’t know that story of Elizabeth as an actor, because it was before I got to the show. So, it’s two characters finding out more about each other who’ve been in each other’s orbit for 17 years. (As to the potential pairing), I’m happy to hear people are  digging it because I dig it. Rebecca is phenomenal, and she plays a legacy character, and to me, one of the best actors on the show.”

With Lulu seemingly falling for “Nathan” and then currently breaking it off, Zamprogna and GH fans are awaiting to see what happens when Lulu finds out that “Nathan” is Cassius, while also finding out if Ric Lansing could be the true spoiler in any potential Liz and Dante budding romance.

“I don’t know what the long game is. I literally have no clue,” shared Zamprogna. “I currently don’t believe that there’s a Dante/Lulu happening. It feels like if they did go down the road of Dante and Ric fighting for Elizabeth, I think that would be interesting to have two guys fighting over her as opposed to two women fighting over Ric and Dante.”

Courtesy/ABC

PLANTING THE SEEDS FOR DANTE/ELIZABETH ROMANCE

GH fans will recall the recent scenes where Elizabeth was dressed for her date with Ric, but stopped by Dante’s office at the PCPD first. Dante remarked, in so many words, how beautiful she looked.

Zamprogna hoped that viewers caught it, explaining, “Those are real little moments that I’m always happy or captured. It’s two people who don’t have a romantic relationship, but, planting those little seeds of her coming in and him seeing her out of her scrubs for the first time and being like, ‘Oh my, God  You look amazing.”  And then as the scene ends, they’re kind of wrapped up in things, and then he is like, ‘I could keep talking to you forever,’ but she has a date to get to with Ric.”

You can check out the full conversation with Dominic Zamprogna now on the Michael Fairman Channel below.

Now, let us know, after checking out Dominic’s thoughts on a potential Dante and Elizabeth pairing? Are you hoping the GH writers put them together, or do you want Liz with Ric? And, do you think the end game will still be Dante and Lulu as the exes still have to come together to find their son, Rocco, who is on the run with Britt? Share your thoughts via the comment section below.

This past week, General Hospital fans were feted with an incredibly dramatic, harrowing and emotional series of episodes where at its epicenter saw Marco Rios (Adrian Anchondo) murdered by WSB director Ross Cullum (Andrew Hawkes), and later the guy attempts to end the life of Jason Morgan (Steve Burton).

Now as a new week begin in Port Charles, Jason was carted away by the WSB and Dr. Lucas Jones (Van Hansis) must face life without the love of his life, Marco, who’s life was taken from him much too young.

In an exclusive sit-down virtual interview on the Michael Fairman Channel, Adrian Anchondo opened up about the ups and downs of his one-year journey on General Hospital, where as his run came to an end found viewers of the show rooting for the character. All this, after Marco agreed to help Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) and Lucas get the vials of medication stashed away at Wyndemere so she could reverse engineer the drug and get out from under Cullum and Marco’s father, Jenz Sidwell’s (Carlo Rota) thumb. Only, it all went horribly wrong.

Courtesy/ABC

Anchondo, who made his Port Charles debut last March, shared that late last summer he had an inkling his character might be written off the canvas, he just didn’t know the mechanism of how. Suffice to say, instead of just having Marco leave down for Miami, where he previously worked and resided, GH set off a huge umbrella story, where the character will be remembered for some time to come.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the exclusive chat with Androndo on his time with General Hospital.

BEING WRITTEN-OFF

“I found out when we came back from the end of the year break. It was something that I kind of felt was going to happen. It was heading that direction. I was feeling that since August of last year. It was more a question of when it would happen and how, than if. Of course, I would’ve loved to be on this show for many, many years. I’ve been keeping this secret for a long time, so it’s such a relief to finally let it go. We filmed this all on January 30th, because that was the end of my contract before if it were to be renewed. So, there were a lot of things that had to be squeezed in the last week. They actually gave me a four-week warning (that it was coming), which was great.”

VAN HANSIS AS LUCAS GRIEVES OVER MARCO’S BODY

Photo: ABC

“Even though I had no lines and I was just laying there, it allowed me to be like, ‘OK, it’s their turn. It’s their turn to shine. It’s makeup’s turn to shine. It’s Van’s turn to shine.’ The hardest thing for me in that part as you might’ve seen, I’m kind of breathing a little bit, but it’s hard to play dead, especially when you’re moving so fast, trying to get the next shot and the adrenaline’s running. My heart’s beating for Van to make sure that he’s doing his best, and that’s he’s getting to do his best work. He killed that monologue. And you can’t tell, but I am bawling my eyes.”

Adrian added, “I had tears running down my eyes. They had cover me up because there was this finality to it all. I was saying goodbye, but in this most beautiful, sad way. I felt like once I’m done with this, I’m never going to see them again. But that’s not true. I’m going to continue my relationship with everyone at the show. So, I was feeling so many mixed things. I was just so grateful (for the experience).”

CARLO ROTA AS SIDWELL’S HEARTBREAK TURNS TO ANGER 

Courtesy/ABC

“The taping was different than the way he performed it in the rehearsal. It was very sad in the performance in the rehearsal. Something clicked in him where he is just a brilliant actor where he has to instill fear in the audience. His job is to tell a story beyond what’s happening right there and set up for what is about to happen. He was just great. Carlo did a great job. He scared me.”

NANCY LEE GRAHN AS ALEXIS FINDS MARCO ON THE FLOOR OF HER LAW OFFICE

Photo: ABC

“Oh, God. Technically there was was so much blood and she’s putting her hands on me, and if there’s something (in protocol to stop bleeding) that’s messed up, you have to do it over again. We have to have a spare blanket in case we have to shoot it again. There is also that adrenaline when you’re literally watching someone bleed out and they’re panting and you’re trying to make a phone call and and she’s trying to stop the bleeding. All this stuff is happening and you’re thinking about your lines and the camera angles. Nancy is such a pro. There was one moment where I wanted to reach up to her to look her in the eyes, like, ‘please save me,’ or tell, tell ‘Lucas I love him.’ I think she felt it. Afterwards when they yelled ‘cut,” Nancy was really emotional. We had grown to have a good relationship on the set.”

STEVE BURTON AND RORY GIBSON

Photo: ABC

“I had a great talk with Steve because he was leaving the show (for his hiatus) at the same time as me, that I’m grateful that he was willing to share that before this happened, because it would’ve been two major shockers (for the audience). Around this time he was talking that he wants to go live his life and he wants to go be with his partner (Michelle Lundstrom) and it’s never goodbye with Steve. I also got to talk to Rory Gibson (Michael) a lot as well. He’s someone that I really wanted to work with more. He came in to the show two months after me. His one-year anniversary is coming up. I’m just like so amazed what he’s done on the show and how people love him. I want to celebrate everyone that’s on there.”

KELLY THIEBAUD

Photo: ABC

“There was a scene that we had together where I’m giving Britt her medication and she’s trying to reach me. She’s trying to reach me on a human level. She’s saying I have to work for my father too. You can make a different choice. You don’t have to do this. I think that was the real shift in Marco even before Lucas confronts him about everything that he’s found out. Kelly is a rock star!”

MARCO AND GAY LOVE STORIES ON THE SOAPS

Photo: ABC

“The amount of love that I have received from the this ending has been insane. I think it’s because a lot of people were just starting to like Marco, even though I knew his heart, he was doing questionable things. So now, I’m seeing all the love that that I wish I had maybe seen earlier for the character. I think when it comes to gay stories, I want Lucas to have a happy ending. Just because our relationship ends, doesn’t mean that he won’t find love again. I could be a stepping stone for Lucas’ true love in the future.”

ADRIAN’S CONFIDENCE AND ONLINE CHATTER

Photo: ABC

“There was a lot of speculation online and questions about me not being included in certain things that made me just feel less confident. Sometimes, I think on set, when I came in, there was some anxiety and fear that I couldn’t like, let go and really play. I didn’t feel like the ease that I saw some of the other actors having. I had some great conversations with Cynthia Watros (Nina) and with Nancy Lee Grahn and other people who have been on the show who said to give in and let go of control of things. They also shared they have seen some amazing actors come in and out of here, and it has nothing to do about the performance. So, that helped me a lot and I was able to halfway through my run let go a little bit more.”

Speaking on the slippery slope that is social media, while representing both the LGBTQ and Latino communities on a soap opera, Anchondo shared, “I saw some things online that also just made me sad; homophobic and racist things. Here I am on the show while in the world there’s so much going on outside that is scary. I wanted to present myself in my real life and be true to myself during that time. So yeah, it was tricky trying to balance everything. I said to myself, ‘I’m going to give it my all, and hopefully, even if people don’t like the character, my heart will shine through in what I’m doing.”‘

You can check out the full conversation with Adrian Anchondo below, which features at the end a special guest appearance by Adrian’s boyfriend, Colton Little (Andrew Donovan, Days of our Lives).

Now let us know, what did you think about the comments Adrian shared on his feelings during all the emotional scenes surrounding Marco’s death? Are you sad to see him go? What do you think will happen next, when Lucas realizes it was the man he saved in the OR. Cullum, who killed his boyfriend? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below.