General Hospital
GH's Maurice Benard Opens Up In Inspiring and Emotional Interview About His Battle With Bipolar Disorder On DR OZ!
Courtesy/DROZ
Thursday’s episode of Dr. Oz, featured two daytime performers who have struggled with two different conditions. The Real’s Tamar Braxton discussed her near fatal blood clot at the top of the show, and then General Hospital’s Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) joined Mehmet Oz for a revealing and extraordinary honest interview about his battle with bipolar disorder and mental illneess.
Throughout his segment, Maurice discussed how he behaved in his 20’s, and contemplating suicide. Later, he was joined by his wife Paula were they discussed the time when they were rehearsing scenes during the Karen the stripper storyline on GH, and Maurice thought it was truly happening. In another dark moment from his past, Maurice and Paula shared when he threatened to kill her. A studio audience member also addressd Maurice. She shared that after seeing Maurice and Paula on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2004, it helped her and others because of his courage that helped shed light on mental illness.
Later, the discusssion turned to the current storyline on General Hospital, where Sonny’s son, Morgan has inherited the disorder. Benard related: “The thing about soap operas which is great is we have done AIDS storylines, breast cancer storylines, and you can really educate people with these storylines, especially if they are done well. This particular storyline is me looking at through the eyes of the father, and not going through it myself. It’s been a beautiful thing to watch this kid (Bryan Craig), who can really do it well.”
Dr. Oz had a surprise for Maurice when he played a special message from Bryan Craig: “Hey Maurice. I just want to say that playing your son Morgan on General Hospital had been a very meaningful role to me. Your experience with mental illness has helped me create a character to the best of my abilities that depicts the struggles for people battling bipolar disorder and depression and what they go through in real life. I just want to say, I couldn’t have done it without you. You’re strength and honesty is inspiring. I think you are an amazing role model for anyone who is going through this in real life. I love you, and I will see you back in Port Charles.”
A choked-up Benard related “I just love helping young actors, and especially when its a storyline that is so personal to me.” Watch yesterday’s episode of Dr. Oz after the jump. Then let us know what you thought of Maurice’s honesty and his willingness to put himself out there in order to help educate others in the same situation and more.
Breaking News
51st Daytime Emmys: Outstanding Daytime Drama Series Nominations
On Thursday, the 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards revealed nominations in several key categories via four entertainment news programs: Access Hollywood, E! News, Extra and Access Hollywood.
Three of the four announcements were major categories in the field of Daytime Dramas.
The nominees in the Outstanding Daytime Drama Series category are: The Bay, The Bold and the Beautiful, Days of our Lives, General Hospital, Neighbours and The Young and the Restless.
Photo: JPI
General Hospital won this category last year, and has the most all-time wins for a series in this category. For the first time, the beloved Australian-based soap opera, Neighbours is now eligible for competition due to its reboot which streams on Amazon Freevee.
Photo: AmazonFreevee
The 51st annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be handed out in ceremonies in Los Angeles and broadcast live on CBS and streaming on Paramount+ on Friday night, June 7th.
Previous categories announced tonight via the entertainment news outlet included: Lead Actor and Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
So, what do you think about this year’s nominee for the Outstanding Daytime Drama Series? Who do you think should win? Comment below.
Breaking News
51st Daytime Emmys: Tamara Braun, Finola Hughes, Katherine Kelly Lang, Annika Noelle, Michelle Stafford, Cynthia Watros Score Lead Actress Nominations
The nominations were revealed for the 51st annual Daytime Emmys. in the prestigious Lead Actress in a Drama Series category by Entertainment Tonight.
This comes ahead of tomorrow’s full list that is set to be unveiled at 12noon/9am PST on Friday.
In the running for this year’s Outstanding Lead Actress are Tamara Braun (Ava, Days of our Lives), Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke, The Bold and the Beautiful), Annika Noelle (Hope, The Bold and the Beautiful), Finola Hughes (Anna, General Hospital), Cynthia Watros (Nina, General Hospital) and Michelle Stafford (Phyllis, The Young and the Restless).
Photo: Getty
Previous winners in this category include GH’s Finola Hughes, Cynthia Watros and Y&R’s Michelle Stafford. Days of our Lives nominee had won in the Supporting Actress category twice in her career.
Earlier, the Lead Actor nominees were revealed and you can find them here.
Make sure to be with us Friday night, April 19th for the Michael Fairman Channel’s 10th annual Daytime Emmy Nominations Special beginning at 5 pm PT where we chat live with some of this year’s nominees.
So, what do you think about this year’s Lead Actress nominees? Comment below.
General Hospital
More of the Story on ‘General Hospital’ Star Josh Kelly’s Latest Film Role in ‘The Workout’
We had previously shared that General Hospital’s Josh Kelly was taking three weeks away from his role of Cody Bell to a shoot a role in an upcoming movie entitled The Workout.
Josh originally revealed his role in the film during an episode of GH castmates, Steve Burton (Jason) and Bradford Anderson’s (Spinelli) podcast.
Now Deadline has filled in some of the blanks, and shared some intriguing intel on the premise of the film and its back-story. The film stars Kelly along with Peter Jae, and UFC Fighter, Ashlee Evans-Smith. Other cast members include The Bay’s Kristos Andrews.
Photo: ABC
In The Workout, two army rangers set out to create a workout video, but their plans are abruptly halted when a mob hit interrupts their filming. Tragically, one of the rangers loses his wife in the attack, sending him on a relentless mission to take down the mob and anyone who stands in his way.
The film from James Cullen Bressack, almost did not get financed. Apparently, ten days before his birthday, Bressack made a post on Instagram about the feature and production, casting, and financing came from the post … illustrating the power of social media. After the post gained traction, a producer provided financing and actors expressed interest in joining the project, leading to a quick production.
Photo: ABC
In a statement, Bressack shared, “As artists a painter paints, a musician makes music, a writer writes, but as filmmakers we have to ask permission to create. It’s time to change that narrative. This film spawned from a necessity to create. We create. We tell stories. We play pretend. I’m excited to take this journey. This is the truest form of collaboration and a community of friends coming together to make something fun. While our industry has had a rough time recently with strikes and a possible strike looming in the future, it’s nice to remind ourselves why we got into film to begin with. To have fun telling stories.”
No word yet on when The Workout will be released.
So, looking forward to seeing this collaborative effort featuring GH’s Josh Kelly? Comment below.
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I too suffer from bipoler eps. and had attempted suicide when i was much younger but i NEVER got that bad to threaten someone or harming others…this week i did get very stressed from an animal attack that bloodied my arm, and my sister’s serious illness that i have become very ill and suffering from horrible 3 day headache that doesnt seem to go away…i do get easily upset when i find someone left a mess in the kitchen.but that last about five to ten minutes then who doesnt get upset when they find a kitchen that they cleaned just hours earlier and then find it looking like a tornado struck-lol..i do have meds and i take them when i feel the ‘mood’ coming on.
Thanks for sharing and please continue to take care of yourself
You are most welcome and i’ll try…
hey Jimh..
its ok.. you’er luved.. better days are ahead 🙂
I sure hope so…thanks su…and you are luved too.
Thank you so much for sharing.
you are most welcome…
Thanks for sharing your story. It is so important to ending the stigma that still surrounds mental illness that prevents people from seeking treatment. There is help and I’m so glad you’ve found what works for you. Stay well, my friend.
Thank you very much…kind words are good medicine too.
Maurice was incredibly brave to tell his story. Undoubtably he will help many others. Thank you, Maurice!
It was inspiring to watch this incredibly raw and honest interview. My father has struggled with bi-polar for much of my life and it was helpful to me to see a different perspective of someone who has gone through it.
Love Maurice and I admire his courage and strength in giving a voice to those with none.
He’s so brave. I admire him so much. Maurice seems like a real, big-hearted, down to earth, complex man. His character needs years of tuning an re-tuning, but I have always been able to separate the character from the man. I love his interviews an this one was no different- honest, raw, deep, scary, humorous.
Maurice is a wonderful inspiration to everyone not only those who actually suffer from Bipolar. He continues to be the number one reason that I watch General Hospital every day.
Wow!!! Raw. Real. Revelatory. I hate the character of Sonny Corinthos, but I have absolutely THE highest respect for Maurice Benard as an actor, and as a man. He is providing such a needed public service with his advocacy for mental health awareness, and with his willingness to share what it means for the sufferer and the family to live with bi-polar disorder. It rang so true to me, in every detail, because several members of my family have been bi-polar and the stories are so similar.
Thank you Maurice for your openness, your courage, and your profound honesty.
That is a great post. REAL! You have the ability to separate the two. Sorry that your family members deal with this, as well.
I admire his honesty and applaud his efforts to inspire others to seek treatment. So many lives are touched by mental illness in this country; either through personal experience or those of a family member or friend. Most conditions are treatable through therapy, medication or a combination of the two. It is so important that mental illness be treated like any other medical condition. I hope anyone who is struggling will see this and be inspired to seek treatment. I’m so impressed by MB’s willingness to share in the hope of helping others. Well- done!
WOW, so very little feedback about Maurice’s, Oz appearance. I have to figure that there are a lot of Sonny haters/mob story haters BUT you really should separate the two to understand the character of Sonny better. You dont have to like him BUT you would respect him more if you tuned into the Oz episode. I’m not a huge Sonny fan. Dont mind him or the mob. Dont like his family much BUT if you separate the character from the human you would be blown away by what Maurice and his family has been through and respect him as a human!
I finally listened to Maurice’s interview on Dr. Oz. What a story. And thank God for Paula and his family. They never mentioned what might be the cause of bi-polar besides genetics. Wonder what else causes it? Also, are outbreaks like Morgan is exhibiting typical?