General Hospital
GH’s Roger Howarth Talks Franco’s Childhood Abuse, If Friz Can Be Happy, And Bad Guys On The Soaps

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I have admired Roger for many years. He is a very gifted actor. The pairing of Franco and Liz. Roger and Becky are fabulous together. Looking forward to their wedding!
I love his facial expressions.
Great interview. Roger is my favorite soap actor .
Excellent read! That’s for posting this interview Michael. It’s always great to get perspective for someone as talented and intelligent as Roger Howarth.
I never saw Roger do an interview like this
He rarely does any interviews. When he does though, it’s always a great read.
The best actor on daytime.
What a smart dedicated actor Roger is. I am in awe of his talent and his dedication to his craft
I’m so happy you did this interview because Roger rarely does them. Franco & Elizabeth are hands down my favorite characters on GH. I’ve loved Becky since she first appeared 21 years ago. It never dawned on me that they could pair Becky & Roger but they are like lightning in a bottle together. They can seamlessly handle the angst, the banter, the romance, the comedy. The journey of Friz falling in love was truly rare for today’s soaps. They had the classic slow build which is unheard of now. Six months before a kiss & 18 months before they… Read more »
Franco seems to be a polarizing character, but I like him and think Roger Howarth is a dedicated, creative actor. I hope they continue Franco’s evolving friendship with Drew; Roger and Billy are dynamite together. But heck, when is this wedding going to happen? Their engagement is lasting longer than many marriages.
Roger brings up some issues. He is a marvelous actor whom I have admired for a long time.
Still prefer Todd…
I love Franco. Bad guy or good guy you just like him. He is such a wonderful actor that he draws you into his character and you react. Remember Him from As The World Turns and I felt the same way. Like His new Haircut
Thank you for this article it’s so great to hear Roger’s perspective on his character and career. It’s easy to see why he is so well liked and respected in the industry, he really understands his craft. I would love to see a joint interview with Becky for the wedding!
Such an insightful interview! Roger’s answers go beyond the usual talking points and bring a unique perspective from the actor’s lens. I am hopeful that his fabulous work this year is recognized at the Daytimf Emmys.
Thx for sharing and I’ll keep my fingers crossed for an interview with his acting partner, Rebecca Herbst, soon!
Fabulous interview, fabulous actor! Never tire of watching what he does.
Roger is one of my all time favorites. I loved him as Todd Manning, which was my introduction to this actor. I won’t say That the cleansing of Franco has been easy on the fans of JaSam, which I’m unabashedly one. I often think that we all suffer from PTSD from the original storyline. I was never happy with the “brain tumor” story and the get a free pass from accountability, that was given to the character. Nor was I thrilled when they paired him with Elizabeth for two reasons, one, she is a rape survivor and two it grates… Read more »
Franco is too mushy wussy..
Roger can play a great edgy bad boy with a heart of gold.
This powder-puff Franco is a stale bore, he needs to get his darker bad boy side back and still hold onto his good side.
Putting Franco with Liz (the mother nun) was a bad move.
He was 100% more interesting/colorful/vivid/intruging with Carly and Nina; Franco and Liz are like toe-nail clippings BLAHHHH.
Franco should never ever be a mushy wussy stale bore, never.
I agree I have always loved RO HO wen he plays bad guy.. he doesn’t play a good goodie two shoe.. I 2ould love to see him to go back to being Dark again.. I don’t feel he should be paired with Liz who is a Rape Survivor.. I liked Franco with Nina and Ava him and honestly O Brecht would be great together.. my fav with him was Blair on OLTL.. please bring the Dark side back out of Franco..
Roger is a great actor but i would like him better with nina or ava.i am hoping franco and liz break up
I agree
I like his attitude very much–and he is articulate about the way he works–and candid and upfront with his opinions. I like that; however, he came on to play a character that he “set” the character before he got that. A bit unfair for him, granted. BUT the violence that the writers have done to the true (evil, black and white) character is a barrier he can’t get over. So he does the best he can with what he is given. Too bad. They should have let the evil Franco lie–and brought him on in a totally new character on… Read more »
I am really unhappy with this interview! The majority of Roger’s scenes are with Rebecca Herbst but he didn’t pay her one compliment! He talks about Franco has changed but admits he doesn’t know much about the old Franco. Roger says he thinks the show is reluctant to have the primary characters behave badly – is he on another show? No way can he be talking about GH with their nonstop redemption arcs! Roger thinks the show does itself a disservice when they bring in great actors to play bad guys – the disservice is to the audience who gets… Read more »
I agree with you, Tracy. I have mixed feelings about this interview. First, it seems to me that the actors (I don’t know how many but judging from Laura Wright’s and now Roger’s, don’t take the time to learn the history of their character. They seem to play to whatever’s happening in “their” time. On a soap, particularly a soap which is a genre of continuity, a genre where audiences spend YEARS with certain characters, the actors should know who they’re playing and what happened in their character’s past. I’m still reeling from Laura Wright not seeming to know that… Read more »
First, Roger mentioned Scotty as an example of using characters on the show as villains, not that specifically Scotty should have been one. Second, he was hired to be a completely different version of Franco than James Franco was. They obviously were trying to erase most of the traces of that character, so not sure why Roger should have studied James Franco’s performance. Plus James Franco’s character was a disgusting person, created for buzz, not for story. I think as horrible a person as Jim Harvey was, he did think he was doing something out of a perverted sense of… Read more »
Actually, if you reread the interview, Roger specifically said “I don’t know why the child abuse wasn’t from his actual father, Scott Baldwin, How cool would that have been?” There is no misinterpretation there. Second: I know who he was hired to play. I know who Franco was in James Franco’s version and I understand how they redeemed the character in order to keep Roger on the show. I am a huge fan of Roger’s and was thrilled that in the midst of a bad decision to cast him as Franco, they found a way to turn it around (although… Read more »
I did not say nor mean to imply that Harvey was misunderstood or anything but a horrible person. What I said was in his head he thought he was not a creep.
I
I agree with Tracy and with Rebecca1 as well. If not knowing history is the only way for these actors (and Roger is highly likable, no doubt) to navigate these scripts, that’s a red flag for this show.
Thank you for this interview. Personally I believe Roger plays better dark and not the goody, goody. He doesn’t sell good well at all. You see him light up when he is plays the darkness. I hope they let him go back to playing dark. No Friz wedding for me not a Friz fan at all.
“… He’s an original, respected by his peers, beloved by the fans of the soap opera genre, a Daytime Emmy winner, and can make any scene he is in intriguing and draw you into wanting to know what will happen next. We are talking about General Hospital’s Roger Howarth (Franco)” this is all very good and nice. TO A POINT . it’s a lot of “fluff” and “FOLD” I am once again throwing in the towel… on Roger Howarth’ Franco – AND – Michael Easton’ Finn. BOTH of them buoyed marqueed a star END they both once again… WERE stars… Read more »
I didnt know much about Roger coming to GH. I liked Todd. I was glad when James Franco and Franco died. THEN to resurrect him, WHY? So, I have always had a bad taste in my mouth for Roger’s Franco. BUT, him and Scotty are magic and him and Greg Evigan were the best! Now, as I read this interview, I see that this guy Roger LOVES what he does, respects his craft and lets the writers write and does his job! I admire that!
i have adored roger since his early days as teenage todd on oltl – no matter what character he plays he does not ever disappoint……………..very talented actor!!
Great interview! Roger has such an appealing way of speaking. He really draws you in. What a terrific actor and beautiful personality. Can’t wait to meet him in November. Totally stoked!
“…I think that’s part of the hook. Her perspective is something that I would hope would be written into the story ”
GEEZ – at least we may be seeing a glimpse of Roger Howarth “championing” Rebecca Herbst.. HIS only reason for existing on this dire show. ham any one
so much ^^^^ wordy went in to his discussion about his relationship or LACK OFF .. with either Jason or Drew. I mean really … with RH schmoozing hamming and “courting” the audience if you will.. is all that he’s doing. WHEN he helped Jason rescue Carly with his car… Jason basically dumped him off at the hospital… where Franco tried to offer his presence… she said nothing and they drove off !!!!! I was so floored and livid that this is what is going to continually happen… WHY would the writers extend any emotionally bonding with Jason ??? or… Read more »
Loved this interview. Roger Howarth is so talented and so much fun to watch. So happy w the way Franco is written & I love his pairing w Elizabeth.
Roger is such a giving and intelligent actor. It’s no wonder why his cast mates speak so highly of him. He’s an actors actor. He’s unpredictable about how he’ll approaches a scene. But totally predictable that he will treat the scene and his acting partners with respect. Not many actors could have taken the character of Franco and not only humanized him but made him root worthy. The love story he and Becky Herbst are playing for us fans is unlike any other couple in daytime. My only complaint is we don’t get enough of him.
This interview is way too focused on storylines and fictional characters (in the big scheme of things, who cares?) than in what he THINKS and FEELS about the job. That would have been way more interesting than whether or not he believes Franco’s tumor could come back and make him behave badly.
I like the character Franco. He loves Elizabeth and the kids and wants them to be his family. Roger howart portrail of Franco for me is very good. I think it was a very good idea to bring up Franco’s childhood abuse because abuse of young boys is often forgotten in the media. GH has to be very careful about political correctness because if taken too far would destroy the essence of GH altogether. I’m not big on homosexuality and there has been more time given to those characters than usual.Keep as much normality in the show as possible please… Read more »
Roger, Becky, Billy, Jon, and Greg. Were great in these scenes. Especially Roger. The man is brilliant when it come to delivering dialogue. They don’t come any better than him.
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