General Hospital
GH's Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo on Sonny/Brenda wedding, Dante & contract renewal!
Courtesy/ABC
Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo (Brenda Barrett) has a very frank and direct conversation with TV Guide’s Michael Logan in a brand new interview out this week centering on the upcoming wedding that kicks off this week of General Hospital’s Sonny and Brenda. And while Vanessa gives insight into the wedding itself and previews the aftermath, she also fielded questions about if she might renew her contract, (since she only signed on to GH for one year), and her thoughts on where Brenda’s relationship could go with Dante played by Dominic Zamprogna. However, Vanessa admits it is her admiration and desire to work with Maurice Benard (Sonny) that compels the actress to enjoy her current storyline. Here are a few excerpts below:
Vanessa on if she will renew her contract, and if so, doesn’t she need to let the series know soon: It’s always going to be about scheduling and family for me. It’s no secret I came back to GH to work with Maurice, not only to honor my roots but to honor him specifically. When I was the new kid on the show, he took me under his wing. He really saved me. The week we shot the wedding was the best week ever because I was in scenes with him all day long, every day. Working opposite him is like listening to music — it’s beautiful and emotional and surprising and nostalgic and I feel all that at completely spontaneous levels. This is literally the most fun I’ve ever had acting. Right now my happiness is at its peak, if that answers your question.
Vanessa on the sparks between Brenda and Dante, and if she feels there is potential for a relationship between them: I was very much playing that because [GH head writer Bob Guza] wanted to make sure that [the possibility of attraction] was established and intact. Of course, at that point Brenda and Dante didn’t know they had this crazy connection, but I do like the serendipity of it all. I think Brenda was drawn to Dante because he’s basically a younger version of Sonny, who is the love of her life. There’s something kind of pure about it. [Laughs] Even though in theory it’s a little alarming. I can guarantee nothing like that will ever happen (referring to relationship with Dante) now that Brenda knows he’s Sonny’s son. Never! Now we’re getting into Jerry Springer territory.
It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since Van Hansis made his debut as the recast Lucas Jones on General Hospital. It was back on October 4, 2023 that GH fans got their first look at the former As the World Turns (ex-Luke Snyder) favorite in his new soap role.
Hansis became the fifth actor to play the role of the adoptive son of the late Bobbie Spencer and Tony Jones, and the biological son of the late Julian Jerome and Cheryl Stansbury. Prior to Van, C.J. Thomason (2002–2003), Ben Hogestyn (2005–2006) Ryan Carnes (2004–2005, 2014–2020, 2024) and Matt Trudeau (2020–2021) had played the part.
When Van left daytime after As the World Turns sadly went off the air in 2010, it would be 14 years until he stepped back into the updated frenetic pace and grind of acting on a daily soap opera.
Photo: ABC
LUCAS CAME HOME TO PORT CHARLES
Since Lucas has been back in Port Charles, he fell in love with the late Marco Rios (Adrian Anchondo) who was murdered, moved into a new apartment with his current roommate (soon to be love interest?) Joe Fitzpatrick as played by Jonathan Bennett, has become best buds with the “Britch” Dr. Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud), and has found himself involved in multiple other storylines. However, now that Van is firmly implanted on GH, might Lucas get a leading storyline of his own? Stay tuned.
In the meantime, to acknowledge his two-year anniversary at General Hospital, Hansis shared via his Instagram a photo montage and some heartfelt “thank you’s’ and words. “Two years ago yesterday, Lucas Jones came home to Port Charles looking a little different. Looking exactly like me.” began Hansis.
“When I took on the role, I was told it would be a heavy recurring for a few months and then we’d see where it goes – being based in NYC at the time, I thought it would be a fun little gig that would bring me back to my old stomping grounds of daytime for a bit.”
Photo: ABC
GENERAL HOSPITAL HAS BEEN LIFE-CHANGING FOR VAN HANSIS
Next, the longtime New York-based actor confirmed he has now moved to Los Angeles as this new chapter of his life has unfolded, and how grateful he is that the show’s writers and producers have continually given more for Lucas to do.
Van explained, “But then they kept writing for me more and I fell in love with Lucas, and everyone around him (in front of and behind the camera). I wanted to stay a while and am so grateful I have. Being a part of GH these last two years has been life changing. Literally. My family and I are Angelenos now, I’ve made incredible new friendships and have been able to revisit old ones.”
The three-time Daytime Emmy-nominated actor concluded with, “Thank you Frank (Valentini, executive producer, GH), thank you Mark (Teschner, casting director, GH), for inviting me to the party. You throw a great one. ”
So, happy to know Van is sticking around General Hospital for some time to come? What has been your favorite Lucas Jones moment over the first two years of Van’s run? Let us know via the comment section below.
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Breaking News
Robert Kelker-Kelly, ‘General Hospital,’ ‘Days of our Lives’ and ‘Another World’ Star Dies at 62
Robert Kelker-Kelly, who became prominent as a one of the leading men in soap operas back in the late 80s and 90s has died at the age of 62. TMZ first reported the news of Robert’s passing on Saturday, October 3 at his home in St. Peters, Missouri.
According to the St. Peters police report, officers responded to call at around 8:16 pm about an unconscious man who was not breathing, as paramedics and other EMS were en route, Kelker-Kelly had reportedly complained of chest pain shortly before becoming unresponsive and the circumstances appeared consistent with a medical event.
Officers and paramedics administered life-saving measures, but were unsuccessful in reviving Kelker-Kelly. The cause of his death is still unknown and under investigation.
Photo: NBC
Daytime fans first saw Robert back in 1987 when he was cast as Sam Fowler on Another World. He played the role for three year suntil 1990. Two years later, he took over the role of Bo Brady on Days of our Lives replacing Peter Reckell, who at that time decided to leave the show.
As Bo, Kelker-Kelly was major in story playing opposite the likes of: Crystal Chappell as Dr. Carly Manning, Kristian Alfonso as Hope Williams and Lisa Rinna as Billie Reed. When Peter Reckell returned to his signature role in 1995, Kelker-Kelly left the show.
Next, Robert returned to his original stomping grounds at Another World but this time as race car driver, Bobby Reno who was actually Dr. Shane Roberts. His second AW stint lasted from 1996-1998.
Photo: ABC
Eventually, the actor would begin his run as the evil Stavros Cassadine on General Hospital in 2001, then make returns in 2002 and 2003. In 2013, he briefly returned as Stavros as part of the show’s 50th anniversary celebration, and made one last appearance in 2014.
Robert has also became a professional pilot full from 2003 to 2015 and had been married to former Days of our Lives star, Miriam Parrish (ex-Jamie Caldwell) from 1997-2011, but the couple divorced in 2011. Since that time, he has not remarried.
Recently, Robert was back in the news when Lisa Rinna talked about her time working with her former Days of our Lives co-star in her recently released memoir, You Better Believe I’m Gonna Talk About It.
Rinna shared on her then on-screen love interest, “Behind the scenes, we hated each other. Remember when Kathy Hilton said I was the biggest bully in Hollywood? Not true. Not even close! I have legit stories about the real bullies in this town. Robert Kelker-Kelly is one of those bullies.”
The former Billie Reed and reality star even punctuated that with, “He made my life a living hell on the set of DAYS, He was horrible to me, I’d go so far as to say verbally abusive. He was passive-aggressive, manipulative and played weird mind games.”
Michael Fairman TV will provide further updates as they become available on the death of Robert Kelker-Kelly.
Now, share your remembrances and condolences on the loss of Robert Kelker-Kelly via the comment section below and let us know of all his daytime roles, which was your favorite.
General Hospital
GENERAL HOSPITAL Preview: Everyone Turns Their Backs on Sonny; Can Anyone Get Chase to Open His Eyes About Willow’s Treachery?
This week on all-new episodes of General Hospital, the ABC soap opera picks right back up with everyone turning their backs on Sonny (Maurice Benard), and now the one person he hoped would be by his side appears to be abandoning ship when Justine (Nazneen Contractor) doesn’t believe him about ordering the beatdown of Sidwell (Carlo Rota) in the latest spoilers video.
Sonny screams at Justine, “Someone is setting me up.” She says, “It’s over!” He proclaims, “I didn’t do it!” Little do they know that it was actually Ava (Maura West) and Drew (Cameron Mathison) who set Sonny up to take the fall for the Pentonville drama that left Curtis (Donnell Turner) with injuries as well.
Then, Lulu (Alexa Havins) is seen using her voice memo app on her phone to record her discussion with Sidwell while he is recovering from his injuries at the hospital. This moment is intercut with Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) saying, “I wish there was someone who could get Chase (Josh Swickard) to open his eyes about who Willow truly is!”
Next, Willow is seen happily waving while at a table at a Metro Court Gardens, while Chase, Michael (Rory Gibson), Brook Lynn and Ava (Maura West) all receive text messages. Tracy (Jane Elliot) punctuates the promo stating, “That’s the real Willow,” while the words “The world knows” comes across the screen.
Take a look at the official GH spoilers for the week of October 5-9 below.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5
Sonny challenges Justine. Josslyn takes matters into her own hands. Britt and Willow discuss matters of the heart. Jason is taken to task. Serena finds herself in a bind.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6
Felicia has welcome news for Anna. Brook Lynn confides in Valentin. Hudson tries to talk Josslyn down. Lulu makes a daring play. Willow and Chase discuss his marriage.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7
Carly asks Anna for a favor. Tracy bites her tongue with Gio. Drew and Alexis go at it. Scout tries to broker peace between Danny and Rocco. Lulu pursues a lead.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8
Carly supports Sonny. Lulu’s latest article makes waves. Ava pitches a new target to Drew. Curtis gets a shock. Chase throws down the gauntlet.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9
Britt offers a lifeline. Anna offers her expertise. Sonny reassures Gio. Portia makes her loyalties clear. Dante’s investigation hits a roadblock.
Check out the latest General Hospital promo for the action this week entitled, “The World Knows” below.
Now weigh-in: With everyone disbelieving Sonny, what will be his next move? Will he hit rock bottom, or rise up and fight back and prove his innocence? Will Sonny enlist Jason to get to the bottom of this, even though Jason is out of Sonny’s business? Meanwhile, can this truly be the week that Willow is exposed for her multitude of crimes … or is this all a red herring? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below.
Van Hansis Marks Two Years as ‘General Hospital’s’ Dr. Lucas Jones
Robert Kelker-Kelly, ‘General Hospital,’ ‘Days of our Lives’ and ‘Another World’ Star Dies at 62
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Sounds to me like she’s sticking around.
Kill me now, ugh!!!, please do not resign.
Vanessa, please leave and don’t come back.
Maybe u shouldn’t watch the show, Brenda and Sonny are the show
Agreed Kemp should watch something else, although he/she will probably get their wish b/c Guza sucks. Half my friends began to watch GH again when Brenda came back and the other half laugh at me for even watching what GH has become. For those who will now tell me to watch something else, I will once VMG leaves. Can’t watch Sonny with anyone else now; Clair and he were gross!!
Please keep Vanessa! Please get rid of that whiny little hipocrite Elizabeth!
lol, I love how “please do not resign” can have two entirely different meanings depending on context/pronunciation. I know you don’t want her back, but I can read that and feel like I agree even though I am hoping for the opposite outcome. I hope she doesn’t resign/quit! *^^;*
There are a LOT of things I am unhappy with that they’ve done to make the fans hate her; it’s gotten so bad I almost can’t enjoy having her around cause I just see everything she does that is going to make people rant about her on any given day, but I still absolutely love her on the show. I really don’t think she will stay, there is too much chaos between budget cuts and choppy story writing, but I hope she can come back again and maybe be less hated by then.
“lol, I love how “please do not resign” can have two entirely different meanings depending on context/pronunciation” — LOL!!! I didn’t even notice that person said “ugh”, then they say…”Please do not resign”..LOL!! Good observation on your part. Funny:-)
Brenda/Vanessa dont let them with thier negative comments bother you please resign you are a great actress and Brenda is Gh history she is the past present and future and I love my Carly and brenda cat fights now we need claudia to come back from the dead and that would be a sight to see LOL so I hope you decide to stay around for awhile because it would be sad to see you go so soon. A year is not long enough when things are just getting started.
You know what?? I’m SICK AND TIRED of all you newbies who’s been watching the show for 5 years or so, thinking you actually know something about the characters from the past. If you newbies and haters have done your homework before making a judgement about Brenda, you’d know that her character has changed a great deal…but there is no way a lot of people (like myself) could hate her because of how much history she’s brought to the show.
The girl isn’t even all that bad… at least she’s tolerable compared to the likes of Carly who I CAN’T STAND!
It’s an absolute SHAME that Headwriter Bob Guza has changed Brenda for the WORSE (to many people)…They (GH) have tried SOOOOOO hard to make people hate Brenda it’s sickening. They have written her character TOTALLY off the wall it’s a shame. I still love Brenda though and am PRAYING that she re-signs.
Anitra, I couldn’t have said it any better myself! It’s always obvious as to who the newbies are… They sound like idiots… They don’t know anything about Brenda’s character or Sonny and Brenda’s history… I have been a fan of GH since 1994, and have ALWAYS been a fan of Sonny and Brenda! The writing now is pathetic and if it weren’t for VM’s return, I wouldn’t even be watching today.
I say to the newbies… You don’t know what you are talking about.
Thank you. Your reply is appreciated.
I’ve been watching all my life.. so I guess you can say, from the early 80’s and on (was born in 79′).
I see that newbies don’t really care about how a character was portrayed from back in the day. They just see what’s on the TV screen now, and assume that THAT is how that character has ALWAYS been. They see Sonny & Brenda’s relationship as boring and they want to see more JASAM (Jason & Sam) or LANTE (Lulu & Dante). HAHA! I just learned that that’s how everyone is phrasing their couples.. Anyway.. I’ve stopped watching for probably 6 years..well, after GH tried to forcefeed the audience Sonny and Carly, I left all together…then came back when VM came back in 02. I left in 03’…I left right along with her. I started watching again this past august to see what GH was up to. I didn’t even know that she was going to come back during that month. I think I came back watching RIGHT after they had a Brenda Marathon on the Soapnet Channel.. I was upset that I missed those episodes.
After S&B’s wedding… I want an S&B baby..lol! What’s one more child for Sonny? LOL! If Sonny even THINKS about cheating on her with Cujo (Carly)?????? OMG! GH lost me FOREVER! I tell you though… after VM leaves…I’m leaving also.
Thanks, Vanessa, for coming back. Ignore the negativity. You are my favorite character of all time
If GH is keeping Rebecca Herbst on the show as Elizabeth, then her character needs to change. Elizabeth needs to toughin up as a single mother and go after what she wants like a real single mother does. I’m sure people are tired of looking at the simple character she is. Make Elizabeth a tougher person. Make her get child support from Nicholas or Lucky and get rid of Brooklyn. She is an unnecessary character on the show and sounds like fake ass Bensonhurst native New Yorker.
Bring back Keesha Ward so she can snap Jason out his robot phase. It’s been too long!. I’m tired of seeing her run behind Jason. Sam needs some real self esteem and live a normal life for a change. Her needy ass is getting ridiculous!
I hope Sonny and Brenda work out this time so that Sonny can retire from the MOB.
Let someone else take his place in that violent lifestyle. As for Carley, she needs her ass kick and will get exactly what she deserves. Jacks and Sky should get back together and get married. The two make a nice couple. Mack and Alexis needs to stop playing games and get it on. Michael and Abby would be good together and it’s time for Morgan to get a girlfriend. He’s getting older or GH might make him gay. It would be interesting to see Donte with a black woman like Maya. That shit would be while for the show. It’s been a minute since Jason Q. and Keesha Ward in the 90s. Ha! ha!
If Maurice leaves …I leave . HE is the life of General Hospital..His vulnerability makes me wanna cry…His love for Vanessa comes through,,,,,when they were younger ..Maurice had all the right moves..I would have welcomed him into my life( mob & all) He is still super sexy..the way he dances with VM is so charming, sweet .loving and remains central too his core .. When he wants someone …you see him and it is incredibly mind boggling how this man is not on the best movie list.. I am and will always credit him with saving me through my depression….I feel like i know what he goes through in his real life. I wish him…the best…because ..he is a lovely, gracious…eloquent man with dimples to die for and a empathy for his audience…LVE YOU Maurice and Thank YOU…for being my PRINCE of ABC..may God bless you. You have helped so many people! caroline from Massachusetts
Brenda needs to stay. For all of you saying that she has to leave obviously haven’t been watching the show long enough to know that the show is finally good. I watched it when Brenda started and stopped once she left because it was so awful. Now I am finally hooked on it again, so stop being negative and writing these ridiculous comments. She needs to stick around.
Agree completely; I only came back for her after sooo many years. With these “official” comments of her leaving I feel very disappointed. Yes they gave us an S&B wedding but there is so much more the fans deserve for the couple. If she was only coming for a year I wish it would have been the year before Maurice retired so they could leave together or at least given us more time and story. I got so excited with her return and now am really let down if she leaves. No story line will change that feeling for me 🙁
like almost everyone on here, i’m watching GH now only because of vanessa marcil giovinazzo. there’s just something about her. she acts with her eyes and allows us all to really access her character and feel everything she feels. maurice was a fine actor, and prolly still is. however, he’s had more or less 1 role his whole life and he’s bored as all hell. i’ll always love sonny out of respect for history, but maurice’s acting has become indifferent and one-dimensional. vanessa, on the other hand, gets better and better over time. but she’s in a tough position with guza writing, jill phelps producing and maurice as a formerly-awesome but currently indifferent co-star. i admit since the wedding maurice is getting better — and when i say better i mean he’s getting his mojo back that i haven’t seen since vanessa was last on GH. finally vanessa and maurice are getting to access their mad chemistry. we need guza to up the ante and start writing powerful scenes. we need vanessa to RENEW HER CONTRACT and maurice to step up to the acting plate and also influence storyline development. fans have waited many, many years. we deserve it!