General Hospital’s Emmy-winning star, Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) welcomes another Emmy-winning actor, Tyler Christopher (Ex-Nikolas, GH and ex-Stefan, DAYS), on the latest episode of his You Tube series, State of Mind.  The emotional and revealing interview will stream beginning tomorrow on Sunday, March 27th (10am PT) here.

As daytime fans know, Tyler, who previously struggled with alcohol, and had to exit both soaps he appeared on, faced numerous other hardships and challenges on his journey to reclaim his life. Now, he opens up for the first time anywhere with his former GH castmate.  The conversation promises to be enlightening and heartbreaking, but through it all, Tyler will share his experiences of what he has endured and how he has come out the other side of it.

Michael Fairman TV chatted with Maurice Benard to preview his State of Mind discussion with Tyler, and later to get some insights on all the drama facing Sonny Corinthos on General Hospital, as the mobster’s romantic life has caused seismic cracks in his relationships with his family in Port Charles, as the ABC drama series nears its 59th anniversary on April 1st.

Will Sonny and Nina Reeves (Cynthia Watros) be able to sustain the relationship they seem to be embarking on? Will Sonny and Carly (Laura Wright) somehow find a way back to each other? During our chat, Maurice reveals how he played some of the key scenes in the arc of the story thus far, that has now been front and center for more than a year on the ABC daytime drama series, and teases what might be to come.  Check out what Maurice had to say about it all below.

Photo: MBIG

For your latest episode of State of Mind, did you reach out to Tyler to be a guest?  How did it all come to pass?

MAURICE:  I hadn’t seen Tyler, but I’d been kind of texting him. I asked if he wanted to come on State of Mind, or if he was ready to come on, and he said “yes.”  I told him what I tell everybody when we tape, which is, “Whatever you don’t want, I cut out, or if you want to stop, we stop.”  In the many interviews, I’ve done on State of Mind, no one has ever stopped, and only one person has ever asked me to cut something out.

Was Tyler mostly an open book for you during your conversation?

MAURICE:  Tyler came in for the taping and I could see he was a little nervous, but he sat down, we talked a little bit, and I said, “You ready, buddy?”  He said, “Ask away.  Anything you want.”  One of the first things that I said to him, which was a fact: “You know, Tyler, in 58 years on General Hospital, there have only been three actors who have won Best Actor Emmys, and you’re one of them.”  I knew that would start the conversation up.  I was so proud of him.  I knew that it was a little scary for him, but he did it.  I think what made it more comfortable for him is that we are friends, we love each other, and that I’m not here with any interview to exploit anybody. I’m just here to hear people’s stories.

So, when people watch this episode, obviously he talks about his struggles with alcohol, being let-go from his roles on the soaps, etc?

MAURICE:  He talks about everything in it. We talked about his childhood up until now. Yes, I brought up his exit from GH and Days. It needed to be brought up.  He also brought up being homeless.

Courtesy/MBStateofMind

How was it for you conducting the interview with Tyler? Was it very emotional for you, as well?

MAURICE:  This was even more emotional for me, because I needed it to be good for him.  I didn’t want to mess it up for him in anyway. Tyler’s bipolar, so we’re brothers in that way.

Tyler, in my opinion, is one of the finest actors ever to be on daytime. Would you agree?

MAURICE:  Oh, yeah.  He can deliver the goods, and he’s got intensity, plus he’s been through a lot in his life.  I will say this, if you’re a fan of Tyler’s you’re going to be very happy with this episode of State of Mind.

Tyler is trying to get back his career back on track and we are all looking forward to seeing him again.

MAURICE:  I just talked with him the other day and he sounded great.  I just love to hear him sound good.  It makes me feel great.  I know he’s got a few independent films he’s working on too.

Courtesy: StateofMind

You feel your series is like your baby, right?  You want to keep taking this to the next level?

MAURICE:  Yes, it really feels like a child, and I’ve seen it grow. You want it to do well in all aspects, but it’s like my editor, Melissa keeps saying to me, “Just do what you’re doing because you’re helping people,” and that is the through line.

So, obviously this interview with Tyler will be a must-see,  Are there any other episodes of State of Mind that you also think can’t be missed?

MAURICE: The J.R. Martinez episode, which is right now on State of Mind, when I saw it again, I just felt like, I’m never going to complain about anything again, ever.  To see him visualize what he went through, it’s really moving.  I’m thinking also in terms of the look of it and everything, it’s as good as I’ve done so far.  It’s one of my best.

Let’s talk General Hospital. What do you think of the break-up of Sonny and Carly’s marriage? You can’t have a happy marriage for years and years on a soap, although Sonny and Carly had a good run this time!

MAURICE:  You know what? Sonny and Carly were together as long as I’ve seen anyone.  Luke and Laura, they broke up.  Sonny and Brenda only lasted two years. We lasted (and it may not be over yet) … but it was a long run and that doesn’t happen often.

What do you think of Sonny’s drinking, through? Is this going to be a recurring problem for him? 

MAURICE:  Well, Nina gets him to stop drinking, and I don’t want it to be like Nina is only with him to take care of the damaged guy. It’s good for acting to be able to play that stuff, but we’ve got to move forward now, and it does.  That’s the beauty of GH now, whenever I’m thinking something, it seems like they’re doing it.

Photo: ABC

Do you see Nina and Sonny as an enduring viable couple?

MAURICE:  I do, and I didn’t when we first started working together.  I told Cynthia, “This isn’t going to work well, and I’m playing this cowboy, but let’s have fun!  Let’s do it!” and that’s how it started.  The beauty of it was that we had nine months to build the relationship, and we weren’t trying.  We were on our own island over there in Nixon Falls, and it just progressed. With Cynthia, she has the vulnerability to sell the storyline, and if she didn’t have vulnerability, it wouldn’t work. I love Cynthia as an actress. We just have a kind of easiness in our scenes.

Photo: ABC

Well, that’s the thing, because once Nina kept Sonny away from Carly and his family, it was like, “How on earth do we root for this woman?” Many viewers are like, “I can’t believe Sonny’s not coming down harder on her and getting Nina out of his life!”

MAURICE: The fans came down on me because Sonny didn’t punish Nina, but when I did those scenes in the graveyard with her, when I first was Sonny again, I went off on her!  In my mind, I wasn’t holding back at all.  Now, if there is pain that comes out in that moment, it came out as Mike because, let’s not forget, he was, or is, in love with her. That doesn’t just go away, but I said in my mind, “I’m going off on her in these scenes!” Look, Sonny is a violent guy, but he always doesn’t want to be.  If he was just a violent guy and wanted to be, it wouldn’t work. I will say this, you will see, in the coming weeks, Sonny comes back, and I love playing it.  He does some harsh stuff.  I had scenes with Ms. Woo (Lydia Lock) that aired this week, and you could see a difference there. They changed my wardrobe, so I’m dressing more like when I first started on the show with a sport jacket and a sweater underneath, and I like that.  I just knew that I had to start changing him, and what’s beautiful is that the writing has done at the same time. For anybody who wants the old Sonny, they’re definitely going to get that… with a little Mike sprinkled in there.  I think with Nina (and this is not from me knowing anything, it’s assuming), it may be more like Sonny’s relationship with Brenda, where she doesn’t know anything about his business or the mob dealings, and he doesn’t tell her.

Courtesy/ABC

How does Sonny truly feel about Carly and Jason getting married and walking in on them in his bedroom? It seemed like, he just went, “Hey, I’m here.”  Now, Sonny threw Jason up in Carly’s face during their fight on the Haunted Star. Was Sonny jealous of Jason, and did he realize that he walked in on them about to have sex?

MAURICE:  Yeah, I played it like I did know, but I was going to act like I didn’t want to know.

That’s such a smart choice because Sonny seems awfully upset about it now.

MAURICE:  My wife and I had an argument about this.  She said, “Honey, with these guys, gangsters, there’s a code.  If you die, your best friend doesn’t marry your wife.”  I said, “Honey, if these guys are that way, they’d rather you marry a stranger because the best friend doesn’t go near the wife.”  So, Sonny walks in, and they’re there, and he knew they looked kind of weird, but he doesn’t want to go there because he’d just come back from Nixon Falls. There’s nothing he can do about it. It’s nine months later, your wife marries your best friend. In his head, Sonny could be thinking, “Were they always in love?” Now, originally Sonny doesn’t touch Nina, but he has feelings for her.  So, Jason’s with Carly, Jason dies, there’s a lot going on, and Carly asks Sonny if he has feelings for Nina.  Now, he wasn’t going to lie.  That wouldn’t be cool.  He said he kind of does, but they could work through it.  Now when Sonny and Nina get together and he cheats on Carly that was bad on Sonny’s part.  I’ll take the hit for Sonny sleeping with another woman if it brings great scenes, and everybody gets to kick some butt.

Photo: ABC

Sonny and Carly really went at each other on the Haunted Star in that knock-out drag-out argument over the state of their marriage, and people could see both sides of the story from the characters perspective.

MAURICE:  What people don’t want to bring up is that Sonny begged for like two months to Carly to take him back and make it work.  Sonny thought Carly was worth it for him to beg that long, so that once she caught him with Nina, I just said, “I’m just going to play it like, let it go.”  So, that’s what was cool about those scenes.

Photo: ABC

GH is revving up the divide between Sonny and his son, Michael (Chad Duell).  It clearly looks like lines are drawn and Michael is standing up to Sonny for hurting Carly and standing by Nina. Will this play out for some time to come?

MAURICE:  Yes, I just hope that they find ways to do it differently because you can’t have the same fight over and over.  However, I’m watching Chad like, “Woo… okay!  What kind of vitamins is he taking?” (Laughs) There’s more at stake now.  It’s a challenge, and I love it.  It’s up to me to make the right acting choices, but it’s very cool because they have Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), Brando (Johnny Wactor, and Nina on my side, and that’s something that I haven’t really seen.  It’s usually everybody against Sonny, right?  The Quartermaine’s, Jason, Carly… we could go down the line… when he killed Michael’s father, when Michael got shot in the head was in a coma… do you want me to keep going? Sonny is always at fault, and then everybody is upset at me.  At least now, Sonny has some people to talk to.  It makes it a little easier for him.

Photo: ABC

What do you think it is with Sonny/Carly that makes it work when you are in scenes with Laura Wright?

MAURICE:  I think that with Carly, the character is so explosive that it’s never going to be boring between her and Sonny.  Laura is so powerful and her acting is like fireworks, but with me, I’ll put her in her place, like she puts me in my place. With Laura, I always say, I’ve never had an argument, which is amazing.  I think what it is with how it is now is that we want to shake it up.  That’s it.  We just want to shake it up, take some chances so we can write different stories.  I love playing Sonny and Carly.  Their relationship holds some of the greatest moments I’ve done in the last 28 years.  Now, with the current story there is one thing I was to be clear on: connecting the dots.  This wasn’t just an overnight thing or a month’s story and then we’re in it.  This has been building for a long time.

Photo: ABC

What does Sonny think of Drew (Cameron Mathison) and Carly’s burgeoning attraction to one another?

MAURICE:  Oh, he’s not thrilled by Drew.  I like that.  I can’t wait to start playing jealous.

Courtesy/ABC

Is there hope for a Carly and Sonny reconciliation down the line? 

MAURICE:  It’s never how you start a story; it’s how you finish a story.  You want to start on a sound footing as far as writing it, but no one knows how it’s going to end.  I don’t even think the writers do.  They’re just enjoying writing the journey.  So, we don’t know.  Sonny and Carly’s history is so big.  It can be a bit scary in taking a chance in doing what they did by putting Sonny with Nina.

The point is, I think it’s important to explain that when you are excited about a story, it’s a new story, and as an actor, it’s exciting to play something different.  It’s no disrespect to what you have with Sonny/Carly as opposed to Sonny/Nina.

MAURICE:  Yes.  You’re accurate.

Even Laura has commented, at times, that she is a fan of Sonny/Nina.  If they pair Carly with Drew, it’s new and it’s different, and exciting potentially to the fans, as well.

Photo: ABC

MAURICE:  This is something that I would say, which is the truth, if all of a sudden Carly is with Drew or whoever, and then everybody loves Cameron and Laura together.  It’s like, everybody loves the honeymoon.  Now, my honeymoon is different because Sonny did something that wasn’t good by cheating.  I always see this in the soaps…. everybody loves the new pairing when it starts.  How you judge is it after the honeymoon, right?    Right now, we can get exciting story for the next, who knows how long, and that’s always a plus for the show.

So, are you looking forward to watching Tyler’s interview with Maurice? How do you want to see the on-screen duos play out out on General Hospital? Are you rooting for Sonny/Nina? Sonny/Carly? Carly/Drew? Share your thoughts in the comment section, but first check out this preview for Sunday’s ‘State of Mind’ with Tyler.