In July 2024, General Hospital star Maurice Benard had a mental health emergency that forced him to stay away from the GH sets. As a result, the unparalleled star of the soap could not film his character, Sonny Corinthis, for two long weeks. Maurice admitted that the 2-week stretch was a really dark time for him.
It all started when his wife and son left him alone at home and headed for a trip to Europe. He admitted that his mental health saw a steep decline during that period. Maurice filmed an episode for his YouTube talk show, State of Mind, and in it he divulged that had he stayed away from filming General Hospital for another week, the ABC soap would have had to recast him.
“If I had to stay away another week. They would have to recast. And I’ll tell you right now, if they had to recast I’d have been in really bad shape,” Maurice stated. After his revelation, many fans and online portals started speculating that GH exec Frank Valentini had threatened to recast Sonny if Maurice didn’t resume filming.
However, in a recent Instagram post, Maurice Benard clarified that the speculations weren’t true at all. He asserted that GH’s executive producer, Frank Valentini did not put any pressure on him to return or threaten him with a recast. Furthermore, the GH mainstay added, ” I can’t tell you how generous and great, and amazing Frank Valentini was during that period.”
Maurice clarified that “it kind of seemed that some people thought that he was threatening me in some kind of way to recast if I didn’t come back, and that wasn’t the case at all.” He went on to say that Frank is very generous and that he has known him for a long time, and he has always been like that.
Also Read: Here’s everything that’s coming up next on GH.
It is good to hear that Maurice Benard was treated with love and compassion by the production of the soap he has given so many decades of his life. Anything contrasting to that would have been absolutely heartbreaking. Stay tuned to Soap Opera Daily for more General Hospital spoilers. Also, bear in mind that the filming stretch that Maurice missed is up for airing soon, so fans may see a little less of Sonny in the upcoming episodes.
How does the entertainment industry need to improve its support and treatment of actors facing mental health challenges in order to prevent similar incidents in the future?”,
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Really scary my mom has dementia and I really don’t know what it would have done to her if Sonny wasn’t on as it is when Sonny would dance on his tic toc mom would Dance please be ok Maurice the world loves you
Although is devastating to hear that Gh and us fans are loosing one of the most talented and biggest main stays on the show. it ultimately is Maurice needs to do what is the best thing for his health. I have been watching GH since I was 11 years old and i am now 72. I saw the very first episode when it came on the air. I used to do my homework sitting in front of the tv. I can honestly say that there has been a stronger presence on GH. I was hoping that Sonny would be there for ever.
Did Bernard have an issue like that when playing opposite Charles Mesure and Mesure was hurt? Just wondering.