EXCLUSIVE! William deVry On How And Why He’s Back With GH

Soap fans are breathing a big ol’ sigh of relief knowing that Julian Jerome is staying in Port Charles. What got General Hospital (GH) and Julian’s alter-ego William deVry on the same page? Soap Hub has the exclusive details!

deVry tells Soap Hub that last Monday he took a secret meeting with Frank Valentini, executive producer, to make sure everyone was on the same page regarding Julian’s future.

Being Re-Admitted To GH
“My timeline is a little fuzzy,” deVry says, “but after GH Fan Club Weekend was over, I went to see Frank at the studio. I didn’t bring my truck so maybe nobody knew I was there.

“I went straight to the stage where he was on a 15-minute break. We shook hands and he asked, ‘What are you doing here?’ I said, ‘I wanted to make sure everyone knew I wanted to be back.’ Then, we went to his office and had a talk.

“I’m happy to share that both parties felt like it was a good idea to have Julian back,” the Emmy-nominated actor says with a smile.

While deVry has full confidence in his reps and the fine folks at ABC, all of whom were involved in the final negotiations, he felt it was important to meet with Valentini one-on-one.

“I think the personal touch with these types of things has gotten lost these days,” deVry muses. “I wanted to make sure that whatever was going to go down was because of my decisions. I didn’t want to look back and say, ‘I shouldn’t have listened to anyone else.'”

Timetable
deVry, who taped his most recent episode on June 30, can’t say when Julian’s back but a reliable source tells Soap Hub that he’ll be returning to the studio for taping in October and will definitely be seen on-air before the Christmas holiday.

(Most likely, it’ll be even earlier; hey, wouldn’t you make sure a fan favorite like deVry is onscreen during the crucial November sweeps?)

Reuniting “Julexis”
Now that deVry’s staying on, the hard part — for the writers — begins. The Julian and Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) pairing is extremely popular but Alexis’s integrity is at stake if she reunites with a man who tried to kill her.

The actor is confident that Valentini and head writers Shelly Altman and Chris Van Etten are capable of coming up with the right story to satisfy the Julexis fanbase.

“Frank has a vision [for Julexis’ future] that I liked and everyone’s on board,” says deVry, hinting that how the writers handle Julian’s past and move him into the future will be “iconic…this will be something we can all look forward to.”

General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC. Share your thoughts, leave a comment in the section below. Win exclusive member-only GH spoilers, prizes, and more: sign up here! Also, join the conversation on our Facebook page.