GH Star Maurice Benard Shares How Mike Will Affect Sonny and Ava

There’s a lot of bad blood between Sonny and Ava on General Hospital. However, Sonny’s portrayer, Maurice Benard, points out that Avery’s mother may be getting a break thanks to the time Sonny spent in Nixon Falls as an amnesiac named Mike.

Maurice Benard Ponders Sonny and Ava’s Dynamic

During a recent GH Fantasy Event with Maurice Benard, a fan asked the two-time Daytime Emmy-winner if Sonny tapping into a softer side as Mike might somehow benefit Maura West’s Ava. The two are often at odds given their tumultuous history but Sonny learned how to handle things in a different way as Mike. Might he treat Ava more compassionately as a result?

“That’s an interesting question,” Benard responded. “When I first did my scenes with Maura [after coming back as Sonny], I thought of that. [I] was a little softer with her….” The actor says that he marvels at just how intense the Sonny/Ava dynamic can be.

Sonny And Ava’s Passionate Past

Sonny has many reasons to resent the art gallery owner. Ava manipulated the “coffee exporter” into shooting A.J. Quartermaine (Sean Kanan) and then, the two had angry “hate sex” in the Quartermaine Crypt, and Ava not only was intimate with Sonny’s son Morgan (Bryan Craig), but she switched out his meds, leading to his presumed death.

Maurice Benard maintains that it’s possible his time as Mike may have an impact on Sonny but he doesn’t think that Sonny and Ava should lose their particular and intense dynamic, which is fairly unique on daytime.

“I’ve said to Maura, ‘Have you ever seen a lead character treat a woman [on-screen] the way that Sonny treats Ava?'” At the end of the day, however, Benard maintains, “somehow it works! It reminds me of Marlon Brando in movies he did…With Maura [and me], it just works. I’ve never had anyone say that [Sonny’s treatment of Ava] is abusive. That’s our relationship. I don’t want to lose that.”

Hope For The Future

Having said all this, Benard believes that there may be some change. “I can be a little softer in that area,” muses Maurice Benard, speaking in character. Sonny and Ava will always be tied together because of Avery so there are likely many opportunities for Sonny and Ava’s relationship to evolve.

For more information on future GH Fantasy Events, click here. General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Port Charles, check out all the latest that’s been posted on GH spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.