Maurice Benard Shares Endearing Name for His General Hospital Storyline

Sonny’s life has never been the same since he fell off a bridge on General Hospital at Christmas time last year. For starters, Maurice Benard’s not really playing “Sonny” anymore but rather “Mike,” the name he’s taken on as an amnesiac living in Nixon Falls.

Maurice Benard — Having Fun

Mike has befriended Nina (Cynthia Watros), who tried to tell Carly (Laura Wright) back in Port Charles that Sonny was alive, but that didn’t work out. Mike has new friends in Phyllis Caulfield (Joyce Guy) and her husband Lenny (Rif Hutton), and an adversary in Elijah Crowe (Dan White).

Time will tell if and when Mike regains his memory, returns to Port Charles, and/or is reunited with Carly, Jason (Steve Burton), and other loved ones. In the meantime, Benard is opening up about how he really feels about this storyline and sets the record straight as to why he’s not in Port Charles.

One GH viewer, Queen Dassit on Twitter, theorized Benard is shooting all his scenes in Nixon Falls because he’s actually away from the show taping another project. “First of all I haven’t left,” Benard clarifies. “I do have a [another] job but that’s not till later.”

Benard says he’s actually having a lot of fun in what he endearingly calls the “Hee Haw” storyline. “The actors I’m working with are amazing,” the two-time Daytime Emmy-winner says. “I miss Sonny as much as you do. That’s all I know.”

Queen Dassit was touched that Maurice Benard responded to her tweet. “The actors in the hee haw SL [storyline] are PHENOMENAL, I can’t wait to see Phyllis’ reaction to the truth.” Benard responded: “Yeah all the actors are great to work with.” The actor notes that he really likes his chemistry with Watros. “[S]he makes it easy to come to work.” General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes.