If you’ve ever wondered how your favorite Port Charles alum gets hired, it was most likely thanks to General Hospital’s casting director, Mark Teschner, who recently revealed some behind-the-scenes secrets of his beloved hires.
Eye on the Prize
During a recent interview with ABC 7 Eyewitness News in Chicago, Teschner was celebrated for over 35 years of casting on GH. “It’s an honor. I mean, I’m very fortunate I have a job that I love, that still excites me after 35 years.”
Teschner joined GH in 1989 and revealed who his very first hire was. “The first series regular I cast on General Hospital was Anders Hove, who played Caesar Faison.” Hove went on to play Faison off and on from 1990-2018, becoming one of Port Charles’ most notorious villains. “And ironically, he was the first actor to actually audition for the role, out of hundreds.”
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When the interviewers noted Teschner’s eye for actors, he responded, “It’s a combination of seeing talent, seeing potential, seeing unique; is this an actor that the audience is going to want to watch three years, four, five.”
The Greats
Teschner noted another megastar he originally cast on GH. “I remember Vanessa Marcil almost leaving the audition because she looked around the waiting room and didn’t think she was pretty enough,” he spoke about the actress who would go on to play the iconic character Brenda Barrett.
“I remember Steve Burton; there was a producer there for one year who said, ‘I need the boys to be six feet, right before the talent test.” Teschner remembered Burton, who has played Jason Morgan off and on since 1991 and returned to GH last year, informing him he was only a little over 5’10”, prompting the casting director to notice Burton’s high-top Doc Martins and “stuff it with the LA Times.”
Teschner also noted he was behind the casting of Sofia Mattsson (Sasha), Carolyn Hennesy (Diane), Wally Kurth (Ned), and Vernee Watson (Stella).
The second part of Teschner’s interview will air on Thursday, March 13.
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