Chris McKenna may be finished playing Jack Brennan on General Hospital — for now — but the actor is still feeling the impact of his character’s shocking death. Speaking exclusively with Soap Hub following a fan event in New Jersey, McKenna revealed just how suddenly Brennan’s exit came together, what executive producer Frank Valentini told him about the decision, and why he would be willing to return to Port Charles someday.
Key Takeaways
- McKenna says Brennan’s death shocked people behind the scenes at GH.
- McKenna reveals Jack and Nina had a storyline planned just days before his exit.
- McKenna would “absolutely” return to daytime — including GH.
Fans Aren’t Ready To Say Goodbye
McKenna had just spent more than two hours meeting fans at a New Jersey pizza party when Soap Hub caught up with him, and many had the same thing on their minds: Brennan’s death.
“They’re very upset. They don’t get it,” McKenna said. “The outpouring of support and love from the fans has been so much. I was expecting some. I didn’t expect it would be anything like what transpired, so it’s been overwhelming.”
Ironically, McKenna believes Brennan has become even more central to GH since his death.
“Jack is more on the canvas and seems more central to the story than he ever was alive,” he observed.
And despite Brennan no longer being around, McKenna’s schedule still includes numerous fan events, which he is so grateful for.
“I’m really gratified that people still want to meet me even though I’m dead,” he joked.
Brennan’s Death Was A Shock
Viewers weren’t the only ones caught off guard by Brennan’s abrupt exit. According to McKenna, the decision surprised people behind the scenes as well.
“It was a shock to everybody in the building, as far as I know,” he revealed.
In fact, McKenna said that only days before learning Brennan would be killed off, a producer had been discussing future plans for Jack and Nina [Cynthia Watros].
“Just a couple of days before it happened, one of the producers was telling Cynthia and I about the whole plan they had for Jack and Nina,” McKenna recalled. “And then two days later, I was getting killed.”
The producer later sought him out.
“That producer came and found me to tell me, ‘I wasn’t lying. I had no idea,’” McKenna said.
Whatever happened, McKenna described it as a dramatic change in direction.
“There was a hard left turn made on a lot of storylines,” he said. “A very quick left turn.”
As for exactly why it happened? McKenna isn’t pretending to know.
“Those decisions are made above my pay grade.”
What Frank Valentini Told Him
McKenna finished filming in June after learning that GH would not pick up the second year of his contract.
He also recalled his conversation with executive producer Frank Valentini about the decision.
“Frank had a talk with me. He wasn’t happy about it,” McKenna said. “He expressed how this wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. I did nothing wrong.”
According to McKenna, Valentini made clear that the decision wasn’t a reflection of his performance.
“He’s like, ‘You don’t deserve this, which isn’t the way this is going, but this is what’s gonna happen to Jack.’”
McKenna characterized the situation as a story and budget decision, while making clear he doesn’t know everything that went into it.
“I don’t know all the reasons,” he admitted.
Still, after decades in the entertainment industry, McKenna knew how to move forward.
“This business hits you in the mouth every once in a while,” he said. “This was a blow.”
Drowning Brennan
If Brennan had to die, McKenna certainly got a memorable exit. (But did he really have to die?) Filming his death in the pool took two days — and, yes, McKenna actually ended up with swimmer’s ear.
“It was kind of fun being in a suit and in the warm water all day,” he joked. “Even during breaks, I would just stay in there and be like, ‘No, you guys go. I’m fine,’ and swim around and do laps.”
Playing a floating corpse also presented some unusual technical challenges.
“I had to do floating blocking and hold my breath so I could stay on top,” he explained. “I couldn’t hear ‘cut,’ so the stage manager would have to bang on the pool to let me know to come up and breathe.”
Despite the circumstances surrounding his departure, McKenna was determined to remain professional, particularly for the younger actors around him.
“I’ve had lots of disappointments in my career and lots of success, and there’ll be plenty more,” he said. “This is the end of one chapter. It’s not the way I would have wanted it to go out, but I’m still so grateful that it happened at all.”
Could Brennan Return?
Of course, death has never necessarily been permanent in Port Charles. So would McKenna come back if GH somehow revealed Brennan survived?
“If they brought me back, like, this week, I’d be a little annoyed at them,” he joked.
Give it some time, however, and his answer changes.
“In the due amount of time, of course I’d come back. I’d love to,” McKenna said. “I’d come back as a different character, whatever.”
His willingness to return comes down to how much he enjoyed his time at GH.
“I loved working there. I loved the people I worked with. I loved coming to that set,” he said. “It was a great place to work for the past year and a half.”
And there’s one potentially useful soap opera loophole: McKenna wasn’t actually there when Brennan was buried.
“That was a stunt double they buried,” he revealed. “I wasn’t there that day, so I don’t know what’s going to come up from the ground.”
The Moment Brennan Became His
McKenna entered GH as a recast, taking over a character who had already been established. So when did he finally feel like Jack Brennan belonged to him? His first answer was considerably less dramatic.
“When I figured out how to shave his goatee properly,” he joked.
But McKenna pointed to Brennan’s explosive confrontation with Carly (Laura Wright) and Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) as the moment he truly put his stamp on the character.
“What I think, when I put my stamp on it completely, was in the breakup scene with Carly and Valentin — that big confrontation when we saw Jack in a way we’d never seen him before,” he explained.
McKenna had been deliberately playing something underneath Brennan’s controlled exterior.
“I was trying to play a guy who would never let you see his pain, but he’s full of it. He’d never let you see his fear, but he’s full of it,” he said. “In that moment, I was hoping people realized this is what Jack has been holding back all this time.”
Interestingly, McKenna said the heartbreak viewers saw wasn’t necessarily written that way.
“That heartbreak wasn’t on the page,” he revealed. “I was supposed to come in there like a madman.”
Instead, McKenna approached Brennan’s rage as something fueled by emotional pain. He graciously gave praise to his co-stars, Laura Wright and James Patrick Stuart. at the time.
“He is that mad. He is that dangerous. But you could clearly see it’s out of pain.”
The choice apparently made an impression.
“Once Frank saw that on the stage, he went, ‘Wow, we’re making this a whole episode,’ and they expanded those scenes,” McKenna recalled.
It remains the work he’s proudest of from his time on GH.
“We all knew we had done something kind of special right after that was done,” he said. “That’s the scenes I’m most proud of.”
How Daytime Has Changed
McKenna has a unique perspective on the evolution of soaps, having appeared on One Life to Live in the 1990s, The Young and the Restless decades later, and, most recently, GH.
The biggest difference? Speed.
During his OLTL days, actors would rehearse extensively before taping. By the time McKenna reached Y&R in 2014, the pace had accelerated considerably.
Then came GH.
“By the time I got to GH, we’re on another level of speed,” McKenna said. “My first day, I had 74 pages. Never seen anything like that in any other show.”
That workload helped McKenna understand why daytime experience can be so valuable.
“You need to be able to handle that and have that kind of an engine in your head and be able to handle the pressure when everyone’s looking at their watches,” he said.
Despite the demands, McKenna loves it.
“It’s a challenge, but I love it.”
The GH Stars He Wanted More With
Although McKenna spent a year and a half in Port Charles, there were plenty of cast members with whom he barely had the opportunity to work.
“Half the cast,” he joked when asked who was still on his wish list.
He pointed to Maura West (Ava), Jane Elliot (Tracy), and Genie Francis (Laura) among the veteran performers he would have liked more scenes with.
“I barely worked with Tracy,” he said. “She once called me handsome in one scene, and that was all we ever said to each other.”
He also wished he’d had more material with Finola Hughes (Anna), Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis), and Rory Gibson (Michael).
“Jack, for a lot of my tenure, was completely off in his own world,” McKenna said.
Would He Join Another Soap?
McKenna’s exit from GH hasn’t soured him on daytime.
Asked whether he’d consider another soap, his answer was simple: “Sure.”
“I love daytime,” he said. “It just fits my brain, and I like working at this speed.”
He’d especially welcome another substantial character.
“I would love to go back to daytime and do something meaty and do something meaningful on one of the other shows,” he said. “I would love to.”
But soaps aren’t his only option. McKenna is also interested in returning to theater and pursuing primetime work.
“I’d love to do a prestige drama,” he said. “I have time right now and a runway where I could do theater. I’d love to do a play again.”
What’s Next For McKenna?
McKenna is also turning his attention to another longtime creative pursuit: writing and producing. He’s adapting the work of late horror and thriller novelist Thomas Tessier through his production company, Watertown Arts.
McKenna first tried adapting one of Tessier’s novels when he was in his 20s, but realized he wasn’t ready.
“I ended up with a 450-page monster,” he recalled. “Then I put it aside and said, ‘Chris, you don’t know what you’re doing.’”
Years later, something clicked.
“I finally realized that something had changed, and I understood how to tell the story, what it needed, the essence of it, and break it down,” he said.
Now, McKenna says producers have shown interest in the material, and even some people from GH are interested in getting involved.
As for when viewers might see McKenna himself back on their screens, he’s optimistic.
“Regardless of what happens, I’m quite sure I’ll be working again soon, and you’ll find me on your screen soon,” he said. “We’ll see if it’s on daytime or where.”
A Message To Brennan Fans
Before moving on to his next chapter, McKenna wants Brennan’s supporters to know that their reaction hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“The fact that it’s had this kind of response from the fans, it’s been so moving,” he said.
And even if it doesn’t change what happened to Brennan, McKenna wants viewers to know their voices reached him.
“I want them to know that I see it all and I appreciate it all, and my family sees it all,” he said. “It’s certainly had an effect on me, and I really appreciate that, and I’ll never forget it.”
