For once, the PCPD isn’t the most chaotic place in Port Charles—it’s Anna’s office. Nathan, long presumed dead, already asked Anna for his badge back before her sudden disappearance—officially a WSB assignment, unofficially a kidnapping—and Dante, now acting commissioner, didn’t hesitate to give his old partner his badge back. The moment felt like one of those rare soap collisions where on-screen history and real-life friendship run on the same current. Dominic Zamprogna opened up about how the feeling on set matched the story itself: a reunion that landed like muscle memory.
Key Takeaways
- Dante officially reinstated Nathan at the PCPD after Anna’s sudden disappearance, marking both an emotional and professional reunion.
- Zamprogna explained that having Ryan Paevey back “has been great,” adding that their easy chemistry picked up right where it left off, both on and off camera.
- The actors kept in touch during Paevey’s years away, making the on-set reunion feel effortless.
An Officer and a Gentleman
In an interview with Soap Opera Digest, Zamprogna admitted that having Paevey (Nathan) back in the building “has been great! It kind of feels like he never left, you know?” That easy rhythm wasn’t nostalgia—it was instinct. Seven years after Nathan’s “death,” the men stepped back into a groove that hadn’t evaporated. “He’s the same dude; he’s exactly the same guy,” Zamprogna said.
Off-screen, the two had stayed in touch since Peavey’s first departure. “He and I always kind of texted each other randomly at times,” he stated, adding, “But it’s been really nice to have him back” mostly because Paevey brings good energy to a place that can use it.
Between long shoot days and heavy storylines, that kind of energy matters. He added that it’s good for morale, and more than that, it’s good for the show—a reminder of how much texture GH gains when familiar faces walk back through the doors like they never left.
Seeing a Ghost
Of course, seeing a man you once buried takes a particular kind of acting muscle. “You go onto a set, and it’s like, ‘There’s Britt [Kelly Thiebaud, who also returned to the dead] and there’s Nathan,’ and I say to her, ‘So, how are you alive?’ ‘Oh, I faked my own death.’ ‘Oh, okay, cool. And how are you alive?’ And [Paevey] is like, ‘I have no idea!’” Zamprogna hilariously stated. He knows how absurd it can be—how soap logic demands sincerity while winking at itself—but he leaned into the human part instead.
Seeing Paevey brought genuine happiness to Zamprogna, who exclaimed, “I’m happy my buddy’s back on the show!’” That’s exactly how the scene played: no distance, no forced solemnity, just two partners closing a seven-year gap with a hug and a high-five.
On a show that’s been rife with resurrection lately, Dante and Nathan’s reunion didn’t need a twist—it just needed heart. (Is Nathan a ticking time bomb?)
