General Hospital fans are fully aware that actor Maurice Benard has been an ardent advocate of mental health awareness. His real-life bipolar disorder was even written into his character, Sonny Corinthos. In a recent storyline, his enemies coerced the pharmacist to lower his meds to placebos, causing Sonny to nearly take a header off the hospital building. Benard was affected by the story in real life and opened up about how he got through it.
He Was in Bad Shape
In an interview with Woman’s World, Benard explained that while shooting this particularly gripping storyline, he was overcome with anxiety and ended up doing something he had never done before: calling in sick. Things were overwhelming because it wasn’t just mental; he was affected physically and emotionally.
“I was in bad shape. I didn’t know if I’d ever act again,” he admitted. In the story, Sonny’s late son, Morgan (Bryan Craig), appeared to him and talked him down. In real life, Benard would ordinarily get help from his wife, but she was away at the time. So, he turned to some close friends for support.
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His Work Family
Thankfully, Benard had castmates that he could lean on. “The people who got me through were Steve Burton (Jason) and Jonathan Jackson (Lucky),” he explained. “It would have been very difficult without them.” He also praised executive producer Frank Valentini for being understanding and flexible, giving the actor time to recover.
He further noted that returning to work, especially when he had to play the scenes where Sonny contemplated jumping off the ledge, was very scary for him. On that day, Craig was also on hand to lend support, and Benard was grateful. He stated that he told his on-screen son, “I know I’ve helped you a lot, but now I can’t get through this without you, man!” He was glad to have his castmates, his work family, by his side through such a dark time.
