General Hospital fans have been concerned that doing another bipolar story would take a real-world toll on Maurice Benard. But ever the positive person, he allayed their fears with a moving Twitter post.
Setting the Record Straight
While Benard has been open about his bipolar diagnosis, fans are also well aware that it was written into his character, beloved racketeer Sonny Corinthos. With the return of Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) to Port Charles, Sonny’s immediate response was to believe that his once trusted right-hand man and best friend had turned on him not only by trying to kill him, but also shooting his son, Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna). Fans scratched their heads wondering how only Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) and Molly Lansing-Davis (Kristen Vaganos) would believe Jason’s innocence, while his closest friends thought the worst of him.
It’s been revealed that Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart), got Sonny’s pharmacist to replace half his bipolar meds with placebos, and he’s clearly starting to spiral, first by beating the snot out of Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober), then believing Jason betrayed him, and recently making goo-goo eyes at Natalia Rogers-Ramirez (Eva LaRue), who he barely knows. Sonny’s erratic behavior has some viewers worried that Benard himself could have a real-life mental breakdown from the stress involved in continuing to knock his performance out of the park.
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But, always being open to his fans, he took to X, formerly Twitter, on April 3 to set the record straight.
“As far as [General Hospital], There’s been a lot of talk about mental health lately [with] people concerned for my health. I like it. Talk brings awareness,” he posted, adding, “ ‘GH’ has always done an impressive job with bipolar stories; it can’t be perfect. It’s TV, not real life. LET’S NEVER STOP TALKING.”
Fans were happy with his clarification, as one noted, “Yeah, man. I think we’re all just worried or concerned. We don’t want you to experience any trauma or issues because of this storyline. I know you’re a professional but everything you do with [his mental health awareness show] ‘State of Mind’ is far more important. Stay well.” Benard responded that GH and SOM are like therapy for him. (Check out Maurice Benard revealing his darkest moments to Soap Hub here.)
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