General Hospital’s Maurice Benard Discusses His ‘Year of Firsts’

Maurice Benard has revealed how 2024 was a year of firsts, from his work on General Hospital to his personal mental health battles.

Reaching A Milestone

Benard began his latest episode of State of Mind by reminding viewers to subscribe on YouTube. The mental health podcast has gained over 145k subscribers since its 2020 premiere, and the actor’s current goal is to reach 200k.

READ THIS: Here’s what’s coming up on GH.

“Please, people, let’s do this,” he began. “Tell your friends, tell your relatives, tell your families, tell your animals to hit this button,” he said, referring to the Subscribe button.

First Battle With Anxiety And The Flu

When Benard revealed this year has been a year of firsts, he started with an unexpected battle in both his physical and mental health. “It’s the first time that I’ve ever had anxiety and a temperature… like the flu.”

Benard revealed that earlier this year, he was diagnosed with the flu just before being greeted by a battle with anxiety, something that’s never happened to him before. “That double whammo of the flu and anxiety together was just…” he finished his thought there.

First Time Playing Sonny This Way

GH viewers can’t forget the way Sonny acted earlier this year when he was off his bipolar medication. He treated everyone terribly, paranoid around his loved ones and holding anger against Jason (Steve Burton) for working with the FBI. And as much as viewers disliked seeing the fan-favorite character that way, Benard may have disliked it the most.

“Another first was playing Sonny — the character Sonny — kind of like a… I hate to say it but it’s the only thing I can think of… I was playing him like an a–hole.” Benard went on to admit he liked the challenge of it, but noted he had never played Sonny where he didn’t like him.

First Solo Mental Health Battle

Next was Benard’s first time battling his mental health without his wife or son. When the two went on vacation, the actor was left alone to fight the battle.

“This is another first… going through something traumatic without having your wife and your son, or whoever is your point person,” he said. “It was not fun, it was a lot of sleepless nights… but you just put one foot in front of the other.” The actor revealed he had many friends supporting him, and recently told the story of the role co-star Jonathan Jackson (Lucky) played in his life during that time.

First Time Taking Weeks Off Work

Benard’s mental health battle left him needing to take two weeks off from GH, something he had never done before.

“Two weeks off,” he recalled, noting the difficulty of being out for two weeks, then returning and filming several episodes. “As much as I felt like ‘I can’t do this,’ the warrior in me said, ‘Do it. Go.'”

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