Soap Hub Flashback Friday: Carolyn Hennesy Recalls Early GH Scene

It’s not easy joining a new show. For Carolyn Hennesy, her entry on the General Hospital set came with a rather startling introduction to her character’s Port Charles boss, played by Maurice Benard.

Carlyn Hennesy Looks Back

At a recent Coastal Entertainment fan Zoom gathering with Tristan Rogers (Robert), Hennesy was asked to remember a scene that had a backstage story fans may not know about. She took it all the way back to her early days on the show.

“I am not telling tales out of school, and it’s nothing that I actually haven’t discussed before,” began the actress. ”So, it was my second day there, and Sonny and Diane come walking into the PCPD from the back.” Just in case anyone was worried that she actually was discussing something private, the reiterated the fact she’s actually shared this on the actor’s video podcast series, State Of Mind.

“So he knows all about it. I’m sitting there with, you know, King of the underworld, Sonny Corinthos…Maurice Bernard, and he says, ‘You know, how are you doing? Are you’re liking it?’ [And I’m like] ‘of course, listen, it’s fantastic. It’s true.

“I said, ‘But look at you, I did my research. You’re the Godfather.’ And he goes, ‘You know, when I came on here, I wanted to be…I was the next Brando,’ and I said, ‘Well, you are the next Brando, certainly of daytime because as with the Godfather role and then, the way you’re sort of natural in this.’ He said, ‘Yeah, yeah, of course, I have bipolar disorder, and I’ve tried to kill my wife twice…three times, and I’ve been institutionalized several times, and there’s that. Let’s go act’” she laughed.

“And I’m like, ‘huh? Am I safe? What?! Huh?'” Carolyn Hennesy stumbled, showing how stunned she was first learning about her then-new co-star. “Yeah, he was just flat-out with all of it because those were the days when he was being very open about it. I think he’d already been on Oprah, and he said, ‘Yeah, I’ve been institutionalized three times, and I tried to kill my wife.’ I’ve told that story before, certainly with his blessing. But that was, that was, a highly unusual subject,” she admitted.