Illness has sidelined another General Hospital star. Kirsten Storms will miss one to two months of work due to an undisclosed illness. The show has opted to temporarily recast Maxie.
The illness bug has struck again in Port Charles. As a result, Kristen Storms (Maxie Jones) will be sidelined for a couple of months -- and General Hospital has opted to recast the role of Maxie.
A casting call was released last week seeking a "25ish, sexy, hip, quirky, has vitality, charisma and personality." The show said that it would "strongly prefer" a blonde, and noted that the role would last one to two months on a recurring basis.
At the time, the casting call did not hint what character the show was looking to cast... or recast.
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With the audition process out of the way, Soap Opera Digest reports that actress Jen Lilley landed the short-term role as Storms' replacement.
"Due to illness of Kirsten Storms, the role of Maxie Jones will be temporarily recast by Jen Lilley with a first airdate of September 28," a show spokesperson said in a statement. "The cast and crew of General Hospital wish Kirsten a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming her back to the set soon."
The nature of Storms' illness was not revealed.
Meanwhile, Lilley announced her addition to the GH family on Twitter.
"[D]rumroll please... I will be on General Hospital for the next couple of months!! I start tomorrow," Lilley posted, adding, "not sure what else I'm allowed to say."
Earlier this year, Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth Webber) was forced to take a few weeks off of work due to viral meningitis. She was temporarily replaced by Days of our Lives vet Martha Madison.
In addition to her work on General Hospital, Storms is scheduled to be one of the stars of the upcoming E! docuseries, Dirty Soap, which takes a look at the off-screen lives of a group of soap stars. Her illness is not expected to impact her appearance in Dirty Soap since much of the series' eight episodes was filmed over the summer.
Lilley first airs on September 28.
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