General Hospital's Maurice Benard sets the record straight on recast rumors

Maurice Benard's anxiety kept him from General Hospital

On a July episode of State of Mind with Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos), the General Hospital actor described a mental health crisis that led him to take a work break and take care of himself.

In the episode titled "True Friendship," Benard told fans and followers that severe anxiety had led to sleep issues that had kept him from the GH set. Benard explained that when his mental health is bad, he usually leans on his wife, Paula. However, Paula and their son, Joshua, were on vacation when the anxiety began.

"They're the two people who, when I am going through anything, can talk me out of it," he said. "So, they're gone and I am doing this basically alone."

While Benard's daughters, Cailey and Cassidy, were there for their dad, he felt he needed to take a break from work. However, he returned after feeling the soap might have had to recast him if he took any more time off.

Benard clarifies recent statement

On August 13, Benard took to Instagram to clarify that Executive Producer Frank Valentini was nothing but supportive of him during that time.

"During my latest @mbstateofmind, I mentioned that I could be temporarily recast if I didn’t get back to work and I totally understood," Benard wrote, accompanied by a video with further details. "Frank Valentini and @generalhospitalabc were nothing less than incredible. Frank spoke to my wife, Paula, every day and spoke to me. Nothing but generously. Two weeks is a long time and I was so ready to get back to work!!!"

In the video, Benard offered a further explanation for what really happened when he was away from work.

"I want to clarify something. During a rough period recently, I spoke about being recast, and I can’t tell you how generous and great and amazing Frank Valentini was during that period," the actor said. "I guess it kind of seemed that some people thought that he was threatening me in some kind of way to recast if I didn’t come back, and that wasn’t the case at all. It was the exact opposite. Frank is very, very generous when it comes to that...forever...since I’ve known him. So, it all worked out."

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When Benard returned to General Hospital, he taped eight shows in two days, including the scenes in which Sonny contemplated suicide. In those powerful scenes, Sonny received a visit from his late son, Morgan, who literally talked him down from the ledge. It's hard to imagine anyone else playing Sonny for those moments except for Benard, who has been bringing the complicated mob boss to life for 31 years.

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.

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