Mark Lawson originated the character of Dustin Phillips, who was the nicest guy anyone could meet, on General Hospital in 2019. He found himself attracted to Lulu Falconeri (Emme Rylan), and after she divorced Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), the two got even closer. However, their relationship was tragically cut short when a bomb exploded at a restaurant, and Dustin was killed.
Dustin Philips' journey on General Hospital
Before playing Dustin on GH, Mark Lawson became beloved by soap fans when he began playing Brody Lovett on One Life to Live in 2008. That ended when the show was canceled in 2012, but a few years later, he found himself on GH.
Dustin met Lulu when she was working as a reporter and trying to uncover the identity of a person that was tricking people on a dating app by setting up a meeting, and then robbing their house while they waited for their date to show up. Dustin was a teacher who also was a rideshare driver on the side to supplement his income. Even though Lulu was focused on finding out who the robber was, she had enjoyed their conversation when they'd gone on a date, and some sparks flew between them.
Soon after, Lulu and Dante got divorced. After a time, Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms) convinced Lulu to start dating again and worked things out so that Dustin drove them to a wine-tasting event. Their connection continued, but the two moved slowly. Little by little, Dustin got closer to Lulu, especially by helping at her son’s birthday party. Eventually, she showed him her ship, the Haunted Star—because he had a passion for boats—and they ended up sleeping together.
Dustin was going to move in with Lulu at her invitation, but Dante, who had been away, returned and made things awkward for the new couple. One night at the Floating Rib, Dustin asked Lulu to marry him, but before she could answer, an explosion destroyed the building, killing Dustin and landing Lulu in a coma, which she is still in to this day.
Why did Mark Lawson leave General Hospital?
No official announcement was ever made as to why Lawson was let go from General Hospital. But the actor knew that his character wasn’t going to stay for a long time. In December 2020, Lawson opened up to Soap Opera Digest about his General Hospital exit and about his time on the show. He had been a victim of a hoax where he'd been promised a big role in a Tom Cruise movie, and after he found out the whole thing was a scam, he noted,
Five minutes later, Frank [Valentini, executive producer] called me to let me know that unfortunately, Dustin had to go.
His status was what gave away whether or not he was long for the show, as he added,
I’ve always been recurring; I always knew [my last day] could happen at any time.
But despite having to leave, he gave his final scenes 100% effort so he would have something to be proud of. Of his last scene, he remarked,
I wanted a lot for Dustin. I really respected his fundamental chivalry, and so I really wanted that last scene, particularly, to feel like he’s still trying to fight to get back to Lulu, he’s still trying to fight to make sure that she’s taken care of. I feel like I got that out of that scene and I was very happy with it.
Dustin had to die so that the show could deliver on the Floating Rib explosion, otherwise there would have been no meaning in it. There have been many major disasters on soaps, and a majority of the time, everyone survives, perhaps just needing a bandage here and there. So this time, it had to be spectacular and had to have meaning. It also advanced the story of the war between mobsters Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober)—who'd had the bomb planted—and Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard), because another character that died in the blast was Dev (Ashton Arbab), a young boy that Sonny had taken under his wing.
