Steven Burton in ‘General Hospital’.
(Christopher Polk/Getty Images for DATG)General Hospital star Steve Burton says he was “very sad” during filming Kelly Monaco‘s departure from the show.
Burton, 54, recalled his final moments with his longtime costar on the Friday, Nov. 1, episode of his podcast “The daily drama.”
“I really didn’t know how to play this,” the actor said. “Obviously we have a huge history. Obviously we’ve been working together for a long time, so all kinds of things happened, but I didn’t have a clear vision.”
Burton, who plays Jason Morgan on the ABC soap, first shared the screen with Monaco, 48, in 2003 when she made her series debut as Sam McCall, and the two characters had a long-term love affair before calling it quits. Good. However, in August news broke that Monaco would leave the show and her final episode – in which Sam was killed – aired earlier this month.
Burton and Monaco filmed a scene together in the hospital, in which Jason said goodbye to Sam before her death. “I had to film that stuff with her first and then go backwards,” Burton recalled on his podcast.
In his recollection, “It was really sad because Kelly was obviously leaving, and then the emotion of the character passing and all these things, and I just thought everyone did a really great job,” he continued, adding, ” It was really interesting. to have taken all those emotions out and then have to go back. I know people in movies do this all the time, but as an actor it’s not your favorite thing to do.”
Burton’s costar Maurice Benardwho plays Sonny Corinthos, Burton offered some helpful advice before the cameras rolled.
“You don’t have to force anything,” Benard told Burton. “Just make it work.”
He advised that “whatever happens there is supposed to happen” and be in the present.
While Monaco was a permanent fixture General Hospital for 11 years, We weekly confirmed earlier this year that she would be leaving the long-running series. End of September, Monaco talked about her departure in a since-deleted Instagram comment on a Soap Hub post after a user called the actress “monotonous, without leading roles and just plain boring.”
“Not a primary role… do your homework,” Monaco replied. “When Billy Miller was fired, Sam’s storyline stopped. Stripping Sam of every characteristic she had. Something I spent decades building… Slowly dismantling her, into a character I didn’t recognize, let alone the audience. Call it whatever you want…retaliation on it [sic] best. I will make an appropriate statement. The truth will set you free.”
General Hospital airs weekdays at 2:00 PM Eastern Time.