Gregory Harrison, a seasoned actor, had previously declined daytime soaps, but when General Hospital called to ask if he would be interested in taking over the part of Gregory Chase, he unexpectedly said yes.
On the podcast Dishing With Digest for Soap Opera Digest, the actor stated, “For 55 years, I had been offered soaps, you know?” “I was offered storylines with Susan Lucci (Erica, ALL MY CHILDREN) maybe half a dozen times, you know, to play the man of her moment of whatever that year was, and I always said, ‘Oh, no, no, no.'” I was really terrified.
However, after the pandemic shut down Hollywood production for months, Harrison was eager to get back to business. “I heard myself say, “Yes! Tell ‘em yes,’” he recalled. “It was almost like an out-of-body experience because I was just desperate to go do what I love to do. And then after I hung up the phone, I went, ‘Oh my God, what did I just say yes to?!’”
Knowing the fast-paced shooting schedule of daytime dramas, Harrison wondered if he’d made a terrible mistake joining the cast of GH. “‘Why did you wait til you were 70-something to test your brain with 30 pages of dialogue a night?” he marveled. “I went through terror for a couple of weeks and then I started the show. The terror ended after two or three weeks [and] I’m having the best time!”
Feeling more comfortable in Port Charles now, Harrison is enjoying daytime and also its fans. “I’m thrilled to be a part of all of this now,” he declared. “and thank you for some of the responses I’ve been getting on social media and I hope that I get to continue to perform for you for a long time to come.”