Sonny outlook

Maurice Benard Celebrates The 30th Anniversary Of His GH Debut.

- Mara Levinsky

Back in 1993, Maurice Benard was not exactly looking for gainful employment on a soap. After leaving ALL MY CHILDREN, where he’d played Nico from 1987-90, and playing Desi Arnaz in 1991’s LUCY & DESI: BEFORE THE LAUGHTER, “I was out of work for about two years,” he notes. “It was kind of a real dark period because there was no money coming in and all I did was study acting. I wasn’t taking my medication [for bipolar disorder, with which he had been diagnosed at the age of 22] at that time. I was getting close to things; I got close to [the role that ultimately went to Antonio Banderas in] Philadelphia. But when GH called, I said to [wife] Paula, ‘I’m not gonna do another soap.’ Because to me, it would be like I failed. I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to accomplish.”

The Eyes Have It: "It just worked out perfectly." says Benard of Sonny's wildly popular pairing with Vanessa Marcil's Brenda. "Vanessa, playing Brenda, in scenes looked up to Sonny like he was this white knight. And that made the audience almost do it, also, because you looked at him through her eyes."

His missus quickly changed his mind. “She said, ‘We’re broke!’ So I took the meeting.” For two hours, Benard sat with then-Executive Producer Wendy Riche and then-Producer/Director Shelley Curtis. “They said, ‘We have two roles for you. One is Damian Smith, for two years.’ I said, ‘I don’t think that’s going to work. I don’t want to be here two years. What’s the other one?’ And Shelley said, ‘Sonny, a nightclub owner.’ I said, ‘Oh, Sonny, that’s a cool name. How long is that? Six months? Yeah, I’ll take that.’ And that’s how it started.”