Maurice Benard’s State of Mind once again welcomes a ‘General Hospital’ co-star. This time, he’s talking to Leslie Charleson, who plays Monica Quartermaine on the series. He called speaking with Leslie an honor and talked about how amazing it is for her to have had a gig for this long. He was also excited to speak with her for another reason–they’ve always been two ships passing on set. So, they’ve never really had a chance to talk like this. Let’s look at some highlights of their conversation.
Maurice Benard’s State of Mind on beginnings…
As usual, the conversation started with some background information. Charleson spoke about being born in Kansas City. Her biological father’s family apparently built Nantucket, and there’s even a museum about the family.
The thing is, though, her parents didn’t raise her, her grandparents did. She said it was wonderful experience that every child should be able to experience to some extent. As someone who spent a lot of time with a grandparent as a child, this writer can’t agree more. One of the reasons for this was that her mother was an actress who was away a lot.
Her family situation got Benard talking about when he and his wife adopted Heather and how he lost it the first time she used the term “Mom” and “Dad”. Charleson felt her father’s resistance to her using the term came from his feeling about how he hadn’t been around, really. But things changed after her sister was born.
Maurice Benard’s State of Mind on mental illness
Of course, you can’t have a Maurice Benard’s State of Mind without the conversation turned to mental illness. Charleson opened up about her sister’s battle with bipolar. Apparently, they’d done a lot of things to try and help, but to no avail.
She described some incidents that happened with her sister, before talking about how she refused to answer the phone one day. Her sister had been calling and calling recently. Eventually, she had a bad feeling and left work early to check on her. Unfortunately, there would be a tragic ending to that story.
Maurice Benard’s State of Mind on acting
Next, it was time to talk about her career. They talked about her appearance on Happy Days and being Ron Howard’s first on-screen kiss. It was a funny moment that led to more discussion of her other projects. Particularly, working with Shelley Winters. The mystery movie, Revenge, was one of her first gigs. Benard wanted to know if that was nerve-wracking for her to work with someone like Winters, but she said it was such a small part, they didn’t really work together at all.
Maurice Benard’s State of Mind on GH
Finally, you can’t have a Maurice Benard’s State of Mind featuring a GH cast member without talk about the show. Charleson opened up about her early days on the series. Crazy enough, her GH journey began the day Elvis died, and she was a huge fan.
Complicating her early days, the original actress for Monica had been, in her words, rudely fired so there was a bit of a hostile environment. Not only that, there was a strike going on, so they had to bring their own wardrobe and makeup.
Things would eventually get better for the actress, and they talked a bit about her going through the GH Heyday of Luke and Laura. It was apparently crazy going to colleges, because she would be approached by people in scrubs who’d changed their major because of the show.
Check out the episode to hear more about the early days of ‘General Hospital’, the grueling shcedule, and more.
For any other soap opera and entertainment news, please visit again Daily Soap Dish. Don’t forget to visit The Go To Family for all of the latest travel news!.
