‘General Hospital’ (GH) spoilers confirm that Chris McKenna has officially stepped into the plum role of Jack Brennan (last played by Charles Mesure). His first airdate was February 4th.
‘General Hospital’ Spoilers: McKenna Worked with Frank Valentini On One Life To Live
While many viewers were shocked by the news and are still upset about the recast, it’s only fair to give McKenna a chance to make the role his own.
GH announced on February 3rd that Mesure would leave GH and that his last airdate occurred on January 30th.
McKenna spoke with TV Insider. He explained that Executive Producer Frank Valentini was also once the executive producer of One Life To Live and knew McKenna’s work as Joey Buchannan on the now-defunct soap.
Valentini requested McKenna for a chemistry test with Laura Wright, who plays Carly Spencer. He was a teenager when he last saw Valentini, and he joked about wanting to show Frank that he was all grown up.
McKenna showed up at the studio two days later.
“I know Laura, but I haven’t seen her in 30 years,”
He acknowledged.
Apparently, during McKenna’s time on OLTL, Wright played Ally Prescott on another canceled soap, Loving. Both soaps were taped in New York City, so they already knew each other from running in the same circles.
‘General Hospital’ Spoilers: McKenna Didn’t Know He Was Reading For The Part Of An Established Character
McKenna hadn’t seen Wright since they competed in a Make-A-Wish softball game in 1994. She was the pitcher, and he was the catcher. They said hello, hugged, and chatted before the big test.
McKenna wasn’t aware when he came in that he would be reading for the part of an established character.
The soap wanted to keep the recast news hush-hush until they had a definite replacement. McKenna described what went down when he read opposite Wright.
“They wrote a scene for the audition that was in the spirit of Brennan, but they didn’t use the name,”
He explained.
“So it was a unique scene just to get the feel of the character and to see how the chemistry was between Laura and me, and it was great.”
The actor feels that Brennan’s character is fascinating and even compares him to James Bond.
He went on to add,
“As soon as I finished the read with Laura, which seemed to go pretty darn well, Frank said, ‘You were not this good when you were 12.”
McKenna responded with,
“No s**t!”
Fans have been clamoring for Brennan and Carly to get together. McKenna stepped into the role shortly after their first kiss.
‘General Hospital’ Spoilers: Wright Offered The Actor Support
Wright was more than willing to go out of her way to help McKenna. She told him not to worry about the amount of dialogue involved.
Wright offered to work with him more, saying that Eden McCoy, who plays Carly’s daughter, Josslyn Jacks, would also work with him.
McKenna is excited to take on the role of Brennan and said,
“I’m still learning who the guy is and figuring it out, but it is a lot of fun to get a chance to play a meaty character like this.”
McKenna said it was a thrill for him to play a new version of this character and get to work with Laura.
“Every script is really exciting, so it’s fun.”
In addition to knowing Laura and Frank, McKenna also knew some of the GH writers from when he was a kid on OLTL. When they recognized him, McKenna urged them not to think of him that way now.
“I was going through puberty on TV. It’s a whole other thing. I’m a cool spy now.”
McKenna said he felt at ease with the GH crew right away as he knew one of the cameramen from OLTL and one of the directors was there.
“I felt really comfortable right off the bat, and it felt a lot like coming home.”
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