‘General Hospital’: 3 of the Show’s Worst Recasts
Like many soap operas, General Hospital often recasts roles. Carly Corinthos, Lucky Spencer, and Heather Webber are a few characters who’ve had multiple portrayers. Some recasts work perfectly, while others don’t. Let’s take a look at a few of the worst.
Jennifer Bransford as the Carly Corinthos recast was brief on ‘General Hospital’
Carly Corinthos is one of General Hospital‘s most famous characters. Since 1996, viewers have watched Carly become Port Charles’ newest vixen. Daytime Emmy winner Sarah Joy Brown originated the role in Feb. 1996, and in Apr. 2001 departed as Carly. Less than a month after Brown’s exit, Tamara Braun debuted as the new Carly recast, a role she played until Apr. 2005.
Needing a new Carly, the producers chose Jennifer Bransford as their recast. Bransford has a history of playing bad girls with her previous role as Georgie Phillips on One Life to Live. However, Bransford flopped as Carly and six months after he debut she was fired in Oct. 2005.
Weeks after Bransford’s firing former Guiding Light star Laura Wright was recast in the role. Out of all the actors, Wright is the one to play Carly the lingest with her tenure going on 17 years.
Nick Stable’s recast as Nikolas Cassadine was temporary
General Hospital sometimes has to temporarily recast a role. The reason can be an actor’s sick or is busy with another project. In 2016, Tyler Christopher who originated and played Nikolas Cassadine on and off for 20 years was in the midst of contract negotiations.
Christopher’s last appearance as Nikolas came on June 16, 2016. However, the producers were hopeful the actor would eventually return. With Nikolas a legacy character and in a big storyline, the producers recast with former Sunset Beach star Nick Stabile.
Stabile didn’t click as Nikolas and his run only lasted for a month with his final appearance airing on in July 2016. After Stabile’s failed run, the writers wrote Nikolas off for a while. In 2019, Marcus Coloma became the latest Nikolas recast.
‘General Hospital’ fans can’t accept Cameron Mathison as Drew Cain
In 2014, General Hospital writers introduced the new character Drew Cain. Drew is believed to be the presumed dead Jason Morgan (Steve Burton). However, it turns out Drew is Jason’s twin brother.
The Young and the Restless star Billy Miller originated the role and did a phenomenal job as Drew. But after five years, the actor left the show in 2019. After Burtons’ character Jason was killed off again in 2021, the producers decided to bring back Drew. They needed a big name to fill Miller’s shoes and found him in former All My Children star Cameron Mathison.
While Mathison’s longtime fans are happy to see him back on soap operas, General Hospital fans are receptive to the recast. Viewers discussed their thoughts on Mathison’s performance on a Reddit thread.
“They really should have just made him a completely new character because he’s nowhere near being the same Drew he was when BM played the part,” one fan wrote.
“They definitely need new Drew. This one isn’t working Maybe the actor would be better as a doctor at GH or something,” one commenter suggested.
“I think it’s CM, he’s very limited as an actor. The writing does not help but he’s constantly in talk show host mode,” another user replied.
While some fans don’t like Mathison as the Drew recast, the actor is here to stay. Drew’s romance with Carly isn’t doing the character or the actors any favors. But if the writers give Mathions some juicy material, maybe her can win over viewers.
