General Hospital star Daniel Goddard checked out of the ABC soap opera as Professor Henry Dalton in mid-November after Jenz Sidwell shot him in cold blood! While Dalton’s heart was torn apart, Goddard shares in this exclusive interview that he's left the ABC soap opera with nothing but gratitude and love.General Hospital, class dismissedDalton got slapped by Laura over Rocco on General Hospital | Image: ABCGoddard, best known to soap fans for his lengthy run as Cane Ashby on The Young and the Restless, met with GH producers at the beginning of the year to potentially take over the role of Jack Brennan, which went to Chris McKenna. But the show invited Goddard to stick around and play the part of Dalton.“General Hospital was a great adventure,” Goddard tells Soap Central. “I really enjoyed it. I’m grateful to ABC, to Frank [Valentini, executive producer], and to everyone for letting me be a part of the show and to have this opportunity to do something that I love to do. When I took the role, I didn’t know how long it would be. They said it’d be a couple of months, but I’m always of the mindset that it could always lead to something more.”That appeared to be happening after the show tested Goddard’s chemistry in scenes with Finola Hughes (Anna) and Kelly Thiebaud (Britt). “I remember calling my manager, Michael Bruno, and I said, ‘I think they’re going to write for Kelly and me.’”Goddard was thrilled to be reunited in scenes with Genie Francis (Laura), who played Cane’s mother, Genevieve Atkinson, on Y&R. The scripts called for an intense public showdown as Laura was determined to prevent Dalton from harming her grandson, Rocco (Finn Carr), after the youth made the poor decision to break into Dalton's office. “We did a take, and then, I asked Genie if she wanted to [as Laura] slap me,” Goddard shares, “because [Dalton’s] goal is to really push Laura. The next thing you know, she slaps me! My reaction was, ‘Wow, you really slapped me!’ Genie asked me, ‘Are you okay?’ I’m like, ‘Of course!’ We hugged. It was all great.”Martini shot, General HospitalJenz shot Dalton while Britt looked on helplessly, on General Hospital | Image: ABCNext, Goddard got to play drunk when Henry tied one on at The Brown Dog bar and interacted with Eden McCoy’s Josslyn. The actor played inebriated, as most good actors do, in that the character tries not to act tipsy, but most certainly is! “I said to Eden, ‘If you want to talk to me like I’m a child here because [Dalton] is four sheets to the wind…we could play it like that,'" Goddard shares.After getting to do a death scene when Sidwell (Carlo Rota) shot him, Goddard’s next scene was playing a corpse in the trunk of Laura’s car.“I said as a joke to Frank once I was in the trunk, ‘You know, having Dalton’s twin brother come back wanting to avenge his brother’s death would be entertaining!’” Goddard shares. The actor knows about playing twins. After Cane was killed off on Y&R, his devoted fan base hired a plane to fly over CBS, requesting that the network bring him back – as Cane. Soon, the show reintroduced the actor to the show as Cane’s twin, Caleb, only to reveal later that it was Caleb who had perished, not Cane.“[Dalton’s twin] could be that bad guy who came to town like Cyrus [Jeff Kober] did,” Goddard theorizes. “He could be that guy who goes down in a blaze of glory. He wouldn’t care because he’d be out to get vengeance. Do I think they’ll write? Probably not. Would it be fun if they did? Yeah. Would the fans love it? Yeah, but that’s out of my control. I can only control what I can.”A fan-tastic experience View this post on Instagram Instagram PostGoddard’s philosophy on this isn’t just a throwaway quote. “I think that life has a plan for you, and all you need to do is be ready for when it takes you down that path, and you arrive at a door, you want to be able to open that door, and step through it,” he says. “Be ready for that next chapter.”One of Goddard’s favorite experiences from his General Hospital run was meeting members of the show’s devoted fan base at GH Fan Club Weekend last summer. “Every actor knows this – and the ones who don’t end up having short careers – we would not have a job without the fans,” Goddard states. “Let me rephrase that, we would not have a career if it were not for the fans.”Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.