General Hospital's Rory Gibson gets the fans' stamp of approval

General Hospital fans were shocked when it was announced that Chad Duell would be exiting the role of Michael Corinthos. As always happens when an actor leaves a soap, the fans were a little worried when it was later announced that Rory Gibson would be taking over the part. He wasn’t a stranger to soaps, having previously played Noah Newman on The Young and the Restless from 2021 to 2023. Since his debut in May, Gibson has made the part his own, and the fans agreed.

Rory Gibson expected pushback from General Hospital fans

General Hospital star Rory Gibson spoke with Soap Opera Digest about how he approached the social media aspect of coming into a recast. He noted that, “I’ve been a recast before, so I know that it can come with a little bit of resistance.” Gibson remarked that things can get dicey for an actor who is hoping for fan approval. He was well aware that Duell was beloved by the fans as Michael, and fully expected them to reject him in the part. This was particularly true because Michael had been recast several times before Duell, who played Michael for 15 years.

Gibson fully expected to receive pushback from the fans, as well as “maybe people not warming up to me super-quick.” That’s a healthy, positive attitude when entering a job like that. He therefore decided to stay away from social media, noting that he does have an Instagram account. But, as his scenes started to grace the viewers’ television sets, he remarked that he, “Just don’t even look at it because it’s going to get a little intense for a little bit.” (Learn who on the show was like an acting coach to Gibson.)

Gibson was pleasantly surprised

The General Hospital star stated that he knew several people who were ardent fans of the soap, particularly a couple whose jobs were in publicity departments. This made them something of experts in social media sites and apps. In particular, his friend Jenna, who is an authority on GH. She advised him to take a peek at what was being said about his performance as Michael, but he chose to avoid taking a look. She insisted that he check out what the fans were discussing.

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Gibson explained that Jenna knew he wasn’t truly concerned about what people would say. He remarked that his worry was about “Just anticipating some, you know, negativity or some heat coming my way, I suppose.” Ultimately, the General Hospital newcomer took a gander at the social media discussions and was pleasantly surprised by the positive nature of the posts the fans were making. He found the responses to be “cool” and “refreshing and nice.” He was thankful that the rabid fan base accepted him the the part, and could feel the viewers’ love. (Find out about Duell’s post-General Hospital project.)

You can watch new episodes of General Hospital on ABC and Hulu.

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