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When 2024 came to a close, General Hospital's Chris McKenna never expected that his dream of one day appearing with Laura Wright on ABC's lone remaining soap would come true. After all, the soap had teased that chance multiple times before. But everything changed as 2025 began.
The journey to Jack
During an appearance on State of Mind with Maurice Benard, McKenna explained to his interviewer/co-star how GH came to be, as well as how many times GH almost came to be over the years.
Since his role as The Young and the Restless' Mark Harding came to an end 10 years ago, GH had reached out to McKenna's agent multiple times to see if the actor would be interested in reading with Laura Wright. However, none of the auditions ever happened, so McKenna didn't expect this one to happen either.
"Now, it’s January of this year, and my wife just had a baby, and I’m nesting, I’ve gained weight. I’m not ready to go because I’m in baby mode," McKenna said. "I get a call...and they go, 'Do you want to come in to GH and read with Laura Wright? I tell my manager, ‘'Why do they bother me? They’re not going let me come read.' He’s like, 'I know you’re right. I won’t even bother you with it the next time they call. He calls me back like two hours later and goes, 'Something must have happened. They really want you there on Tuesday to read with Laura Wright in front of Frank and a bunch of people!'"
The audition went so well that by the end, they were all trying to decide whether Jack would have an accent or not, as he did when Charles Mesure played him. As we all know, Jack suddenly went from Australian to American when McKenna took over the role.
A Loving-General Hospital reunion
While McKenna and Wright had never worked together before, they knew one another from their younger days on ABC's New York-based soaps, Loving and One Life to Live. Wright famously played Ally Rescott on Loving and later The City. In another studio nearby, McKenna brought OLTL's teenage Joey Buchanan to life.
With both actors being on ABC soaps, their paths logically crossed, especially on the softball field. When Wright first saw that McKenna was auditioning, she knew him right away.
"She saw me and gave me a hug in front of everyone else...but I knew Laura from when she was on Loving," McKenna said. "I hadn't seen her in 32 years. We used to play in the same Make-A-Wish softball game where she was the pitcher and I was the catcher. She made me so nervous back then."
McKenna admits that Jack Brennan and his new Port Charles life is a dream come true.
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"I’m so happy on this set and so much happier now than I ever would’ve been at any other time," he said. "I turned down a contract on Y&R, and this couldn’t have been more perfect. It’s exactly what I want. Exactly the role I want and the people I’m working with, and it’s just been incredible."
Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.
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