Back in 2000, actress Kelly Monaco was first introduced to soap opera fans on the “General Hospital” spinoff “Port Charles.” She played Livvie Locke. When “Port Charles” was canceled, she was cast on “General Hospital” as Sam McCall, and she has been playing McCall on “General Hospital” ever since.
Twenty-one years later, and after appearing in more than 2,200 episodes of “General Hospital,” multiple outlets are saying that Monaco’s character is being written out of the show “General Hospital.”
Soap Opera Network reports that Monaco is leaving the show because the network the show is on (ABC) has decided to kill off her character. The outlet also shares that sources claim Monaco was “blindsided” by the news that her character was being written off.
Deadline reports that McCall will be killed off sometime in the fall, but an exact date has yet to be announced.
That isn’t the only big change happening at “General Hospital.” There’s also quite a shake-up having in the writer’s room. Co-head writer Patrick Mulcahey is leaving the show. Meanwhile, Chris Van Etten will be returning to the show to run the writer’s room with Elizabeth Korte.
As far as cast changes, actor Sawandi Wilson will be making his debut on the show as a character named Isaiah who will somehow be connected to Jonathan Jackson’s Lucky.
Back to Monaco. She has been nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards. The first nomination was in 2003 for her role on “Port Charles.” She was nominated in the category Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. The second nomination was in 2006 for her role on “General Hospital.” This time she was nominated in the category Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
In addition to her acting roles, in 2005 she also competed on the reality dance competition series “Dancing with the Stars,” and she won the Mirror Ball trophy. In 2012, she returned to the show and came in third place.
Does it surprise you that McCall is being killed off “General Hospital”? Why do you think ABC decided to remove this character from the show?