Jason Morgan has made his highly-anticipated General Hospital. Steve Burton brought the character back in the March 4, 2024 episode. Now that he’s back, co-star Laura Wright (Carly Corinthos, who has long been deeply connected to Jason as a friend and romantic interest) is opening up about the excitement of having Jason back.
“It’s perfect. It’s home. It’s safety,” Wright says in a General Hospital behind-the-scenes video of Burton’s homecoming episode. “Jason coming back into Carly’s world, it fires up the part of Carly that fights for him, that believes in him, and is next to him no matter what, and not everybody can handle that.”
Wright shares what she thinks is the secret sauce of Jason’s enduring appeal: “It’s the same thing that connects us all to Steve, and I love this so much. It’s Jason and Steve, their integrity. The character of Jason will die for for the ones he loves, and that is something all of us would love to have and not everybody does. But, we understand and connect to it, because it’s something that we want.”
Burton says there’s more to Jason than meets the eye. “I think it’s always the misunderstood guy, who works from a lot of pain,” he says in the BTS video below. “Jason is very loyal to the people he loves, and will be there for them no matter what. I think people can relate to that or would love that in their life. Beside the criminal activity, he’s a pretty solid guy.”
Burton’s long-running character was written out of General Hospital in 2021 after the actor was fired for refusal to comply with an on-set COVID-19 vaccine mandate. His “death” was the result of a tunnel collapse as he was trying to save his long-lost brother, Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison). Jason’s body wasn’t found. He came back in the March 4 episode, and it was a bloody event. Burton says he’s approaching the character differently this time around.
“I’m approaching the character differently,” Burton says. “I was able to sit down with the head writer who talked about what really happened, what state of mind it is for Jason, and it was very helpful.”
Sonny Corinthos actor Maurice Bernard says Jason’s appeal is wanting to help the “bad boy” evolve.
“It’s the bad boy you want to fix. But he’s a different bad boy, obviously than I am,” Bernard shares in the video. “He’s a sweeter bad boy. The character is a very honest character who has a lot of integrity. I think people connect with that and Steve’s a damn good actor. From what I’ve already played [Jason’s return is] pretty intense, that’s all I can say.”
There was a different plot planned for Jason’s revival initially, but he was excited by the new plot the writing staff cooked up. Now, fans will want to know how Jason survived the tunnel collapse, how he was rescued and by whom, and who had a hand in his demise in the first place.
General Hospital, Weekdays, 3/2c, ABC