It's not uncommon for actors to want to branch out and try new things in their careers, and it doesn't usually cause much trouble. But, one General Hospital actor just took a part on the Showtime series Homeland, and it's led to some unexpected upheaval. Actor Bradford Anderson, who has been playing tech whiz Damien Spinelli on General Hospital since 2006, recently booked a gig on the terrorism drama, and it's lead to the daytime soap having to temporarily recast his role with Days of Our Lives alum Blake Berris. And, Anderson wants to make sure that the recast doesn't come as a shock to fans, and that they understand why it had to happen.
So I'm appearing in a couple episodes of the upcoming season of Homeland on Showtime! It's a show that I've watched and loved since it began, so to be working on it is pretty exciting. The unfortunate part is that it conflicted with some episodes of GH that I was supposed to do, and I had to back out of those episodes. To make it even worse, it all happened last minute. I put GH in a very difficult position and for that I am incredibly sorry.
Bradford Anderson wrote about the situation on his Facebook page in an apparent effort to make sure that his fans would know why they would be seeing another actor suddenly appearing on General Hospital as their beloved Spinelli. The actor has been nominated for five Daytime Emmy awards for his work on the show, so it would certainly cause some consternation with viewers if they tuned in and someone they didn't recognize was being called Spinelli.
According to Anderson's post, he will appear in multiple episodes of Homeland when the show returns. A look at the actor's IMDB page tells us that he will play a character named Trent on the show, but no other details are known at this point. His Facebook post also makes it clear that General Hospital was very accommodating when they heard he wouldn't be able to film as expected, and notes that they actually had to scramble to find a replacement for him over the weekend in preparation for a Monday shoot.
If you're not a fan of soap operas, you might not realize how committed the fans get to the actors who portray their favorite characters. While recasts can be common, that certainly doesn't mean that people find it easy to let go of the version of their favorite character that was played by an actor they had gotten used to and grown to love in the part. A recast can change the whole dynamic of the relationships on the show, so fans have been known to get up in arms when they don't approve of a new actor in a tried and true role.
Well, we can all watch Bradford Anderson's debut on Homeland sometime after the show debuts its sixth season on January 15 on Showtime. You can see what else is coming up on TV with our midseason premiere schedule.
