What To Know
- Kate Mansi exited General Hospital as Kristina Corinthos, with her character leaving for medical school.
- Mansi kept her departure secret from Maurice Benard, who plays her on-screen father, until their final scenes.
- Their emotional farewell on set reflected the special bond between the actors.
Kate Mansi said farewell to Port Charles and General Hospital on Friday, June 12, as her character, Kristina Corinthos, left town to attend medical school in Los Angeles. After a three-year run as the fiery daughter of mob boss Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and attorney Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn), the character Kristina headed to UCLA to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor.
But while her on-screen exit marked the start of an exciting new chapter for the character, Mansi’s real-life departure was a far more bittersweet goodbye, bringing an end to her time with the long-running soap.
In an exclusive interview with TV Insider, Mansi explained that her decision to leave was fueled by a need for a more flexible schedule. Once she decided, Mansi explained that she kept the news to herself for a bit. “The truth is, I was afraid to tell people and feel sad talking about it,” she confessed. “And then, Nancy, Kristen [Vaganos, Molly Lansing], and Rory [Gibson, Michael Corinthos] were the first people I told because it directly affected my family, and I wanted to give them a heads up. So, we had time to process it together.”
But then she admitted there was one person he had the hardest time breaking the news to: Her onscreen father, Benard. “I couldn’t bear telling Maurice in advance because we have such a close relationship,” Mansi explained. “So, I waited until our last episode, and it gave us such beautiful scenes together.”
According to the actress, Benard took the news hard. “He was crying, and he asked me in rehearsal, ‘Is this it, kid? Are you really leaving?’” she recalled. “And I said, ‘Yes.’ He gave me a big hug, and we both cried.”
“During taping, it was a very meaningful, authentic reaction we both had saying goodbye to each other, which is what I really wanted, because the father-daughter relationship for Kristina and Sonny, and for Maurice and me, has been so special and unique. But it was really hard,” said Mansi.
While Kristina’s future may lie in Los Angeles, Mansi’s final scenes with Benard ensured her departure ended on a deeply emotional note. For the actress, saying goodbye to General Hospital was difficult, but sharing those final moments with her onscreen father made it a farewell she will never forget.
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