GH Exclusive: James Patrick Stuart Says Valentin’s Exit Is ‘Nothing Personal’

James Patrick Stuart, who made his General Hospital debut as Valentin Cassadine on July 11, 2016, wrapped up his most recent appearance in Port Charles on Monday, March 24, when after months on the run, Valentin said heartfelt good-byes to ex-lover Anna Devane and his beloved daughter, Charlotte, before he was sent off to Steinmauer, a maximum security prison in Geneva. Soap Opera Digest spoke to the Daytime Emmy-nominated actor about saying his latest adieu to the show.

 

Soap Opera Digest: I gotta tell you, I don’t cry a lot watching soaps, but I did shed a tear watching Valentin’s farewell.

James Patrick Stuart: That’s nice. I’m glad to hear it! Yeah, that was all too brief. I had a good old time. It was three weeks in L.A., which is no longer my hometown [the actor and his wife, Jocelyn, made the move to Portland, OR last year]. I ended up crashing at Michael Knight’s [Martin] house and got to see the old gang again. I’m not on contract, so [Valentin going to jail] was no skin off my teeth. [Valentin being off the canvas] did actually give Jocelyn and me a chance to remodel our house, move in and settle into the Pacific Northwestern vibe, and this was a cool way to come back. And, of course, Valentin had to pay the ferryman. But who knows? Who knows what’ll happen in the future.

Digest: Well, bigger villains than Valentin have escaped from Steinmauer! Would you be open to returning if the show said, “Hey, we have an idea for another arc,” or even for a longer-term storyline?

Stuart: Yeah! I love Frank [Valentini, executive producer]. I’m amazed by him. I can juggle three tennis balls. I’ve tried to juggle four and I can’t juggle four. Frank can juggle 15 at the same moment, so I worship him. To be in his presence is an honor and to be working on his show is an honor. The cast and crew really admire him, and that’s palpable — and I like to be a part of that. You know, he said to me many years ago, “I like you, but if storyline dictates, I’ll throw you down an elevator shaft!” The show has got to be fed. It’s nothing personal. You know as well as I do that stories get written and [characters] get put in corners all the time, but if they come up with something that serves the show, of course I’d be happy to be there. I think whatever happens next, it’s a clean slate. I sure hope that I get to work with Finola [Hughes, Anna] again, because I just think that when you put the two of us in a room, she and I really enjoy each other. We enjoy the work, we enjoy rehearsing, we enjoy breaking down the text. We just think in similar ways and I don’t get my feelings hurt when she gives me a note and she doesn’t get her feelings hurt when I throw out an idea to her. We just work well together.

Digest: To that point, some fans are having a hard time with the dismantling of “Vanna.”

Stuart: I know I am [laughs]! I miss that woman and her constant making of toast, but that’s a side note.

Digest: What was your opinion of how Valentin made his graceful departure from the canvas?

Stuart: Well, I knew that he had to pay. I’ve always liked playing, when Valentin Cassadine ends up in a relationship, considering his traumatized childhood…. I like the idea that he’s never really been able to have a successful relationship. The profound tragedy is that he feels things so deeply and he needs and longs for, but has always lacked the ability to, show up as a real person in a relationship, to really get to know somebody. That’s a tragedy, that he’s a lover who just can’t sustain a loving relationship, and so what does he do? He falls back to what works: making money in nefarious ways, punishing people for imagined wrongs. I just like the tragedy of that character, so it makes sense that every once in a while, he has to go to prison.

Digest: I like that in this last little chunk, Valentin got to have moments of substance with so many different characters who were important to his overall arc: Alexis, Lulu, Charlotte, Anna, Laura. That was satisfying.

Stuart: I think that’s a very astute observation. They were all big characters in Valentin’s life, including Lulu. I think that’s why some of the fans feel like, “Oh, it feels so final,” you know? And it does kind of feel like, “Let’s give Valentin a jolly good sendoff!” And who knows? Maybe it is! But I hope not. We’ll see.

Digest: Nothing probably gives you a more visceral sense of just how long you were on the show than watching Scarlett Fernandez (Charlotte) grow up before your eyes.

Stuart: Yeah, mon petit is no longer so petite, is she? I remember it got to a point where every time I read that in a piece of dialogue, I’d smirk! When I met her, she was 6 years old, I think. And very intimidated by me because people say that I have a resting bitch face, that I always look like I’m judging you, even when I’m just thinking about myself [laughs]. But luckily, I had children of my own, and I kind of knew how to [win her over]. I brought her presents and crayons and things like that, and took interest in her. I always like The Courtship of Eddie’s Father, which was a favorite show when I was a kid. I just liked the idea that he didn’t know how to be a father, so, “We’re gonna be chums!” And I liked any chance I got to where we could play equals. There were moments when Charlotte was almost a parent to Valentin in some scenes, and I liked that arc.

Digest: What stands out to you about your last day on set?

Stuart: There was a sort of strange calm as I was leaving. I just love the crew and so it was like, “I really hope I see you [again]!” But at the same time, I’ve got a very full life, a great family and I know that I’m good. So really, at this point, it’s just whatever feeds the show and is good for the show, and I have faith that the people in charge of those decisions are doing the absolute best they can. And if I had a problem with that, I’d start my own show!

Digest: I remember that the first time I interviewed you, back in 2016, you spoke of how when you left your first soap, All My Children, after a 1989-92 run as Will Cortlandt, you were in such a different place as a person and an actor and that you’d always kind of wanted to take another crack at daytime. Looking back on that today, after playing Valentin for nine years, what does it mean to you that you did seize that opportunity and became a very vital part of the show?

Stuart: I did feel like there was unfinished business there. Leaving All My Children, I definitely think that was somebody doing something for me that I wouldn’t have been able to do for myself. Despite my ambitions, I was enjoying the money and the accolades and living in New York. And somebody just sort of kicking me out was kicking me out of the nest ended up being really good for me. I got a chance to do 20-plus years of really cool stuff. In one of the first conversations I had with Frank, he said to me, “I could never understand why they would give you a storyline like that, build you up to white hot and then kill you!” And without ever putting me on contract, he gave me nine years of developing a character that I always enjoyed, with women that I adored — Michelle Stafford [ex-Nina; Phyllis, Young and Restless], Cynthia Watros [Nina], Finola Hughes. Just the best! And I’m just really grateful for that because I think you’re right. I think I got a chance to punctuate the sentence where I didn’t get to the first time around. And I think it’s ironic — and that there’s a sort of a great symmetry to it — that I just sort of instinctively showed up to work recently with a beard and mustache, a la Will Cortlandt and Theo Hart [the Greek fisherman Valentin was posing as when he was first introduced]. There was sort of a sense of coming full circle to it, and I think that the producers understand my intentions, and they let me keep it, because God knows, there’s a lot of facial hair on that show! We look like the Boston Red Sox at the moment.

Digest: Speaking of Will: What did you think of the Will Cortlandt nod, that Valentin was using that name on his fake passport?

Stuart: Oh, I loved that! Loved it. I don’t know whose call that was, but I thought that was great, and I couldn’t believe that so many people spotted it. I think it was supposed to be a subtle Easter egg, and it just hit Twitter by storm. I loved that. It made me so happy. And they even got the Melanie reference [Melanie was Will’s sister, and Charlotte’s fake passport bore her name]!

Digest: So, we have no proof that Valentin will be in Steinmauer forever, but still, there are a lot of sad Valentin fans this week. What does it mean to you that so many people are rooting for him to have an extremely short sentence and return to Port Charles soon, and what would you say to them?

Stuart: I would want to thank each and every one of them for bolstering my ambition for worldwide approval! I would say that I’m almost certain that there were people at General Hospital that were thinking how great it would be to whack Valentin and all the attention that would get, but someone, I’m pretty sure it was Elizabeth [Korte, co-head writer], said in a brief conversation with me, “You know, you’re just too damn good to kill!” She couldn’t bring herself to type the words! So the fact that Valentin got arrested and sent off means there’s always a possibility of a tomorrow. But he’s got to pay something, pay some kind of debt — although it’s been brought to my attention that people in Port Charles do tend to get away with a lot of weird stuff! But I will miss the show as much as they will miss the character.

Sweet Sorrow: Valentin bid Charlotte (Scarlett Fernandez) farewell before heading off to a European prison.