General Hospital Confirms John Oliver Role: ‘Z Has Landed in Port Charles’
John Oliver made his General Hospital debut on July 2, and while the episode didn’t explicitly reveal his character’s identity, the show later confirmed on social media that he is playing Z, the head of the World Security Bureau (WSB).
In its post, GH shared a behind-the-scenes video of Oliver filming on location, with the caption: “’Z’ has landed in Port Charles and John Oliver couldn’t be more excited to be here… but the jury’s still out on some of his higher concept storyline ideas. Tune in tomorrow to see how far we take it.”
Z Lands in Port Charles
Z has been talked about quite a bit in recent months. The WSB has been an institution on the show for decades, and former agent Valentin Cassadine (James Patrick Stuart) needed to get word to its higher-ups that WSB Director Ross Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) was corrupt. So, despite being a fugitive, Valentin made his way to WSB headquarters in Geneva to meet with Z face-to-face. That meeting took place off camera, but based on the action in Oliver’s first episode, it would appear that Valentin’s mission was a success.
Oliver made his dramatic entrance as Z via helicopter in scenes shot on location. Z landed in Port Charles after a violent gun battle broke out on the docks of Spoon Island between Josslyn (Eden McCoy), Cassius (Ryan Paevey) and Cullum.
Josslyn and Cassius had both been racing to stop Cullum from absconding with a dangerous prototype for a cold fusion weapon. Cullum’s getaway was foiled by word of an WSB helicopter heading his way. Josslyn got shot by one of Cullum’s men, and after Cullum shot Cassius, Josslyn managed to fire a fatal bullet into Cullum.
Z — trailed by two armed guards — surveyed the carnage as he purposefully made his way toward Josslyn. As she clung to consciousness, Z approached her. “Everything’s gonna be okay,” the man assured her. “I’m here to help.”
Andrew Hawkes, the actor who played Cullum, tells Soap Opera Digest that Oliver “was a lovely person” to have on the GH set. “He came in and became part of the family right away. He was prepared and ready to go. He’s a performer, but he’s not an actor on a regular basis and he did a hell of a job — and it was so much fun to watch him play such a bad-ass!”
Oliver’s appearance as Z will continue on Friday, July 3 and conclude on Monday, July 6.
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