General Hospital Exclusive: Dominic Zamprogna Teases Dante, Lulu & Rocco Fallout After Cullum Reveal
General Hospital‘s Dante had no clue when he reopened the PCPD’s investigation into Cullum’s (Andrew Hawkes) shooting that the culprit would turn out to be his own son. But with some gentle help from Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst), he came to the painful realization that it was Rocco (Finn Carr) who plugged Cullum that fateful night — and that Jason (Steve Burton) took the fall for him. Soap Opera Digest got the inside scoop from Dante’s portrayer, Dominic Zamprogna, about the big moment and what it means for Dante, Rocco and Lulu (Alexa Havins) moving forward.
Reality Bites
Dante, the acting commissioner of the PCPD, has been convinced for weeks now that there was something fishy about the events of that night. Notes Zamprogna, “Everything that happened with Jason [Steve Burton] seemed suspicious to him. First, he headbutted him and then when he was arrested and they were in the interrogation room where to Dante, it felt like Jason was almost on the verge of telling him something instead of doing his usual thing of not saying anything other than, ‘Get Diane [Carolyn Hennesy, Jason’s lawyer] down here!’ And then he clammed up again. There was just a lot that Dante thought was perplexing.”
What he wasn’t suspicious about was Rocco’s hand injury, which he sustained from firing Cullum’s gun. “Dante just believed what he was told, which is that Rocco had a kitchen accident,” shrugs Zamprogna.
That is, until the May 8 episode, when Liz reveals to Dante that Rocco’s injury actually appeared to be a slide bite, which is caused by an improper grip on a gun — and therefore typically affects amateur weapon handlers, not a seasoned pro like Jason. Dante put the pieces together from there, “but when everything starts to add up, he definitely wasn’t expecting it to add up to what it did! It’s such a shock.”
As is the realization that Lulu (Alexa Havins) has known the truth all along — and kept it from him. “That is devastating to Dante,” the actor declares. “He gets that the reason they probably didn’t want to tell him is because they’re worried that he’s too by the book, but this is his son! He has a lot of anger over them not telling him.”
Zamprogna praises co-star Rebecca Herbst for the depth of the empathy she displayed in the scenes as Liz attempted to soothe Dante. “I remember looking at her and thinking, ‘Oh, my God, what a wonderful person this is,'” the actor recalls. “It’s after Liz just told him all this stuff and Dante is beating himself up about, ‘How could this have happened?’ and, ‘How could I have missed this?’ She comes toward him with this hopeful smiles and positivity and reassurance. I was like, ‘Wow, what a beautiful moment.'”
Anger Management
Now that he knows the truth, Dante will have to decide what to do — protect his son or put his duties as a cop first. “This puts him in a situation where he’s potentially going to do things that he wouldn’t normally do, and that’s a big deal for him,” the GH star points out.
Expect some other more big moments in the storyline when the action picks up next week. “Dante having to confront these people for lying to him is going to be good drama and conflict,” teases Zamprogna. “There is huge emotional fallout from all of this. It has a big effect on his relationships.”
First up to face Dante’s wrath is Lulu. “Alexa is so good in those scenes,” Zamprogna says. “She is such a powerful actress. But as far as Dante and Lulu go, I could see it taking them a very long time to heal from this, because of her lack of transparency.”
As for Dante’s relationship with Rocco? “He’s the father in this situation and he’s got to be a grown-up,” the actor muses. “This is a moment for him to put on his big-boy pants and deal with things hopefully better, emotionally, than he’s dealt with things in the past.”
And, of course, Dante will have to reckon with the noble thing Jason did to protect Rocco. “Like we needed another reason to love Jason,” Zamprogna groans playfully. “Yeah, he’s definitely going to be owing Jason big-time when he gets back to town!”
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