General Hospital: Jonathan Bennett Talks Daytime Return Ahead of May 18 Debut as Joe Fitzpatrick
General Hospital will introduce Jonathan Bennett as the newest member of the PCPD, Detective Joe Fitzpatrick, on Monday, May 18. The gig marks the actor’s first daytime assignment since he made his TV debut on All My Children as JR Chandler, who he played from 2001-02. In a new interview with TV Insider, the actor opened up about what drew him back to soaps and why the opportunity to play Joe was one he could not pass up.
From Mean Girls to Port Charles
Over the past several decades, Bennett has become a mainstay on The Food Network, where he hosts popular franchises like Cupcake Wars, as well as on The Hallmark Channel, where the openly gay star made history by sharing the network’s first same-sex kiss in 2020’s The Christmas House. But he is perhaps best known for the 2004 cult hit Mean Girls, where he starred opposite Lindsay Lohan (ex-Alli, Another World).
“Mean Girls is the reason I’m back on General Hospital,” the actor shared, saying the film “opened up a lot of doors that probably wouldn’t have been open had I not done it.”
With such a full plate already, Bennett still found himself immediately drawn to the character GH had in mind for him. When he first read the casting breakdown for Joe, Bennett enthused, “I called my agent and said, ‘I’m playing this character.'”
But even before that call, he dialed up his former AMC castmate Cameron Mathison (Drew), who played Ryan Lavery during Bennett’s days as JR. Bennett said he considered Mathison a “safe space” for him as a young actor starting out at AMC and that during that conversation, “I was like, ‘Cameron, should I do this? I really want to do this.’ He said, ‘You should do this. It’s going to be very fun for you, and you’re going to enjoy it.'”
As excited as he was about throwing himself into his new character, Bennett admitted that readjusting to the pace of production in daytime made him “completely nervous my first week.” Happily, he quickly found his footing thanks to the “supportive and loving” cast and crew, starting with Executive Producer Frank Valentini. And despite the jitters he was battling, the actor said, he felt welcome at his new workplace from day one. “I felt like I’ve been here for 20 years,” he smiled. “I just felt so comfortable.”
All in all, Bennett said that he feels like he’s “hit the jackpot” at GH — but there is still one item on his wish list that he has yet to check off: encountering his former AMC stepdad, Michael E. Knight, who is currently on a break from the role of Martin. Bennett enthused that he “can’t wait” to see the actor, adding, “I hope he remembers me!”
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