General Hospital: Why Guest Star Maxwell Caulfield Made Chris McKenna Blush
When Maxwell Caulfield went to work at the General Hospital studio to tape his episode as Apollo — the New York City art gallery owner who Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) and Ava (Maura West) sought out on the May 29 episode — he already had decades of screen recognition behind him. But even seasoned soap veterans can still get a little starstruck.
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That was certainly the case for GH actor Chris McKenna (Jack) who was thrilled to spot Caulfield on set and made a point of getting a photo with the actor, who played Rex Manning in Empire Records and Michael Carrington in Grease 2 in addition to his run on Dynasty and The Colbys as Miles Colby.
In an interview with TV Insider to discuss his appearance on GH, Caulfield recalled the encounter, saying he didn’t initially know who had approached him — but he quickly picked up on McKenna’s excited energy. “I said, ‘Oh, well, there’s a certified soap hunk —6’3”, square jaw, the rest of it,’” he shared. “And as I was leaving, he was one of the guys who insisted that we get photographed together. He said, ‘Come on, Rex Manning, I gotta get a shot with Rex.’”
McKenna later posted the snapshot he took with Caulfield in the hallway on X (formerly Twitter) and declared “Um, he’s talking about me and I am blushing…” he wrote, later clarifying in a reply to a fan that he did, in fact, address Caulfield properly in person: “But I made a point to call him Maxwell, not Rex. ❤️”
McKenna later shared a fuller version of how the meeting came about, explaining that he first noticed Caulfield while watching his scenes with Grahn and West on a monitor in the makeup room. “I heard the guy say one line and I stopped, turned around… and said, ‘Who’s playing the maitre’d? He’s a good actor.’ Someone said, ‘You ever see Empire Records?’ And I jumped out of my chair. ‘That’s Maxwell Caulfield?!’ And I ran to go meet him.”
McKenna teased in a separate post, “I was so excited I nearly assaulted him and then texted this [photo] to all my high school friends.”
While Caulfield’s guest appearance on General Hospital did not include shared scenes with McKenna, Apollo is established to be on the shady side — so perhaps the character will return down the line to face questions from McKenna’s alter ego, WSB Agent Jack Brennan.
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