General Hospital: Wil Traval Debuts as Mystery Man Jude
Wil Traval made his General Hospital debut as Jude, the charming stranger who bought Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) a drink at the Brown Dog bar, in the October 16 episode.
News of the Australian actor’s casting broke on September 18, but outside of the name of his character, fans were not given any info about how Jude would fit into the canvas. Jude’s status as a mystery man was further cemented when his name was not disclosed on air during his first episode — but in a new interview with TV Insider, Traval revealed a whole lot more.
Wil Traval Dishes GH Debut as Jude
The actor shared with the outlet that he was still recuperating from a serious car accident — one that left him with a broken back — when GH first approached him in June about auditioning for the role. He did a chemistry read with Kelly Thiebaud, his first scene partner, and soon learned that the job was his.
Initially, Jude was slated to be what Traval described as a “short guest role,” but at the end of his first week of taping, that all changed. Traval marveled, “I got a call saying they might want to offer me a contract on the show, which was a real surprise and a delight.”
That was already an enticing proposition for the actor, given how well he hit it off with Thiebaud as they began sharing the General Hospital stage. “It’s the biggest delight in my life to be working with her,” he declared to the outlet.
Now that he’s been filming for a while, Traval can confidently say that how much fun he had his first week wasn’t a fluke. “There’s something about it; I’m in my element,” he said of working on GH, adding that his experience on the show thus far has “returned me to a stupidly grinning happy man.”
As for what Jude is doing in Port Charles and what the future holds for him, TV Insider‘s piece teased that the character’s “identity and connections to Port Charles will come into focus in the weeks ahead.”
If Jude is connected to other Australians with ties to Port Charles, the options are many. To name just a few, there’s the other recent Aussie addition, Dr. Tristan Roberts (Dean Geyer); Emma Scorpio-Drake, whose grandfather is the legendary superspy from Down Under, Robert Scorpio (the late Tristan Rogers); and then there’s JJE, the conglomerate Josslyn recently took over as CEO from her Australian father, Jax (Ingo Rademacher).
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