The Inside Story of Late Sopranos Star Vincent Pastore’s General Hospital Connection
Vincent Pastore, the actor best known for his role as Salvatore “Big Pussy” Bonpensiero on the critically acclaimed HBO series The Sopranos, was confirmed dead on August 1 at the age of 80. Between 1995 and 2004, Pastore played multiple small roles on One Life to Live, and in 2008, he had a short but memorable run on General Hospital.
How Vincent Pastore Was Cast on GH
On GH, Pastore appeared as Maximus, the mobster father of Max (Derk Cheetwood) and Milo (Drew Cheetwood), Sonny Corinthos’ (Maurice Benard) trusted bodyguards.
In a 2009 interview with Soaps in Depth, Pastore recalled that he landed the gig after SOAPnet — the defunct, soap-centered cable channel — featured him as a famous General Hospital fan in a promotional campaign. The actor, who was an avid watcher of the show while working in bars and nightclubs in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s, told producers he wanted a shot at appearing in Port Charles.
“I told them, ‘I’d love to be on the show,’” he explained. “So they called up GH’s casting director [Mark Teschner] and Bobby [Robert Guza Jr., the head writer at the time], and they wrote me in!”
How Maximus Fit Into GH’s Mob Story
On screen, Maximus came to Port Charles from Italy for a short visit, and Max and Milo asked everyone in Sonny’s orbit to play along with a cover story: they wanted Maximus to believe Max was the boss during the trip. Sonny’s enforcer, Jason Morgan (Steve Burton), reluctantly agreed to help sell the ruse.
The story played against the mob stakes of the time: Sonny was focused on Russian mobster Andrei Karpov (Ilia Volok) after Kate Howard (Megan Ward) was shot during her would-be wedding to Sonny.
Maximus ultimately made it clear he wasn’t fooled. Before heading back to Palermo, he offered Sonny advice about dealing with Karpov, admitted he knew Max worked for Sonny, and asked Sonny to keep Max and Milo safe — without letting them know he’d clocked their lie.
Vincent Pastore on Working at General Hospital
Pastore told SID that the pace of daytime production was its own challenge.
“Working on a soap is probably the hardest work that an actor can endure. It’s like doing a play every day without having rehearsals. And GH is even tougher than other soaps,” he said. “You have to discipline yourself and say, ‘Okay, I’ve gotta learn all these lines and hit my mark by tomorrow morning at 7:30…’”
But he did have a minor quibble with GH’s mob scene.
“I think they need more New York actors to get the accent down,” he said. “I’m the guy from New York and I’m talking to a bunch of California actors and they’re playing wise guys. Sometimes it don’t work.”
In the interview, Pastore said working at General Hospital “makes you realize why it’s such a great profession to be in, why these guys are so good and why [some] people fail.”
He singled out scenes with Maurice Benard as a highlight. “Despite having to stretch my acting muscles, the opportunity to share scenes with my favorite character, Sonny Corinthos, was worth the effort,” Pastore said, adding, “It was close to working with [The Sopranos’] Jimmy Gandolfini. Maurice Benard is a fine actor.”
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