Disney/Ricky Middlesworth
The casting shakeups at General Hospital just keep on coming! Hot on the heels of the news that Bryan Craig is set to make a one-day comeback as Morgan and that Jonathan Jackson is returning longer-term as Lucky Spencer, Michael Easton has confirmed that he is exiting the show. He has played his current role, Dr. Hamilton Finn, since 2016.
The actor made his announcement in a video posted to his official Instagram. “I’ve always been partial to the Irish good-bye,” he began. “That’s where you leave the party without actually telling anyone you’re gone. But I thought you all deserved better. So I just want to let you know that I just filmed my final scenes here at General Hospital.”
Easton went on to say, “I’ve loved every minute that I’ve been here. I want to thank the entire cast and crew for allowing me to share their stage this past 10 years. Most importantly, I want to thank all of you for the kindness and love you’ve shown me and my family. I won’t ever forget you. And as I walk out of here for the last time, and with apologies to Lou Gehrig, I feel like the luckiest man on the face of the earth.”
In response, his former castmate Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) replied, “The class, grace and elegance in which you just did that is why I will miss you every working day.” (To see more of his co-stars’ reactions, click here.)
The actor kicked off his soap career in Salem, playing Tanner Scofield — son of Vern, brother of Brian and main squeeze of Molly, played by Shannon Sturges — on Days of Our Lives from 1990-92. In 2015, Easton recalled to Digest, “I do remember standing at a pay phone — it was that long ago — on Venice Boulevard and getting the call that I got the part and having just enough change in my pocket to call my mom back home and tell her. She cried.” In 2006, he joked his exit from the show to Digest, saying, “ I think that rebelling got me fired, actually. They wanted me to be rebellious on-screen, not off.”
After a diverse post-DAYS career in prime-time on shows like Ally McBeal and Total Recall, Easton returned to the daytime arena in 2000 on Port Charles, where he played Stephen and Caleb through the GH spin-off’s cancellation in 2003. When ABC decided to bring PC to a close, Easton was quickly signed to a contract at One Life To Live and played John McBain until the show went off the air in 2012.
Easton was not a free agent for long, as he (along with OLTL co-stars Kristen Alderson, ex-Starr, and Roger Howarth, ex-Todd) inked deals to join the GH ranks as their Llanview alter egos. He made his GH debut on March 13, 2012. Easton told Digest in 2023, “When [OLTL] ended, my wife and I thought, ‘Hey, let’s make a change and try something new,’ so we moved back to California. We were only here a month or so when Frank [Valentini, executive producer] was very kind to call and say, ‘Hey, it’d be kind of fun if you came over here for a little while.’ And that was over 10 years and three characters ago or something like that!”
Indeed, because as longtime fans know, McBain was written off of the Port Charles canvas in 2013 due to a contract dispute between ABC and Prospect Park, which had acquired the creative rights to OLTL’s characters. The show quickly reintroduced Easton in a new role, Silas Clay, but the actor left in 2015 when Silas was killed off. Easton acknowledged to Digest in 2023 that his run as Silas “was very challenging. I think that everybody’s hand was somewhat forced in that they had to create something new. We all had contracts, you know? It was very difficult. It was the only part I ever did where I had no say in the development of anything, in what it was going to be or how it was going to be played. I tried very hard, but I don’t feel like I ever got a good hold on that character.”
In 2016, GH rehired Easton to play his current role, Finn, which earned him a Daytime Emmy nomination in 2018 for Outstanding Lead Actor. In recent weeks, the character has been on a downward spiral in the wake of the death of his father, Gregory, drowning his sorrows in booze, putting the safety of his young daughter, Violet, in jeopardy, quitting his job at the hospital and getting dumped by his gal pal, Elizabeth.
Digest can confirm that Easton’s last air date is set for Thursday, June 27. Stay tuned to soapoperadigest.com for an exclusive exit interview with the actor.
