Ryan Paevey on Why He Left ‘General Hospital’ & If He’s Returning

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Ryan Paevey has been open and transparent about why he left “General Hospital” and if he would be open to returning. Now he’s a popular Hallmark star who recently starred in a movie about a romance that develops because of a daytime drama. Given how closely that related to his own life, he has opened up more in the time since the movie aired about his own soap opera career.

Paevey Said He Left When His Contract Was Up in an ‘Amicable Parting’

Crown MediaLilley and Paevey on A Little Daytime Drama.

When Paevey’s character Nathan West died, it was one of the most mourned deaths in the history of “General Hospital,” Soaps in Depth reported. He died in a scene many fans felt was heartbreaking. Paevey had been part of “General Hospital” for 284 episodes, from 2013 to 2018, according to IMDb. Fans still miss his character today.

In an interview from 2018 with SoapHub, Paevey said at the time that he had always planned to stay on the soap opera for four years and move on when his contract was up.

“My contract came up,” he said. “There are other avenues I want to explore. It’s an amicable parting. Our time together has run its course… I will forever be grateful for my time at GH, what it brought into my life, and what it taught me. It has opened my eyes to a whole new world.”

In an interview with Soaps in Depth in 2018, Paevey said that “General Hospital” knew he was ready to go and he was very thankful to the series.

“I owe this show so much,” he said. “When GH gave me this job, I didn’t even call myself an actor — I didn’t even know if I wanted to be an actor. And as those of you who were watching back then know, it’s been a journey. I’ve learned a lot.”

He told SoapHub that the show was his first acting credit and leaving the series was a leap of faith. At the time, the only work he had lined up was a sequel to his Hallmark “Mr. Darcy” series.

Paevey told SoapHub in 2018 that his dream role was to be a Marvel superhero.

He Said He Might Be Open to Returning to ‘General Hospital’

Crown MediaPaevey in A Little Daytime Drama.

In a 2021 interview with Soaps She Knows, Paevey said he might be open to the possibility of one day returning to “General Hospital,” although there are no current plans for that to happen. He said:

I mean, that’s something that we would have to discuss. You know, my life has changed quite a bit since I left, and it would be tricky to balance everything out… We don’t have any plans at present, but I’m always open to work. I don’t know if anybody’s picked up on this yet, but I a little bit of a workhorse. I don’t sit still very well.

He said a return would be more appealing to him if his character, Nathan, grew and was more multidimensional.

“Nathan was just kind of a good, nice guy,” he said. “(He was) kind of single-faceted. You’ve got to have a little something in there to mix it up a bit.”

He Also Understands If the Character Is Recast

In a February 2022 interview with Soaps She Knows, Paevey also noted that he understood if his character was ever recast. He said he has now power over whether or not his character is recast and he has “no ownership of the character of Nathan,” he explained.

“You have to take your ego out of stuff like that,” he said. “If … fans have developed an attachment to a character and you don’t want to do it anymore.. and I’m not saying I don’t want to go back to being Nathan, but at the moment there is nothing in the works… If the timetables were right and the show wanted Nathan back right now because the fans wanted Nathan back right now, I want the fans to have what they want. I want to have what I want, too.”

He emphasized that there are no talks in the works right now for him to return.

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