General Hospital (GH) star Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) and his guest, actor and director Rob Brownstein, sat down together on the State of Mind podcast on Sunday. Apart from talking about working in soaps, the duo also covered rejection, therapy and pain.
Born In Vietnam
Maurice reminded his GH followers that Rob is a well-known actor. His introduction mentioned the Oscar-winning Best Picture Argo and Straight Outta Compton. Rob is also known for Star Wars and Bosch, as well as for teaching.
As usual with State of Mind podcasts, the guest was asked about his childhood. It’s interesting to note that Rob was born in Vietnam.
Traveling the World
His parents were both Americans. They met there after the French left, rather like forerunners of the Peace Corps. However, they got out before the war started and “hung around Southeast Asia for a bit.”
Later, they travelled to West Africa, where one of his brothers was adopted. His parents eventually “got divorced,” and Rob admitted that his father had “anger issues.”
His dad displayed narcissistic traits, but Rob didn’t know the details of any diagnosis. His childhood involved a lot of drama and what sounded like violent behavior.
Despite the split, the children still travelled with their dad and visited Ethiopia. However, they spent the summers and Christmas with their mom. During high school, they were educated in the United States. Rob has certainly had an interesting life.
Confronting Their Fathers
Maurice Benard and Rob Brownstein both discussed how they confronted their fathers and they related to that experience.
For Rob, being banned from a trip the night before departure brought out his rebellious side, and he decided to “go anyway.” He was thirteen years old.
Meanwhile, Maurice talked about his dad having rage and how he was whipped “with a belt.” The two agreed that “it hurts because they hurt their kids.”
Therapy for Maurice involved a therapist telling him he needed to confront his father. They agreed that it wasn’t nice to examine how “a six-foot man with rage whips a little boy.”
But they also felt that discussing abuse of kids was important. Both men felt that being physically abused created rifts with their father figures.
Working On Mental Health
Moving to his current mental health, Rob told Maurice Benard that he doesn’t struggle with it because he “worked at it.” Back in the 1970s, he turned to things “like Zen” and experimented with a few drugs, such as “mescaline.”
Somehow, he and his sister “came out okay,” while his brother struggled. He felt that the divorce made him “the man of the house,” so he was also dealing with his siblings. Meanwhile, his mom was struggling emotionally.
Therapy helped. Rob started therapy in his early 20s. He does get depressed, but as Maurice said, “It’s the level of depression.”
For Rob, working and teaching other actors also helped him navigate the ups and downs.
Coping with Rejection
Talking about rejection in acting, Rob said he believes there is no “rejection.” Instead, there is acceptance and moving beyond the person who “chose somebody else.”
Secondly, he noted that often, people in a rejected situation will blame somebody else. Alternatively, you could look at whether you could have done better. There’s no point hanging onto something that wasn’t meant to be, so looking for “balance” is important.
Next, they talked about how Rob feels “destroyed” if he doesn’t get an acting job. However, he won’t get stressed about other people who are difficult. He won’t “allow” people to press his buttons.
Learning Not To Care
Maurice Benard felt that “being bipolar” takes work. Learning not to care “really helps.” Meanwhile, Rob feels that “change is important.” People have to want to change.
In his experience, people can be helped, “but they need to be willing to be helped.”
Fans React
In the comments section, many people enjoyed the discussion. One General Hospital fan said:
Resilience and learning to not take things personally are fortunately great tools… It is a mindset and to learn to reprogram the faulty beliefs means to unsubscribe. I try to stay away from toxic people.
Another viewer noted, “SOM is the most relevant show of the times we are living in.”
Clearly, the conversation hit the mark.
Another person urged people to like and share the podcast because they believe Maurice Benard bringing mental health to the forefront is so important.
Your thoughts? Join the discussion, and then come back for more General Hospital cast news and updates.