Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) had James Patrick Stuart (Valentin Cassadine) on his State of Mind podcast. The two General Hospital (GH) actors didn’t waste time on a lot of general chit-chat. They discussed some heavy stuff. Addiction. Anxiety. Getting clean.
Seeing A Likeness
Benard kicked things off by noting how alike they are. Both play dark characters on TV. But off-screen, their lives can be a mess. They have to fight their own heads just to get through the day.
The talk moved past their resumes fast. Benard asked if depression was Stuart’s main issue. Stuart corrected him.
“Mine was anxiety to begin with…I medicated,” Stuart said.
Stuart grew up around the British rock scene in the 60s. Drugs and booze were everywhere. By 13 or 14, his anxiety turned into anger and isolation.
He used substances to cope. It worked at first. Then it ruined him.
A Series of Disasters
In New York, working on All My Children, he was high all the time. He lived in a fog. He could not get work. The woman he loved left him.
“The only person who loved me was my mom,” Stuart said.
The change started at 25. The GH actor was staying at his brother’s house, surrounded by self-help books.
He looked out the window and saw a garden rake. So he went outside and raked the lawn. A small thing. But it took his mind off himself.
Doing something for someone else filled a hole inside him. He called it “the beginning.” He put the plug in the jug not long after, getting clean and staying that way.
Maurice Benard agreed that small things matter. Helping others matters. His own advocacy work started small too. Right from his car.
Dealing With Loss
They talked about losing a parent. Chad Stuart, the British musician and half of the 1960s duo Chad & Jeremy, passed away on December 20, 2020.
Stuart and his siblings had been loving him the best they could in those last days, weeks, and months.
Stuart said he spent his father’s final months “loving him as a verb,” focusing on caring for him day by day. After his death, unresolved feelings began surfacing.
After his dad passed, the feelings he held back came flooding in. He and his siblings realized they’d never dealt with certain things.
“There’s stuff that we all have to deal with now on our own,” Stuart said.
Sharing Dark Times
Benard shared his own dark times. He had a breakdown. Months of nothing but darkness.
“God and the devil fighting in my mind,” Benard said.
The real-life Sonny Corinthos eventually got help.
“With me it was professional help that ended up saving my life,” Maurice Benard added.
Weird Coincidences
They touched on weird coincidences too. Benard acted out an Alzheimer’s story on General Hospital while his own dad got the disease.
Later, his character had pancreatic cancer. So did his dad. Benard called these moments “too much coincidence.”
James Patrick Stuart called it synchronicity, adding that he believes in angels and these kinds of moments.
Benard said those synchronicities were “not surprising,” calling them profound and “proof of a loving universe.”
Coping With Stigma
They also talked about stigma. People treat mental health and faith like taboo subjects. Until a crisis hits.
“People have a problem with the word God until shit hits the fan,” Stuart said.
Maurice Benard agreed. He said surviving the darkness makes you stronger. A year after he wanted to give up, he won another Emmy.
The episode ended with both men talking about resilience. They got through years of self-medication and serious mental health battles.
Therapy helped. Doctors helped. Helping others helped. They keep using their platforms to tell people they’re not alone. Even when it feels that way.
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