GH Exclusive: Rick Hearst (Ric) On His On-Screen Reunion With Maurice Benard (Sonny)

Disney/Ricky Middlesworth; Disney/Christine Bartolucci

Rick Hearst (Ric, top r.) and Maurice Benard (Sonny) finally shared their first scenes together since Hearst came back to the show in August — and to hear the actor tell it, both he and Benard had been chomping at the bit to go at it again for the cameras.

Brotherly Love

The chance to go head-to-head with Benard made Hearst emotional. "As I opened the script, I welled up inside at the opportunity," he says. "I felt that way about my first moments with Kristen [Vaganos, Molly] , with my first major scenes with Nancy [Lee Grahn, Alexis], with Becky [Herbst, Elizabeth] and then with Mo. Mo was the biggest one."

His anticipation had begun building when he first encountered Benard at the studio. "We saw each other a few days prior [to getting the script for their first scenes together]. He said to me, 'How long are you here for?' And I said, 'I have no idea, Mo. For as long as they'll have me! Until they kick me out!' And he goes, 'You and I, we'd better work together.' He said, 'I'm gonna be very upset if that doesn't happen.' And I was like, 'You and me both, brother. I really pray that that does happen.' And lo and behold, they had obviously already written it, our very first scenes — and man, oh man, it was on, on, on from the second [we got to set]."

Hearst marvels at the unique chemistry he shares with his on-screen kin/rival. "We giggle because we just love getting into it with each other. Mo is an actor who delivers lines of dialogue in a way that is unique to him, and you don't know what's going to trigger in you to be able to respond in kind to what he does with the dialogue. That's the thing that I think I always loved, and continue to love, about working with Mo."

The actor had a deliberate goal for the scenes. "I literally wanted to make sure that it was something where, the second we locked eyes with one another, we're inside each other [psychologically]. It's very symbiotic that way. We did the first two scenes and they were like, 'Wow, those were great,' and Mo said, 'That's what happens when he and I do this, when we work together!' "

The work Benard and Hearst did earned high praise from their boss, as well. "After everything was said and done, it was very funny because Frank [Valentini, executive producer] was on set for the latter part of the scenes, and he had obviously been watching," Hearst reports. "And [the performances] were very, like, quick, fast, talking on top of one another, a little bit of ad-lib, a little jab — things that organically just popped for both of us. And Frank goes, 'It was great! It was sloppy, but it's because you two hate each other so deeply.' And when he first said 'sloppy' I was like, 'Oh, no — is that okay?' And he was like, 'No, no, it works!' And I was so grateful that we were able to do that. Even when it's just a scene where you're tearing it up with somebody, I get emotional about it because it's such the juice that we all share as actors, that we thrive on and we wait for. And that's what's been so great about being back with all these guys on General Hospital ."