Exclusive: General Hospital's Colin Cassidy On Aiden Coming Out To Lucky

Disney/Bahareh Ritter

Let The Healing Begin: Lucky's (Jonathan Jackson, l.) response to Aiden (Colin Cassidy) coming out to him sets the stage for a stronger father/son relationship.

Colin Cassidy made his General Hospital debut just last week in the recast role of Aiden Spencer, and the show wasted no time tasking him with playing out an incredibly important moment in Aiden's life: coming out as gay to his absentee father, Lucky Spencer, who is newly back in Port Charles. The actor chatted with Soap Opera Digest about Aiden's state of mind and his off-camera working relationship with Jonathan Jackson (Lucky).

Soap Opera Digest: How would you describe what Aiden's frame of mind was at the idea of seeing his dad again after such a long gap in communication?

Colin Cassidy: It's a huge deal and an incredible moment. For Aiden personally, it's huge to see his dad again after not hearing from him in so long. And obviously, he's got something weighing on his chest that he wants to talk to him about, and so there's a whole storm of emotions about seeing his dad. He's scared, excited, he's anxious. But there's also just a huge love there, where he just wants to see his dad and he wants to work things out even though their relationship has been a little rocky and a little all over the place for so long. He really does want a relationship with his dad.

Digest: When Aiden came out to his mom, Elizabeth, it was in a very low-key way, and all he has known to this point is a parent who is accepting, where their relationship doesn't change once Aiden comes out. But clearly, he had some butterflies about whether Lucky would be as accepting.

Cassidy: Totally. And I think that's a really common feeling for anyone in that situation. I did a lot of research, and talked to friends about it and looked up some videos on YouTube, and it's never an easy feeling, even if you know that this person loves you and cares for you. You're putting yourself out there in a way where you don't really know how someone is going to react, and that's a huge fear for a lot of people. I really wanted to get that right and portray that right because that's such a leap of faith, to put yourself out there and just hope that the love is still there and that you're not going to be treated differently. And that's definitely a huge fear that Aidan has going into this conversation with his dad, along with so many other feelings.

Digest: I think the audience has a lot of built-in affection for Aiden, since viewers saw Elizabeth raise him, saw him grow up on screen. But for some viewers, that connection will run deeper, as they will likely be able to see themselves in his journey of navigating his identity as a young gay man.

Cassidy: I think it's incredibly important to have, number one, just a character that you can relate to, and just to have that representation on screen. And maybe [Aiden's story] will give someone the strength to come out to their own family, help them get the courage to do that incredibly hard thing. I also think it's super-important to have that kind of character on a show like this, which has been going on for so long.

Digest: These were your first scenes with your on-screen dad, Jonathan Jackson. What was it like to work on the material with him?

Cassidy: Jonathan was incredible. It was on my second day of filming, and having such a big, heavy scene and having him there to guide me through that was imperative because I don't know how I would have done it without a professional like him. He made sure we put extra time aside and went over it together before filming. We really worked through it and talked about it, and worked out the moments and everything. He really guided me through the entire thing. It's an honor to be working with professionals like Rebecca Herbst [Elizabeth] and Jonathan, who know what they're doing and can get into character so quickly and create these amazing moments and emotions. I'd like to say that as an actor, I can get there, but I know it's not possible without these people helping me and driving it to a level that I'm just not at yet. So I thank them for that.

Digest: Were you nervous about the scenes when it was time to shoot them?

Cassidy: You know, there's always nerves; I don't know if that will ever go away. But I felt a lot of excitement, too. I feel very grateful to be coming on to the show and immediately having such deep emotional scenes. It's amazing! I wouldn't want it any other way. And yeah, it's a big task and it can be nerve-wracking or overwhelming, but that's kind of the emotion that Aiden is feeling, so it works.

Digest: So, in the scenes, Lucky responds really well; he makes it clear to Aiden that he loves him unconditionally. How would you describe what that means to your character, to hear Lucky say those words?

Cassidy: Aiden literally says, "I feel like I can breathe now." And when I was asking around and hearing other people's stories [of coming out to a loved one], that was the consensus: that it's an incredible relief. Even if it doesn't go as good as it possibly can, a lot of people feel like it's just an amazing release to get it off their chest. And when it goes well, it's got to be one of the best feelings in the world. You feel like you can be yourself, you feel like you are accepted for who you are, fully, you're loved, and that's all that matters. And I think with Aiden and Lucky, it does go as well as it possibly could. It's kind of a new start to an amazing, beautiful relationship. And I think you'll see in the following episodes that Aiden feels more comfortable with his dad. There's a certain level of love there that's different after [Lucky's] acceptance.