Lindsay Hartley Temporarily Replaces Kelly Monaco As GH's Sam

JPI

Soap fave Lindsay Hartley (ex-Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, Passions ; ex-Arianna Hernandez, Days of Our Lives ; ex-Cara Castillo, All My Children ) is once again stepping in for Kelly Monaco on General Hospital in the role of Sam McCall. She began airing on August 22 in what setsiders tell Soap Opera Digest will be a very short-term stint.

The actress first made her presence known in Port Charles in 2020 as a sub for Monaco. At the time, the actress posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Some big shoes to fill…precious too. I hope you enjoy watching Sam as much as I have enjoyed playing her, temporarily.” Hartley returned as Sam again in 2021, then for a third time in January of this year.

On August 22, she wrote on Instagram, "Grateful to be stepping in again."

The actress is handling some pivotal episodes, as on-screen, Sam is mourning the death of the baby one of her half sisters, Kristina, was carrying as a surrogate for her other half sister, Molly, and Molly's domestic partner, TJ. The entire extended clan of Davis women is on hand to support Molly as she says a painful good-bye to the daughter she never got a chance to raise. Sam's own domestic life is much calmer, as she has created a blended family with Dante. See what Monaco's leading man, Dominic Zamprogna (Dante), had to say about working with her here.

Monaco, who began portraying Sam in 2003, told Digest on the occasion of her 20th anniversary in the role last fall, "It’s wild to me that I’ve been a part of ABC for 20-something years and GH for 20 years. I was in my early 20s when I started! GH is such a legendary show and I consider it my second home. Every day when I drive to the lot, I am just so honored to be a part of it." She also reflected on how Sam had evolved over the years, observing, " Sam came on to the canvas only having herself and her brother, always taking care of someone and never being taken care of. I think the biggest evolution for her is starting from being a really lonely, scared woman and becoming a woman who is still really inde- pendent, but is protected by family and friends and love and relationships and loyalty, and she never had that before. Now she has a family and kids. She came in bent and broken, and I feel like there’s a lot of her that’s still broken, but she’s constantly sort of putting the Rubik’s Cube together. All the pieces don’t fit perfectly yet, but it’s certainly not broken anymore!"