Exclusive: GH's Rick Hearst Dishes About Ric And Elizabeth's Reunion

Disney/Christine Bartolucci

Exes And Ohs: Ric (Rick Hearst) tests the waters with former wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst).

When Ric laid eyes on ex-wife Elizabeth last week, third wheel Carly prevented him from the deeper reconnection he seemed to be craving. But this week, when Ric again pops up at the hospital, he is able to charm Liz into spending that coveted one-on-one time with him.

"It's so interesting to explore, 'Okay, where were these guys before and where are they now?' " notes Rick Hearst (Ric), who recalls that during his last sustained stint on the show (2014-16), Ric used underhanded means to regain a place in Liz's heart, "and he got exposed on the Nurses' Ball stage for having hired Hayden [to pose as the wife of a then-amnesiac Drew, who at the time was living as "Jake Doe"]! And this time around, in really kind of understanding where these are now, I didn't want to try to ignore who this guy really has been for so long — and that's somebody who has maneuvered and positioned himself constantly to be able to come out on top and whoever becomes collateral damage in the wake of that, 'Hey, sorry! But I had to do what I had to do.' "

With one notable exception. "Elizabeth has always been that one person who, for the most part, he never wanted to be that collateral damage," Hearst observes. "But he knows how much collateral damage he has indeed left on her and their relationship. She's the one that got away. She's the one person that he's never been able to reconcile himself with, 'This was you, you killed this.' "

I Think We're Alone Now

At the hospital, Ric approaches Elizabeth gingerly. "It's the initial, 'Hey, are you open to even being near me?' " Hearst explains. "And when she consents, it's [like a green light saying], 'Yes, you can continue to move forward.' "

Ric invites Liz to go on a walk with him, and she accepts. Reports the actor, "Every step of the walk is about, 'Hey, are you willing to have a cup of coffee with me? Okay, are you willing to have an ice cream with me?' He is reaching into the parts of Elizabeth that he knows, and certainly he knows that she is not a person who would be deliberately be hurtful or caustic without reason, right? And so with that, he really is trying to approach it from a standpoint of, 'How much rope is she gonna give me before I hang myself?' "

Elizabeth's openness to spending time with Ric does not mean that her guard isn't up. Says Hearst, "I think it's just wonderful that she remains, at her core, that genuinely open and loving human being that tries to look for the best in everybody, but also, a genuinely changed person in terms of how much she lets people in. And I think that's what happens with anybody who has a history of damage in a relationship. You are gun-shy, you know? You've put up walls, because each time you've let yourself open yourself [up to someone] and you lose that for whatever reason, whether it's by death or whether it's by a separation by a tumultuous event in your relationship, you are left with those scars and those scars, while healing, they do build up scar tissue. And that's where she is — and he's learning that that is where she is, and being, you know, cautiously optimistic as he moves forward."

Never Say Never

As Hearst sees it, Ric has never truly gotten over Elizabeth. "The feelings stay there; the genuine nature of who the two of them were at the beginning of their relationship has never left," he says. "And yet, they're older, they've grown through experience and other relationship and time apart. But I think he will always try to come back to that moment where he could woo her, and see if there is a possibility there. The look in both of their eyes ... the more that you see them, the more he actually interacts with Elizabeth and makes advances and movements toward her while he's in town, the more he's going to understand that this is a different time — but he ain't giving up!"

For Hearst, it has been "wonderfully familiar and soulful to be working with Becky [Herbst, Elizabeth] again," he declares. "We're old buddies, the two of us, and you just fall back into it. That's been across the board for me in each relationship, each character that I've been able to connect with so far; we've all been able to sort of open that door again and see where it'll go. It's been fabulous."

Especially because when Hearst first signed on to return to GH, he wasn't anticipating that he would have the chance to delve further into the "LiRic" dynamic. "Quite honestly, I didn't know whether I would have any interaction with her because the primary reason for Ric coming back into town is to see his daughter, help his daughter, support his daughter," he says. "And I think their fans will be gratified, as I was [by what the show has in store]."