General Hospital's James Patrick Stuart has been whipping up all kinds of devilish fun as his latest alter ego, Valentin Cassadine, and it's no wonder he's so good at it. Three decades before coming to Port Charles to terrorize Laura (Genie Francis) and her family, Stuart played All My Children's villainous Will Cortlandt -- who raped Kelly Ripa's character, Hayley, and was brutally killed by Janet from Another Planet (Kate Collins).
Fast-forward to today, and he still can't believe he's once again working with Francis, who used to play AMC's Ceara Hunter before taking on the role of GH's Laura. "She was like a big sister to me," Stuart told Soap Opera Digest. "She and Jonathan [Frakes, her husband] used to take me out to dinner and order more Chinese food than was necessary so they could send me home with some, because they knew that I was living by myself. She has raised two children since then, but her soul is still the same. We were able to pick up right where we left off."
Not only is Stuart fortunate for the reunion with Francis, but he's honored to be able to give daytime another shot -- especially because he feels he was "young and stupid and arrogant" the first time around. "I was full enough of myself back then to think that I was going to take on the world -- and I think you have to have that in this business; otherwise, you would do something else," he explains. "The first time around, I looked at the opportunity on the soap opera as a springboard to other things. But now I see the power of soap operas as a really special thing, and I see how much they mean to people. I'm happy to come back and give it the attention and respect it deserves."
For more from Stuart about his former AMC days, including a hilarious tidbit that involves him, Michael E. Knight (ex-Tad Martin, AMC; Simon Neville, The Young and the Restless), and a Speedo, check out the actor's full SOD interview here.
What are your favorite memories of AMC's Will Cortlandt? What do you think about Stuart in the role of GH's Valentin? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
