The daytime community is buzzing over the latest General Hospital casting news. The ABC soap has tapped former Days of our Lives star Blake Berris (ex-Nick Fallon) to take over for Bradford Anderson in the role of Damian Spinelli.
According to Anderson himself, the casting switch is a temporary arrangement due to a scheduling conflict the actor has that leaves him unable to reprise the character he originated in 2006.
"Hey all! So I'm appearing in a couple episodes of the upcoming season of Homeland on Showtime!" he shared on Facebook. "It's a show that I've watched and loved since it began, so to be working on it is pretty exciting. The unfortunate part is that it conflicted with some episodes of GH that I was supposed to do, and I had to back out of those episodes. To make it even worse, it all happened last minute. I put GH in a very difficult position and for that I am incredibly sorry."
He continues, "GH took whatever steps they needed to proceed without me. My plea to you is to be compassionate, understanding, and appreciative of whatever decisions they made. If anything looks or sounds different than you're used to, understand that it's because of a decision that I made. The situation was created by ME. I know some might rush to negativity, but I'd like to urge everyone to think about how unique our genre is, and how soaps truly embody the spirit of 'the show must go on'. To give you an idea of hard GH had to work, they learned on a Friday that I wouldn't be there to film on Monday. Imagine having to find an actor to play Spin in an important storyline, OVER A WEEKEND. And just wait til you see who they found... The perfect choice. I for one can't wait to watch. I'd like to apologize to everyone at GH and thank them for being understanding of my predicament. SO thank you all for your continued support of me, for sending as much positivity to GH and it's actors...and for WATCHING!!"
Berris, who teased earlier this month that he had a small surprise for soap fans, will be taping several GH episodes this January. At this time, it's unclear if this is the surprise he had in store for his fans or if the actor has something else up his sleeve.
GH fans who might be wondering about Berris' history can rest assured that the character of Spinelli is in good hands, as Anderson promised. During the Minnesota native's two years on DAYS, he garnered countless fans and a Daytime Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Younger Actor category.
What do you think about Berris temporarily replacing Bradford Anderson in the role of Spinelli? 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.
