On June 4th, “General Hospital” stars Michael Easton and Josh Swickard participated in an in-person fan event, which took place at Governor’s Comedy Club in Levittown on Long Island.
A veteran of the daytime drama world, Michael Easton plays Dr. Hamilton Finn on the ABC soap opera “General Hospital,” while Josh Swickard plays his younger brother Harrison Chase.
“It’s so good to see your beautiful faces,” Swickard told the Governor’s Comedy Club crowd. “It’s so good to be back and it’s nice for us to get out,” Easton added.
The actors went on to thank James Dolce, the owner of Governor’s Comedy Club, and Linda Rohe of Coastal Entertainment for hosting this in-person fan event. “Thank you all for coming out and seeing us,” the actors expressed.
Working with their ‘General Hospital’ co-stars
They shared their behind-the-scenes stories with the Long Island audience at Governor’s, and Easton addressed how he handles the different character changes (he has played multiple characters on “General Hospital” over the years such as Caleb Morley, John McBain, Silas Clay, and his current role Hamilton Finn).
Kim Delaney and Gregory Harrison
Swickard and Easton both concurred that Kim Delaney is an “amazing and awesome actress.” Easton subsequently described Emmy winner Jane Elliot, who plays Tracy Quartermaine on the show, as a “force.”
They also discussed working with Gregory Harrison, who plays their onscreen father, Gregory Chase on “General Hospital,” who is in the middle of a heavy health storyline right now on the show.
Jophielle Love
Easton and Swickard shared their excitement to work with young actress Jophielle Love, who is the on-screen daughter of Michael Easton on the show. “Jophielle brings magic to every scene she is in,” Easton said. “Jophielle makes me laugh, she says the funniest things,” Swickard added.
Swickard spoke about being a father to a new baby at home, a son named Arthur, who joined his daughter Savannah, and wife Lauren, also an actress.
Tribute to Sonya Eddy and Jackie Zeman
They both paid homage to their late co-stars Sonya Eddy and Jackie Zeman. “They both brought incredible energy and joys to every scene,” Easton said, prior to adding that these are “real losses.”
Actors on the show they would like to do more scenes with
When asked which actors on the show they would like to do more scenes with, Swickard responded, “Finola Hughes.” “I think it would be really fun to do a WSB storyline with her, that would be interesting,” Swickard said.
Easton on the other hand selected Maura West. “I always like working with Maura West. She is one of those people who invests in everything that she does, she is amazing,” Easton exclaimed.
Michael Easton talks about his inspiration for his poetry book
Michael Easton also took some time to talk about his poetry book “Eighteen Straight Whiskeys.” He shared that he wrote “Eighteen Straight Whiskeys,” when he was 24 and after his mother passed away from cancer.
“I didn’t know what I was doing with my life, and I had friends that had an apartment in Paris, and they encouraged me to go there to find myself. Just a little side note about Paris… if you go to Paris, people speak French there, and I didn’t, so I wandered around for three months trying to drink a lot of wine, and I learned a few words. Years later, I did some readings in New York City and a publisher encouraged me to publish a book.
“I published a book in 1994 titled ‘Eighteen Straight Whiskeys,’ which were derived the last words of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas: ‘I’ve had eighteen straight whiskies. I think that’s the record’ and then Dylan Thomas dropped dead,” Easton said.
Easton continued, “20 years later, they wanted me to do another edition of the book (via Bowery Press), and they took all my old poems and they wouldn’t let me touch any of them, which was very difficult because I wanted to fix all of them but they told me this was going to be the story… how I was that person at 24, and I am this person that I am now.”
“The first part was me mostly wandering in Paris and doing bad things, and the second part was about me being a dad and having kids. It showcases some growth and some positive things. I was able to write a poem for my daughter and another poem for my son in case someday I am not here, I left a few thoughts for them. That is probably the best thing I’ve ever done for me personally,” Easton explained.
