How General Hospital’s Kelly Monaco Landed ‘Dream’ Role After Setback

General Hospital came into Kelly Monaco’s life when she was experiencing a low point in her career.

“I remember very specifically that I was at a diner in the Valley when I got the call that Port Charles was being canceled and my heart sunk,” the actress, 48, said in a 2023 interview with Soap Opera Digest marking her 20th anniversary on General Hospital. “ I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ I was so new and just getting my feet wet in the soap community, earning [a fan base], establishing a family.”

Before General Hospital, Monaco landed a breakout role on Port Charles, which was a spinoff of the long-running medical soap opera. Following its 2003 cancellation, Monaco was prepared to start the audition process but her luck turned around.

“Probably within 30 minutes of finding out the show was canceled, I basically got an offer from every one of the networks. I had the pick of the litter. Frank Valentini [General Hospital’s executive producer] was probably the most aggressive one that was seeking me out and called me personally.”

Monaco had interest from All My Children, another ABC soap, plus CBS and NBC. However, once she had an offer from General Hospital — to play the notorious Sam McCall — the decision was a no-brainer.

“I was, like, a die-hard General Hospital fan. That was my dream,” she recalled. “I was like, ‘General Hospital all the way!’ So, I was thrilled when [then-ABC Daytime President] Brian Frons said they would create a role for me.”

Monaco admitted she went into it knowing the transition from one soap to another was going to be “really difficult” at first, since Port Charles had a few episodes left and the timing “overlapped.”

“I didn’t know if I could pull off the audience being able to see me as two different characters on the same network at the same time,” she confessed. “I was really scared about that.”

While Monaco was anxious about what General Hospital fans would think of her, she ended up winning them over with her portrayal of Sam McCall. The soap opera veteran played the character for more than two decades.

“It’s wild to me that I’ve been a part of ABC for twenty-something years and GH for 20 years,” she reflected. “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.”

While Monaco has been a staple on General Hospital since 2003, Us Weekly confirmed earlier this year that she would be exiting the long-running series. Late last month, Monaco addressed her departure in a since-deleted Instagram comment on a Soap Hub post after one user referred to the actress as “monotone, had no primary roles and just boring.”

“‘No primary role’.. do your homework,” Monaco replied. “When Billy Miller was fired, Sam’s storyline stopped. Stripping Sam of every characteristic she had. Something I worked for decades to build… Slowly dismantling her, into a character that I did not recognize, let alone the audience. Call it what you will… retaliation at it [sic] finest. I will give a proper statement. The truth will set you free.”

Monaco has yet to address her exit further. However, she is in the process of wrapping up her character arc. Sam was killed off during the Wednesday, October 30, episode but Us confirmed that Monaco will make one final appearance on an upcoming episode later this week.