‘General Hospital’ James Patrick Stuart, 57, Reveals ‘90s Party Days With Kelly Ripa and Laura Wright (Exclusive)
'I didn't have this on a bingo card!' The soap star talks 'infuriating' costars and a shocking new romance
With Valentine Cassadine confined to Carly’s world for his latest return, General Hospital star James Patrick Stuart talks to Woman’s World about his decade-long ride on the Port Charles redemption rollercoaster.
The Daytime Emmy-winner who got his start on All My Children gets candid about finally sharing the screen with powerhouse Laura Wright—and also offers a peek into their early years partying with Kelly Ripa and other young New York City soap opera stars in the ‘90s.
Plus, with Finola Hughes’ Anna locked up and Port Charles locals battling a snowstorm, Valentin and Carly’s unexpected chemistry is heating up. Will they… or won’t they? Stuart weighs in!
‘This summer will be 10 years that I’ve been hanging around like a stray cat!’
Since joining General Hospital as Valentin, James Patrick Stuart has committed murder, arms deals, kidnapping, arson and so much more. But thanks to Val’s love stories with Anna and Nina, girl dad energy, and well-timed heroic turns, Port Charles just can’t seem to shake this uber-villain who was trained by the WSB.
“I can’t believe this summer will be 10 years that I’ve been hanging around like a stray cat,” Stuart marvels with a laugh. “Valentin’s such an opportunist, and I’ve found him an interesting character study. He had great genes and powerful parents, but nobody raised him. He was left to fend for himself, and that explains a lot about him. He can fall so desperately in love, but he’s not able to deliver the goods or necessarily make genuine connections.
“I also like that he keeps believing he can come out on top,” he adds. “Even when he was being led off to Steinmeier in shackles, he seemed to be plotting his return, right?”
On partying with Wright and Ripa in the ‘90s—‘We were just young and crazy!’
In all fairness, Valentin had reason to feel confident. No matter how far he falls, he always slinks back into town–and this time, he’s slid his way right into Carly’s attic.
“When I stepped back onto the sound stage, I started to turn left, and they’re like, ‘Not so fast, James, we’re going over to this side of the studio now,” he recounts. “I’ve never played over on Carly’s side of the studio!”
Stuart had also never gotten to work with portrayer Laura Wright, but these two soap opera vets have actually run in similar circles since their starts in New York in the ‘90s—back then, he was on All My Children and she was on Loving.
“We were part of this unbelievably blessed group of children given the keys to the city,” he says. “Laura was friends with Kelly Ripa, so I used to see her a lot. Sometimes at the China Club, sometimes just at someone’s apartment during a party. I don’t remember being particularly deep. I just remember wanting to have a good time. We were just young and crazy!”
On working with Wright—‘Boy, I didn’t have this on a bingo card!’
Since joining General Hospital, Stuart has enjoyed reconnecting with Wright over pickleball matches, Palm Springs getaways, and fan events.
“She’s so sophisticated and driven, but she’s also deep and wants to be a better person,” he raves. “Not only that, she tries to help other people better themselves, and she’s just a terrific listener.”
“We’ve seen each other parties over the last 10 years and it’s been like, ‘Oh, wouldn’t it be fun to work together… but how the hell would it work?’” he continues. “And now, I think the fans are right there with us saying, ‘Boy, I didn’t have this on a bingo card!’”
Stuart reveals what’s ‘infuriating’ about Wright
While no one saw this pairing coming, Valentin and Carly found an immediate chemistry.
“People are saying how fun this banter is, and that’s thanks to her lifetime of experience, my lifetime of experience, and the way we work together,” Stuart says. “Before I paint too rosy a picture, what’s infuriating about Laura is she learns her lines so unbelievably quickly. She knows the script backwards and forwards, at first glance, so she has the ability to see the bigger picture, instantly.
“I take more time to get there, but the day of, when we’re an hour away from filming, we’re sitting on a couch somewhere, hashing it out together,” he continues. “We bring all our experience to that couch. We get into the nuances and art of what’s happening and we just laugh, and we think, ‘Oh, that bit’s really clever.’”
‘Valentin’s heart is with Anna,’ but would he sleep with Carly?
With the tension at a high this week, General Hospital viewers can’t help but wonder if Valentin and Carly will hook up, romantically, and Stuart can see it happening… almost!
“Valentin’s heart is with Anna,” he explains. “Not only had he always longed for her, but she saw him for who he is and fell for the whole package. She was way past having any illusions about him and was in it with both feet, anyway. That was desperately attractive to him, and I liked that for my man, Valentin!”
Naturally, Val blew that up, but if he manages to save Anna from Wyndemere and perhaps all of Port Charles to boot, he may just get to swing back to hero status, again.
In the meantime… anything is possible.
“Laura and I have talked about what it would look like if these two decide to move towards each other in an intimate moment,” Stuart says. “He’s a guy who’s been locked up for a long time, and if you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with, right? So I just see straight up desire.”
How will Valentin deal with his daughter growing up?
While a role in the sheets might be good fun, Valentin also has very different priorities right now.
“He’s been desperately trying to get back to Charlotte and what they had, but what’s great is that she’s in another chapter, now,” Stuart says. “My father raised me as an equal, and that’s one of the truths from my life that I can’t help but bring to Valentin’s relationship with Charlotte. There’s nothing particularly precious about their connection. He loves her, but he’d be delighted to take her skydiving.
“But as she becomes a woman, I can’t wait to see how that plays out,” he continues. “Will he be able to let her do her thing? Or will he try to claw her back and keep her who she was? And what happens when she starts to find guys… like that Danny the kid!?”
Could Bluesy’s dad, Billy Burke, join ‘GH’?
With Charlotte having gone through Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome, Stuart is now entering new territory with newcomer Bluesy Burke.
“She’s fantastic, and from a purely physical standpoint, she’s a natural progression from the previous actress, Scarlet Fernandez, and that’s really rare,” he says.
“Crazily enough, I was actually working on The Closer with Billy Burke, Bluesy’s dad, when she was born,” he adds. “I was the district attorney and he was some nefarious criminal. That was way back in 2008, and here I am with her playing my daughter!”
With Papa Burke’s Fire Country character killed off last season, Stuart wouldn’t mind working with him again on, say, General Hospital.
“Billy comes around the studio sometimes, and he would be a natural fit,” he says. “It would be great!”
Valentin’s drama ‘is all just so soapy and delicious!’
With Port Charles locals battling a snowstorm this week, Stuart is waiting for the drama surrounding his character to finally snowball—not to mention for it to reunite Valentin with Anna!
“I would love to get back into some scenes with Finola Hughes, just because I love working with her so so much,” he says of Anna’s portrayer. “But right now, Laura Wright has been such a delightful surprise. I’m just having a great time!”
Stuart concludes by reminding Woman’s World readers that while Valentin has been isolated in Carly’s World, Anna has been hallucinating on Wyndemere, Josslyn’s been sticking her WSB nose into whatever Sidwell is up to, and young Charlotte’s been trying to play hero, herself.
“There’s a lot of ways this could go,” Stuart teases. “Especially once Anna comes back into the picture… and once it’s revealed to Josslyn that Carly knows she’s a WSB agent… and once Jack Brennan finds that out. It’s all just so soapy and delicious!”
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