Rick Hearst. Paras Griffin/Getty Images
General Hospital is gearing up for another major character return.
Rick Hearst is set to return to his Daytime Emmy award winning role as Ric Lansing on the ABC soap opera. TVLine was first to report the news on Thursday, July 25, with Hearst, 59, confirming the news.
“Daddy’s home and here to take care of his daughter and anything that entails,” he told the publication, referring to onscreen daughter Molly (Kristen Vaganos).
Hearst originated the role of Ric — Sonny Corinthos’ (Maurice Benard) halfbrother — in 2002. He exited the show in 2009 before making a brief return in 2014. Hearst’s most recent General Hospital appearance came in 2016.
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Details about the character’s plotline have been kept under wraps for now, but it appears that Molly will play a major part in his return to Port Charles. Ric shares Molly with Alexis Davis’ (Nancy Lee Grahn).
TVLine confirmed that Heart’s return will come next month, more specifically, the week of August 19.
“I see that there’s a situation where Kristina (Kate Mansi) is being a surrogate for Molly,” Hearst speculated to the publication. “And while I don’t know what that turns into, I have a feeling there’s going to be some friction by virtue of the fact that one daughter [Kristina] is parented by Alexis and Sonny, and the other daughter is parented by Alexis and Ric. That alone is enough to create a mad amount of drama of who’s going to side with who.”
Hearst also shared a video via Instagram on Thursday, announcing his return to the show.
“Very excited to announce my return to General Hospital in the role of Ric Lansing,” the actor’s caption read. “Stay tuned. You never know what you’re gonna get with this guy.”
In the video, Hearst said he’s “super excited” about returning to the role.
“It definitely came as a pleasant gift and a surprise. I’m looking forward to being able to take the story that’s going to be coming out,” he continued. “It’s a lot of exciting stuff, of course. Ric tends to be in everybody’s business all at once and always has his own agenda.”
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Hearst made his soap opera debut as Scott “Scotty” Banning II on Days of Our Lives in 1989, a role he held until the following year. By 1990, the actor nabbed a role in Guiding Light as Alan-Michael Spaulding. He left the series in 1996, appearing as guest stars in other TV shows at the time.
He returned to the soap world in 2001 playing Matt Clark in The Young and the Restless before heading over to General Hospital. He’s also appeared on The Bold and the Beautiful as Whipple “Whip” Jones III in 2002, returning from 2009 to 2011.