It was indeed a GH Fantasy Weekend for fans of General Hospital in West Palm Beach this Saturday! There were more than half a dozen General Hospital (GH) actors on hand to greet several hundred GH fans. Laura Wright (Carly Corinthos), Bryan Craig (ex-Morgan Corinthos), Will DeVry (Julian Jerome), Finola Hughes (Anna Devane), Robert Palmer Watkins (Dillon Quartermaine), Hayley Erin (Kiki Jerome), and one of the hottest men to grace Port Charles, Jeffrey Vincent Parise (ex-Carlos/Joe Rivera).
He Made Bad So Good
The fans went wild for Parise on the Improv comedy club stage with his fellow GH actors! He told the audience some interesting stories. Guess who actually auditioned with Will DeVry for the role of Julian Jerome?! You guessed it: Jeffrey Vincent Parise! According to DeVry, Parise played Julian in the audition as “a pocket rocket Pacino on steroids!” Parise did tell fans in the audience DeVry was a better fit for the role of Julian than he was. In any event, TPTB must have liked Parise, because they brought him back as our favorite mobster associate, Carlos Rivera!
When Parise did audition, he had no idea about what GH was all about. He YouTube-d some of the episodes of GH with Maurice Benard as Sonny Corinthos and Finola Hughes as Anna and was like, “Holy —-!” That ultimately changed his approach to his audition.
Meeting Jeffrey Vincent Parise in person was quite an honor for me, because not only is he an accomplished actor, but he is also an accomplished painter/artist. Parise recently put out a book called Jeffrey Vincent Parise: A Decade of Paintings 2000-2010. The book is dedicated and refers to the sitters he painted over ten years. I had to snatch up the book when it was for sale at the event. Parise was also kind enough to autograph it for me, of course. It read, “Shawn, Thanks for supporting the arts!”, signed JVP.
Future Projects for Parise
While Parise was sad to be let go from GH, more as mobster Carlos Rivera, than his bland doctor twin Joe Rivera, we talked about his latest project, a TBS comedy called the Detour. In the show, Parise also plays a Carlos! In the latest Soap Opera Digest, the actor revealed, “This Carlos is not as deadly as Carlos Rivera, but he is still dangerous. And he’s a much better dancer than Carlos. He’s got moves, this Carlos!” The first episode of Detour‘s second season airs Tuesday, February 21st, at 10pm Eastern.
Of course, the majority of the fans in the audience at Saturday’s event indicated they wanted Parise to come back as Carlos Rivera as opposed to Joe Rivera. We at Soap Cities agree. What do you think?!
Give us your input in the comment section below. Check back with Soap Cities for more GH spoilers, recaps, news, and fun! Follow us on Twitter at @soapcities, on Instagram at @soapcities, and come chat with us in our Facebook group. Catch “General Hosptial” weekdays on ABC.
Discussion2 Comments
What a fun weekend it must have been. Miss “Carlos” on GH. He really could act.
I was there!! It was a great event!!