‘General Hospital’: This Star Is Back on the Show for the First Time in 17 Years

General Hospital viewers have been in for a blast from the past! Back like they never left, an actor and soap opera veteran has returned to the show for the first time in almost a decade.

Who is Réal Andrews and who is he in ‘General Hospital’

Réal Andrews plays Marcus Taggert, a police officer who has a feud with Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard). His other storylines include his relationship with Dara Jensen, his rivalry with Justus Ward, and his sister, Gia Campbell.

He is brought back into the fold after it is revealed he has a connection with Jordan Ashford (Briana Nicole Henry). There are several new theories about the character, including that he could be the father of uncle to Trina Robinson (Sydney Mikalya). Andrews’ first scene was on Jan. 17 and he shared one of his first scenes with Benard’s Sonny.

Andrews portrayed Taggert from 1996-1997, and then again from 1998-2003. He also appeared on the General Hospital spinoff, Port Charles. Outside of General Hospital, Andrews has appeared in other soap operas. In the early 2000s he had a role on As the World Turns and in the early 2010s he had a role on All My Children. Most recently, he had a role in Days of Our Lives has Hal Michaels from 2016-2017. He also portrayed Dr. Keith Campbell off and on from 2010-2018 on the digital soap opera, The Bay.

What Réal Andrews says about his ‘General Hospital’ return

In a lengthy and candid Facebook live video, Andrews was very open about his return to the show and the struggles he has been through in the past few years. He said that he was fired the first time and was in denial about it. He came to terms with it, however, and wishes things could be different.

Andrews spoke a lot about how religion is key in his life right now and that he celebrated his anniversary of being sober on Christmas Day. He also said around this time, he prayed to God that he could return to the show. Soon after this, he received a text from General Hospital‘s casting director.

“I never gave up on that dream. I got frustrated, I got angry, I got all those things, but I never gave up on that dream, and the reality is, if it was even six months ago, I wouldn’t have been ready” he said on returning to the show.

General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC.