‘General Hospital’: Would Alicia Leigh Willis Return as Sonny Corinthos’ Sister, Courtney Matthews?
General Hospital fans love a good return. With the recent comeback of Marcus Taggert, many are speculating who could return to the show next. A ghost appearance a few years ago wasn’t enough for some fans, and they want Courtney Matthews back in town. Alicia Leigh Willis, who portrays the character, gave an interview not too long ago in which she discussed her thoughts on returning full time.
The history of Courtney Matthews on ‘General Hospital’
Courtney was first introduced in 2001 when she came to town right after her mother, Janine Matthews. She soon learned that her biological father was Port Charles resident Mike Corbin and that she had a half-brother, mobster Sonny Corinthos. Sonny was very protective over Courtney, which led her to a romance with A.J. Quartermaine, Sonny’s rival. Sonny had custody of A.J.’s son, Michael Corinthos, and sleeping with Courtney was a part of A.J.’s plan to get back at Sonny, before he realized he actually loved her. Through turmoil in their relationship, the two ended up splitting.
She also had a relationship with Sonny’s enforcer and A.J.’s brother, Jason Morgan. After they broke up, she married Jasper “Jax” Jacks. Their marriage began to fizzle once Jax grew closer to Elizabeth Webber, who was going to be a surrogate for them one time. She then began a relationship with Nikolas Cassadine. She became pregnant and didn’t know if the father was Jax or Nikolas. Helena Cassadine, Nikolas’ grandmother, attempted to kidnap the baby as the Cassadine heir.
In 2006, Courtney died from complications from the pregnancy of she and Nikolas’s son, Spencer Cassadine. Courtney did not tell Nikolas he was the father before she died, and Jax knew the truth and raised Spencer as his own. Maxie Jones ended up finding the real results and gave them to her cousin, Robin Scorpio, who revealed the results at the baptism of Spencer (then known as John).
The character of Courtney is considered to be Nikolas’s true love. Wills briefly returned as a ghost, appearing to Spencer in 2015.
What the actress says about a ‘General Hospital’ return
Willis gave an interview with ABC Soaps in Depth last year about her thoughts on returning to show.
Courtney’s ghostly return in 2015 was actually due to a fan vote. “There was actually some kind of thing on Facebook where fans were voting to bring a character back for a guest star or something like that. And they called me and they’re like, ‘Oh, they voted for you to come back.’ And I was so excited because I got to go back and it was like a family reunion,” the actress said.
She added, “To see all of these people that I’d worked with for so many years. It was really nice. It was really nice getting to give everybody such big hugs. I loved playing Courtney. That was such a big part of my life for such a long time. Even my family got involved. When I ended up getting it, my whole family was super thrilled because they loved everybody that I worked with over there.”
And though Courtney is currently dead on the show, we know that most daytime soap opera deaths aren’t real and that characters can come back from the dead at any time. Willis is open to the opportunity. “I would love to go back and work with them again. Yeah, if the opportunity ever came up, I would love that. It would be fun.”
Willis narrowly missed returning to daytime television last year. She screen-tested for a role on another soap opera but ended up not getting the role. “Between me and one other girl and the other girl got it. But she’s a friend of mine so… But yeah, I definitely have thrown my hat in the ring a couple of times. You never know how it is with the soaps. Everyone knows each other so it’s really nice when you go to the other soaps, you’re usually seeing people that you’ve worked with in the past. It’s pretty cool.”
General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC.
