“General Hospital” star Jonathan Jackson is taking a hiatus from the soap opera.
“Days of Our Lives” alum Guy Wilson will be temporarily filling in as Jackson’s character, Lucky Spencer, beginning on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
A spokesperson for “General Hospital” told Soap Opera Digest that Jackson will miss only a “handful” of episodes and will resume his role later this month. The rep did not share why Jackson is taking a break.
Jackson originated the role of Lucky in 1993. He played Luke Spencer and Laura Webber’s son until 1999 when Jacob Young took over the role. Greg Vaughan also did a stint portraying Lucky before Jackson returned to the show. Jackson played Lucky from 2009-2011, visited for one story line in 2015, and returned as a cast member in August 2024.
Recently, Lucky and his ex-wife Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) have been trying to prove that Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober) is a murderer.
While Wilson will be portraying Lucky for the first time, he’s appeared on “General Hospital” before. He played teenage Luke in a fantasy sequence during a 2006 episode of the show. Wilson also played Will Horton on “Days of Our Lives” from 2014 to 2015 before the character seemingly died.
It was later revealed that Will had miraculously survived, but Chandler Massey, who previously played the role from 2010-2014, resumed the role at that point. Although he didn’t return to “Days of Our Lives,” Wilson was still happy to see the character resurrected.
“I cannot overstate the joy I feel in learning that NBC is bringing back one of the most important characters in daytime history,” he wrote via Instagram at the time, per Soap Opera Digest. “I couldn’t be more happy that Chandler Massey [is] back in the saddle as the steward of such an important LGBTQ icon.”
Earlier this month, “General Hospital” announced another casting shakeup. After Charles Mesure decided to exit the show, Chris McKenna of “One Life to Live” took over the role of Jack Brennan.
“General Hospital” airs on ABC on weekdays at 3 p.m. EST. Episodes can be streamed on Hulu the next day.
More TV News and Updates
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips/.