‘General Hospital’: Andrew Hawkes Introduces Dangerous New Villain Ross Cullum

Andrew Hawkes made his General Hospital debut on January 14 as WSB Director Ross Cullum, the secret partner-in-crime of Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota).

Hawkes had read for casting director Mark Teschner several times over the past year before finally landing the part. “I knew he liked me, but I just wasn’t the right fit for the other stuff,” Hawkes says. “And then I got the scene for this kind of quietly ruthless, dangerous, single-minded character. I went and read with Laura Wright [Carly Spencer], who is fantastic, and I walked out of there going, ‘OK, I did what I wanted to do with that, and regardless of any outcome, I did my job as an actor.’”

Securing the role was exhilarating, then Hawkes, who has done a slew of episodic television, got his first set of scripts. “I had about 65 pages of dialogue to learn in six days and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I don’t know if I can do this,’” he confides. “On The Rookie, they shot about 8.5 pages a day, and the first time I saw the call sheet where it said we’re doing 145 pages, I was like, ‘This is a hilarious joke,’ but no, that’s exactly what they do. They’re incredibly good, and it’s a machine and a half.”

Disney/Christine Bartolucci

While the pace was new, soaps themselves weren’t entirely unfamiliar territory. Hawkes had a one-day appearance on The Young and the Restless as an unnamed thief in 2014. “It was a two-line scene,” he recalls. “I was called to set at 8 a.m., and I was driving out of the gate by, like, 8:30 in the morning, and we’re talking wardrobe, hair, everything. I remember at that time thinking, ‘This would be the most terrifying thing in the world to actually be a regular on a soap.’ And then when I started over here, I said to Frank [Valentini], our executive producer, ‘Frank, just I want you to know that you’ve made all my worst nightmares come true.’ Luckily, he laughed. It’s super intense, but I love the challenge of it.”

Beyond the dialogue load, Hawkes also had to adapt to the day-to-day realities of soap production. “My first day was spread out over the entire day,” he relays. “So, I had some stuff in the morning, some stuff in the afternoon, and then some stuff in the evening. The thing I didn’t know was that they didn’t feed you, so I was there for about 14 hours, and I was starving. Now I’m rolling in with like a cooler, basically, like, ‘Anybody need anything? Sandwich? I got plenty. Help yourself.’ I am my own craft services.”

As he has grown more comfortable on set, Hawkes has also been digging deeper into the layers of Ross Cullum. “He is a character who has seen like the darkest parts of the human psyche,” Hawkes details. “I don’t know how you see some of the things and do some of the things that the character has done and not have that change you and harden you. Everything’s played really close to the vest. Efficiency is key in the character. He can’t stumble or take a second or hesitate. I don’t have that leeway where I can get caught up on a line. This character has to be word and punctuation perfect.”

Disney/Christine Bartolucci

The newcomer will share scenes with a wide range of actors on the canvas, including Chris McKenna (Jack Brennan), Finola Hughes (Anna Devane), Kelly Thiebaud (Britt Westbourne), Rota, and more, and says he’s received a warm welcome. “Everybody has been awfully kind and sweet to me,” he reports. “It’s a great character, and I love the storyline. Chris McKenna is my boy. We’re adversarial in the show, but he’s such a good guy. Carlo, of course, is fantastic and so much fun to work with. I’ve just started watching General Hospital in the last month, and I’m like, ‘Oh, I can see how you would just right away get hooked.’ I love the Sidwell stuff. I think it’s so fun, and I love the stuff between Sonny [Corinthos, Maurice Benard] and Rocco [Falconeri, Finn Carr]. I told Maurice, ‘You are the coolest grandfather; that’s the grandfather you want. He comes in and solves the problem.’ And Frank, our executive producer, is tremendous at what he does. He’s been great.”

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After landing the role, Hawkes discovered a GH devotee in his close circle. “I have a very good friend who I never knew was a General Hospital fan,” he muses. “She’s one of my best friends, another actor here in Los Angeles, and she’s been watching it for 40 years. Any question I could ever have about a pronunciation or what happened here, I could go to her, but haven’t done that because I don’t want to spoil anything, and I signed an NDA. But I’ve done some research about the role, and I see comments where they’re like, ‘We think this character is Sidwell’s partner,’ and hopefully they won’t be disappointed going, ‘Who the hell is this guy?’”

When he’s not navigating Port Charles intrigue, Hawkes remains deeply connected to the stage. “I’m part of a theater company, the VS. Theatre Company,” he shares. “Theater is my first love, but it costs money to do. That’s my passion, but also working in movies and television. But there’s been ups, and there’s been downs for sure. Going into COVID, it was a rough stretch for a while, and the strike was right in the middle there, too, so let me put it this way: my lovely wife was keeping the ship afloat. She’s a marriage and family therapist, and business was booming after the pandemic.”

Now that his first episode has aired, Hawkes is ready for what comes next. “I’m nervous, but I’m excited,” he notes. “I’m just interested to see how this little piece of the puzzle fits in. It’s great to have a job and to be able to do what you love to do. So many people are out there struggling, and I know what that feels like. I just feel very fortunate. It’s a great job, and it’s a great gig with incredibly gifted people. This has just been a fantastic experience for me.”

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