See Dominic Zamprogna Put ‘General Hospital’ Dad Maurice Benard in the Hot Seat

General Hospital star Maurice Benard is going to spend his birthday on Sunday, March 1, doing something that he loves: appearing alongside his GH co-stars on State of Mind, his YouTube talk show that takes viewers inside the world of mental health.

Benard’s not the only one who will be asking questions on this special episode. He’s getting a bit of a break on his birthday as one of his guests, GH son Dominic Zamprogna (Dante Falconeri), is going to interview Benard. Check out TV Insider’s exclusive clip of Zamprogna turning the tables on his TV dad above.

“I think 63 [which Benard is turning] is super youthful and young,” Zamprogna suggests to Benard, “because you’re still out there doing [acting]. You’ve recreated, reinvented [yourself].”

Watch for the three-time Daytime Emmy-winner to talk about how his career has evolved far beyond what he imagined it would be when he set out to become an actor.

State of Mind

“This whole thing, State of Mind or anything that I’ve done, mental health, it’s almost — and whether you believe in God or you don’t believe in God, but it’s kind of the road I was supposed to take,” Benard says.

“Did I ever think, when I got into acting at 20 years old, that I was going to be interviewing people?” the GH legend continues. “Not me. I barely graduated from high school. I could have never thought that way.”

Since 1993, Benard has played mobster (“coffee importer”) Sonny Corinthos on GH. Over the years, Sonny’s been paired romantically with Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil), Lily Rivera (Lilly Melgar), Hannah Scott (Lisa Vultaggio), Carly Spencer (Laura Wright; previously, Sarah Brown and Tamara Braun), Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn), Ava Jerome (Maura West), Nina Reeves (Cynthia Watros), and others.

Currently, the show appears to be testing the romantic waters between the mobster and Justine Turner, Port Charles’ district attorney played by Nazneen Contractor.

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On Sunday’s State of Mind, watch for Benard and Zamprogna to be joined by Lisa LoCicero, who plays Olivia Falconeri Quartermaine, Dante’s mother and Sonny’s ex-lover. There are “some things you didn’t expect,” LoCiCero teases as to what viewers can expect by watching the episodes. “A couple of things you didn’t expect to hear.”

Longtime GH viewers recall that Sonny had no knowledge that Dante was his son with Olivia. Upon learning that Dante was working as an undercover law enforcement agent, Sonny shot him in the chest, nearly killing him. Olivia promptly arrived, horrified to see her son bleeding out, and informed Sonny that he’d shot his own son!

Benard has said that his initial plan was to become “the best actor in the world,” but he feels he’s fulfilling a higher calling with State of Mind, and he can’t imagine doing anything else.  “Talking to these people I’m talking to,” Benard says, “it’s unreal. And it’s all because of mental health.”

State of Mind, Sundays, YouTube

General Hospital, Weekdays, ABC