GH: State of Mind with Maurice Benard Discussion Thread

[j swift]

I wonder if we should give him more of a pass because of his mental illness?

An exaggerated sense of self, along with delusions of grandeur, are common symptoms of the bipolar experience.  So, as much as I find MB's ego grating, I also dismiss it as part of the illness that has brought him a great amount of suffering.

I am not trying to condemn anyone for criticizing his poor interviewing style.  It is just that my first thought always assumes that it is a byproduct of his disorder.  Which is not an excuse, but more of an insight into how hard it must be to work and act beside him. 

[titan1978]

I wonder if any of these kids watch him and think this is supposed to be the best of the best?

I have said it before, but even at his worst, most bored and ready to leave, with the right scene partner Tony Geary was still capable of strong work. I haven’t seen anything from Mo in over a decade that I would consider any more than passable.

One of the reasons I was team NAC before he left the show!

[Vee]

Tony could ham it up in the worst ways by the end when he got really indulgent and there was no really good writing left upstairs (behold the immortal clip from The Soup where they spoofed his rendition of Luke's ghost dad - 'come join Daddy in Hell! There are no second takes!'), but he was still very capable when something he was playing wasn't totally embarrassing. He and Jonathan Jackson rewrote their last scenes together in 2015 and it stood out glaringly vs. the rest of Carlivati's show that day - it was the best dialogue the show had had in at least 5 years, if not longer.

I think the last time Maurice connected for me was in the big reveal scenes re: A.J.'s murder with Maura and Chad Duell in 2014. And even then he was weak most of the time in that period. Before that, not since Vanessa's exit in 2011.

Edited February 5 by Vee