Anthony Geary could return to General Hospital if 'story is interesting'

Luke Spencer said goodbye to Port Charles on Monday, but there’s a chance that General Hospital’s most recognizable star may stage a return.

Anthony Geary told EW that while he’s “excited to raise the curtain on Act 3 and reinvent myself,” he’s not completely opposed to returning to the daytime drama that made him recognizable just about everywhere.

“If the story is interesting to me and it works out, I may come back to the show for six weeks or so,” Geary told EW.

Executive producer Frank Valentini welcomed the possibility.

“He has millions of friends here,” said Valentini, who adds he was “devastated” when Geary came to him about wanting to leave. “It’s not a question of him being able to stay or come back. It just has to be a good enough, solid to bring [him back].”

In the meantime, Geary’s plan is to retreat to Holland — where he has a second home — and find work in another language. He’s especially interested in musical theater. “I’ve been studying voice for the past 10 years,” said Geary. “I would like to do musical theater in Holland or near London.”

Geary said he created another home for himself overseas when he realized that he would always be known as the guy who plays Luke Spencer.

“I came back to the show in 1991 after seven years,” recalled Geary, who first joined the sudser in 1978. “That’s when I realized that returning to this character was going to become my career. I learned that after all the attention I got playing the role, there weren’t going to be a lot of offers coming in. I was so associated with this guy. So I made the conscious decision to find another place in the world where I could spend time with people who didn’t know me. In Holland, the show has never ran. The Dutch have no interest in celebrity. I just love it there.”

That said, Geary has never lost his affection for his Port Charles alter-ego.

“I’m not sick of Luke. He’s an infinitely fascinating character,” said Geary. “He’s one you can take out of modern context, put in the 16th century, and give him a sword. I really don’t think we have exhausted what he can do. It depends on the writers and how far they want to look. We had just been repeating ourselves for a while. I had become a dad, a grandfather. There was no way I was going to stick around to become just another guy. If they come up with something, a twist, I would come for it.”

Related content:

• Anthony Geary says goodbye to General Hospital — exclusive
• General Hospital: See Luke and Laura's last moment