It’s official. Steve Burton is making his General Hospital comeback as Jason Morgan, thrilling fans who saw his surprise appearance at the end of the show’s primetime special, General Hospital: 60 Years of Stars and Storytelling.
Steve Burton Is Ready To Take On Jason Morgan
Burton, who began playing Jason back in 1992 when he was known as Jason Quartermaine, left the soap once in 2012 and again in 2021 after a 2018 comeback. During his time away from Port Charles, he spent some time on his first soap, Days of Our Lives as Harris Michaels, the character he created way back in 1988. Burton announced his DAYS exit on January 3.
As GH spread the news via the primetime event, Burton gave Daily Drama the scoop on his return during a chat with co-star and co-host Bradford Anderson (Spinelli, GH) on The Daily Drama Podcast. He also opened up about his 2021 exit when Disney/ABC required employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Disney had their mandate,” Burton explained matter-of-factly. “They wanted people to get vaccinated. I chose not to, so we parted ways. As you can see on my video on Instagram from a couple of years ago, I didn’t have any hard feelings. I didn’t have any ill will because GH was my family. I was there for so long. I grew up there. This show, General Hospital, has enabled me to live such an amazing life.
“I know it’s hard for people to believe because a lot of emotions get in there, and I understand,” he continued. “People get emotional. It was an emotional time in the country, in the world…but I like to focus on love, I like to focus on gratitude. I truly believe when one door closes, another door opens.”
Keeping The Comeback A Secret
Burton and the GH production team tried to keep his return on the down-low until the primetime special aired, but the actor had to tape the entrance segment with Kelly Monaco (Sam) and Laura Wright (Carly) that we all saw as the show came to a close.
That’s when word started to get out that Burton would indeed be Stone Cold, aka Jason Morgan, back to Port Charles.
“We tried to keep it super low profile in the building,” Burton said. “Here’s the thing. Once you start telling makeup, hair, wardrobe, it’s hard. It’s supposed to be hush-hush but I’m going back in the building…you can’t just drop me in the dressing room and then take me up to stage and shoot something without people noticing.”
While he spent time on DAYS during the two years Jason has been MIA, it was still an emotional experience returning to GH.
“It was incredible going back,” a clearly choked-up Burton said. “Just the welcome back from everybody on the lot, starting with the people at the gate. It was amazing.”
Where Has Jason Been?
When we last saw Jason, he was battling Victor Cassadine (Charles Shaughnessy) on Cassadine Island while trying to rescue his brother, Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison), as well as Liesl Obrecht (Kathleen Gati) at Britt Westbourne’s (Kelly Thiebaud) behest. After an explosion, Jason was presumed to be dead and buried under the rubble in an underground tunnel, but mysteriously and conveniently, a body was never found.
That left the door wide open for Jason’s imminent return, but it doesn’t answer where Jason has been all this time. Surely, he didn’t end up in dark sunglasses living in a Russian clinic while known only as Patient 6.
While Burton can’t give away any spoilers and has not yet taped his first scenes back, he did have some thoughts on how the character can make another grand entrance.
“When Jason first turned into Jason Morgan, I drove through the Quartermaine den on the dirt bike to rebel,” Burton recalled. “So, I should just ride through Sonny’s wall on a Harley.”
