Jonathan Jackson has admitted that his exit from General Hospital was not planned, and that he had hoped "to be able to stay on longer".
On June 5 it was confirmed that the five-time Emmy winning actor would be exiting the show as Lucky Spencer, with his final episode earring this week. Fans recently saw Lucky's longtime lover Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) turn down his marriage proposal in the June 5 episode.
© DisneyJonathan joined the show in 1993 as Luke and Laura’s son and has come and gone from the show over the decades, with Jacob Young and Greg Vaughan both taking on the role at certain times.
He returned in 2024 but with his family living in Tennessee, he shared that it was always an "experiment" to see if he could make it work with the show filming in Los Angeles.
© Disney"There was always that possibility because it was a bit of an experiment on my part to see if I could make it work with the family dynamic," he told TV Insider.
"There were moments where I thought, 'I think I can find this balance with the family and time back and forth,' and then you just have to pray about it and try to do what you feel is right. We gave it our best shot, but we weren’t able to keep it going."
© Penske Media via Getty ImagesJonathan is married to Lisa Vultaggio, who was also on General Hospital, and they are parents to three children, son Caleb (b. 2003), daughter Adora (b. 2005) and son Titus (b. 2010).
Over the years Jonathan has seen a lot of changes in Port Charles but he said that the chance to work with his co-star, including Genie Francis, who plays mom Laura, were the "most special".
"Working with Genie was very special because I didn’t really get to do that last time," he shared, adding: "I loved the scenes with Maurice [Benard, Sonny Corinthos] and I absolutely loved working with Kate [Mansi, Kristina Corinthos]. That was a real highlight this time around.
© Disney"And [Rebecca Herbst, Elizabeth Webber] as well. When I was here in 2009 to 2011, it was more of the implosion of Lucky and Elizabeth, and it was just kind of a full-on tragedy.
"This time, there was a lot of goodness and a lot of sweetness amidst the drama, and it was fun to be a part of that. And the response from the fans was really precious as well."
Jonathan won his first Daytime Emmy in 1995 for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series and won it again in 1998 and 1999. He won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2011 and 2012 after reprising his role as Lucky.
