A show that has been on the air for as long as General Hospital has is bound to have some major changes over the years.
The beloved soap opera, which has aired a whopping 15,000 episodes, has been around since the early 1960s, and per IMDb, has featured over 4,000 credited cast members in its legendary run.
Now, as it's currently airing its 62nd season, it is bringing back one of its beloved stars, Jon Lindstrom, who first joined the show in 1993.
© Getty ImagesIt has been a year since Jon was last on the soap as Kevin Collins, and has since been based out of Atlanta (GH films in Los Angeles), filming another soap, Beyond the Gates, which premiered on CBS earlier this year.
Speaking with TVInsider about coming back to GH, Jon explained that it had "been difficult to find the time" to do so, and that was the main reason for his absence. "In all fairness to me, it had whittled down to about one or two shows a month, so Kevin had been fairly inactive for a long time," he noted.
“I haven't seen him have a really active story since the show Port Charles," he added, referring to the GH spin-off that aired from 1997 to 2003. "Or unless Ryan [Chamberlain, Kevin's twin] was around, so it was kind of a no-brainer."
© Getty ImagesJon then recalled calling GH's longtime executive producer Frank Valentini to tell him he would go to work on Beyond the Gates, and how his first question in return was whether he would be able to do both.
"I said, 'Well, technically, yes, because I'm not under contract. The only stickler is that they're 2,000 miles apart.' So, there were just logistical problems along the way over the last year where they would reach out every now and again and ask if I was available for one episode or another episode in the middle of a week, and that's impossible for me to do from out here because Gates takes up a lot of my time," he explained.
Still, he added: "To their credit, they came to me and said, 'What if we stack a bunch of shows up over a couple of days? Will that be worth your while to make the trip out?'" to which he said "of course."
Jon went on to gush about how much GH, and its people, have meant to him in the past three decades. "I love all of them. So many great things in my life are a direct result of my association with General Hospital."
© Walt Disney Television Photo Arc"Coming back, the beautiful thing is a lot of people don't know you're coming back, so they see you in the hallway, and they're really happy to see you. It was like, 'My God, Jon, how long has it been?' And then you walk on the stage, and they can't believe that they're actually seeing you, so it's great. It's like coming back to see old friends and a great reunion around it," he further shared.
Coming back was "like putting on a comfortable old suit," Jon added. "It did feel like going back to my hometown. I haven't lived in my hometown since 1978, but I still have that feeling whenever I step off the plane into the Medford, Oregon, terminal. It's like, 'Wow, I'm home. This feels really familiar.' And it's a good feeling. They say you can't go home again. I don't know if that’s true."
