Kim Delaney Opens up About Joining the Cast of GENERAL HOSPITAL
In October 2020, actress Kim Delaney returned to daytime to take over the role of Jackie Templeton on GENERAL HOSPITAL, and she couldn’t have been more excited when the soap reached out to her! “I had no clue,” she admitted during an episode of the That’s Awesome! podcast with castmates Steve Burton (Jason) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli). “I did get a call from Frank Valentini, our [executive] producer. And then Mark [Teschner] is on the phone, the casting director. And he goes, ‘Here’s what I’d like to do. Think about it. Call me tomorrow.’ And I said, ‘I like the idea already. I’ll call you tomorrow, but I like the idea already!’”
During her wide-ranging career in film and television, Delaney starred on CSI: MIAMI, ARMY WIVES, and won an Emmy Award for her work on NYPD Blue. But many soap fans remember her fondly as Jenny Gardner on ALL MY CHILDREN, a role she played from 1981-84. Which was the same time that Demi Moore was playing Jackie on GH. “She was working when I was working on AMC,” the actress recalled. “So we all used to do stuff together, the ABC soap stuff. I was on the East Coast and they were on the West Coast. So I knew all these guys. I knew Genie [Francis, Laura], John Stamos (ex-Blackie), we would cross paths.”
Taking over the role of Jackie reunited Delaney with her former on-screen brother, Michael E. Knight, who was Tad on AMC and now plays Martin on GH. But that was just a bonus for the actress, who was already looking forward to moving to Port Charles. “I was more excited for the work,” she declared. “And for the show, and for the potential I saw.”
As a reporter, Jackie has found herself involved in multiple storylines, and add to that her own troubled marriage to Gregory and the fact that Finn might be the father of her son, Chase, there’s plenty of potential drama yet to come! While Delaney didn’t tease any upcoming plot twists and turns, she did express how much she’s enjoying being on GH. “Everybody has been so welcoming,” she revealed. “So generous to me on the show.”
Keep watching GH to see what happens next!
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