Why Brennan’s Name Changed to Jack on GENERAL HOSPITAL

If you were slightly confused when Valentin called Brennan “Jack” on GENERAL HOSPITAL, don’t worry — you didn’t hear him wrong. When the character was first introduced to the soap, his name actually was John Brennan. However, it appears that with the return of John “Jagger” Cates to the canvas, things had to change and it was the newer character of Brennan who got a new nickname so everyone wouldn’t be confused having two Johns in Port Charles. (This all could have been avoided if Jagger was still going by his teenage nickname, but we understand it’s not really that professional for an FBI agent!)

When fans expressed their confusion on Twitter/X about the switch, one wondered how the two decided who got to keep the name John, figuring Adam J. Harrington (John) won out since Brennan was now going by “Jack.” “We left that to greater minds than ours,” Harrington joked, “and Jack is a killer name. Maybe they arm wrestled.”

Brennan’s portrayer, Charles Mesure, then chimed in with his own humorous explanation. “I told ABC I’ll do GH as long as my name is John,” he posted. “You know, John Wayne, JFK, and so forth. Then this other guy shows up, this Adam J. Harrington, who’s arguably more handsome than me. Now I’m Jack. That’s cool. I’m a team player. Y’all are lucky I like the name Jack. Just watch out.”

Even though John is determined to bring down the Pikeman organization, making Mesure (and also now it turns out, Valentin!) his mortal enemy, it’s good to know that the actors are chummy and have a sense of humor about everything. Hey, in soaps, where people’s faces and entire pasts can change on a dime, a new name is hardly anything to get worked up over!

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