Daytime newcomer Adrian Anchondo has been tapped to play the contract role of Marco on General Hospital, and will first air on Thursday, March 13.
Anchondo’s road to Port Charles began a couple of months ago, when he first auditioned to play the legal eagle and was brought to the studio four weeks later for a session with the producers. “It was very intimidating seeing all the beautiful Latino men there I was going up against, all younger,” he quips. “But I really connected with the character, and I feel like I’ve been playing a lot of good guys going bad or bad guys going good, so I think this character is in my wheelhouse.”
The actor screen-tested with Van Hansis, who joined the show in October 2024 as Lucas Jones, but the two had crossed paths in the past. “Van and I met each other at Williamstown Theater Festival 20 years ago,” Anchondo relays. “I think we did a play with each other. It’s funny because I remember having a little crush on him back then, and we’ve been in the same circles because we have mutual friends. So, I felt totally comfortable. Van has a very comfortable person to be around, regardless if you’ve known him for 20 years or not.”
General Hospital was also familiar to Anchondo from his childhood. “My mom passed away when I was 28, and one of my best and earliest memories of her is when I was 4 or 5 and she would be getting ready on the couch for work, and she’d do her makeup in this compact so she could watch soaps,” he explains. “She loved Young and the Restless and General Hospital and I can still remember watching the show and just how much she enjoyed it.”
As a nod to his mother, Anchondo carried something with him for an extra boost of confidence. “One of the only things I have left of hers is a compact, and I brought that with me into the screen test in my pocket,” he reveals. “So, I think she was there with me.”
Now, another family member is tuning in to the soap. “My grandmother, who’s still around, has been watching General Hospital. She took a long break, but now she’s been getting caught up and she’s like, ‘Oh, my God, there’s so many storylines I have to remember now.’ She’s so excited and proud.”
Anchondo reports that he is getting into a groove with his mysterious alter ego, despite the intimidating legal jargon. “The character has been very sweet and charming, and, of course, it wouldn’t be a soap opera without dark secrets somewhere,” he teases. “He’s also very intelligent and very articulate, which is kind of opposite of who I am as a person. I don’t find myself to be the most articulate person [laughs]. I don’t think I’ve ever played a lawyer. I’ve definitely been on the other end from Viola Davis grilling me on How to Get Away with Murder, so that’ll take getting used to. Van was like, ‘I gotta play a doctor on here, and there’s so many things about the human body that I’m just learning,’ so I’m like, ‘If he can do it, I think I can handle the legal stuff.’”
Prior to joining GH, Anchondo did his fair share of primetime episodic work, appearing on The Rookie, NCIS: Los Angeles and FBI: Most Wanted. “The last thing I did was Law & Order: Organized Crime,” he recalls of his 2023 appearance as Detective Eric Geary. “The main actress on that, Danielle Moné [Truitt], and I worked on my first recurring role on BET [Rebel]. Eight years later, I still had her phone number and I was flying to New York. I texted her and I said, ‘Hey, guess who’s gonna be reunited?’ And she’s like, ‘Don’t tell me you got this part. That’s an amazing part.’ And as soon as I walked on set, I’m seeing Chris Meloni and I’m so nervous, but her big smile and her hug just put me into the right headspace.”
The role was important to Anchondo, as it touched on a topic close to his heart. “I was playing a gay man who is also a cop who was struggling with coming out to his team,” he says. “It was dealing with something that was really personal to the gay community in New York at the time, because it was a true story where a group of people were targeting gay men in clubs. I loved the part, and it showed my range. I was hoping I would come back, but it’s OK. I’ve got something better going on now.”
While his GH gig is his primary acting focus right now, Anchondo is also keeping busy pursuing his master’s in psychology ahead of his graduation in May. “I knew I was always going to be auditioning, and I wanted to have a job that would be flexible enough where I can make my own hours and I could still focus on my dream,” he explains. “What I love about marriage and family therapy and psychology is that working as an actor and working as a therapist, there are a lot of similarities. We’re studying the mind and the heart, and they go hand in hand. I’m seeing clients now and still finishing my hours. It’s a little challenging with trying to work around the schedule, but I love it.”
As he prepares for his soap debut, Anchondo is especially thrilled to be realizing his goals. “When someone asks me, ‘What do you do for a living?’ — I get that question all the time in L.A. — I’ve always had this anxiety about saying, ‘I’m an actor.’ because then people are like, ‘OK, well what else do you really do?’ ” he shares. “And for the first time in my life, I can really feel proud and say, ‘No, I’m an actor.’ It will be really nice to own it and be able to walk around every day feeling like I accomplished something that I wanted all my life.”
