‘General Hospital’ Dominic Zamprogna Details Time Away From Soap
General Hospital star Dominic Zamprogna is detailing his time away from the soap and why he had to leave. More so, he is sharing why it was vital he took some time off and how he fared as a non-soap star. Keep reading for more details on what he was up to.
General Hospital Dominic Zamprogna Details Time Away From Soap
When Dominic Zamprogna burst onto the soap scene in 2009 as Dante Falconeri on General Hospital, he made quite a splash. He turned out to be the son of iconic Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) who had already been an established and beloved character. Throughout the years, Dominic landed two Primetime Emmy Award nominations before he exited in 2018. Viewers were not happy that he opted to leave but he still made appearances. Eventually, Dominic came back to the show and garnered two more Primetime Emmy Award nominations as well as fan excitement.
When Steve Burton made his grand return as Jason Morgan in March 2024, Dominic’s character was nearly a casualty as Dante was shot. Sonny was the initial target but Dante was the one who took the bullet. That became a major storyline as well as where Jason had been. Yet, speaking of being away, Dominic shared that his time on hiatus from the soap helped him a lot. According to Soaps, he shared he wanted to branch out into the acting world.
“I came here with this job and didn’t know any casting people. I was almost 40, and I was like, ‘OK, worst-case scenario, the show gets canceled tomorrow, I haven’t done my due diligence in this town to make sure people know me… ’”
Dominic Zamprogna wanted to see what else was out there but he quickly realized his downfall in the acting world, mainly in Hollywood:
“I’m a terrible networker but the one thing you have to do is audition, and for the longest time here, it wasn’t really possible to do other projects. But in 2018, Frank [Valentini, executive producer] let me go out and do this show in Calgary, and I had actually screen-tested the two previous years for other pilots. I realized, ‘That’s really the only exposure I’ve had to other casting directors down here. I should really kind of get out there.’ So I did.”
Getting out in the acting world helped him scratch the itch he had but there was much more to it than just that. Taking a break from General Hospital was also great for Dominic’s mental health:
“I call it kind of a mental health break because I’ve never been in the same place for this long, playing the same character.”
Mental health is huge on the soap as Maurice Benard is an advocate after dealing with Bipolar disorder. Kirsten Storms deals with it, as well and Benard has his own YouTube show, State of Mind. There, he features co-stars discussing mental health issues.
A Learning Curve
Aside from breaking away from the character of Dante, Dominic Zamprogna also feels that he learned a lot from his time off. Yes, it was a great mental health break and he got to see what life was like away from General Hospital but there was even more. He met many casting directors and feels that he got his “hustle back.” Now, Dominic has multiple projects going at one time. He attributes the time away to getting him back into hustler mode. However, he is very happy that he has come home to Port Charles:
“I legitimately missed my friends that I’ve made here. Even when you have a bad day, as everyone does, you’re surrounded by people that you care about and that care about you and I missed being part of a team. And so when I had kind of accomplished what I wanted to accomplish, I was grateful they wanted me to come back.”
Did you miss Dominic Zamprogna when he left? More so, do you understand why he had to take time away? Let us know and watch General Hospital weekdays on ABC.
