‘General Hospital’ Spoilers: Kelly Monaco Opens Up, Recounts Journey On GH After Sam McCall’s Tragic Passing

‘General Hospital’ (GH) spoilers Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco) may be gone, but the mark she left on Port Charles will never die. Sam was and is a legacy character, period. She came on the show in October 2003 as the spoiler in Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Carly Spencer‘s (Laura Wright) marriage.

‘General Hospital’ Spoilers: Kelly’s Soap Career Began in 2000 As Livvie Locke On Port Charles

Monaco’s soap opera career began in 2000 when she was cast on the now-defunct soap Port Charles. She playedLivvie Locke, daughter of Kevin Collins (Jon Lindstrom) and Grace Reese. The show had magical and supernatural elements, which Monaco was happy to play. Her experience on Port Charles made her fall in love with the soap genre.

To understand Monaco’s journey as Sam, we look to her interviews with Soap Opera Digest, what she’s had to say about her time on GH, and more.

In 2003, Monaco landed the part that would take her career to incredible new heights. Port Charles was canceled in 2003. About a half hour after Monaco was out of a job, several other networks started courting her, vying to get her on their soap.

In fact, Monaco was asked to come to All My Children to play Babe Carey; however, she ultimately declined. Ironically, GH’s new Lulu Spencer, who Alexa Havens will play, ended up taking the role.

‘General Hospital’ Spoilers: Monaco Was A Die-Hard GH Fan

Frank Valentini, who was at One Life To Live then, was most aggressive about getting her on the soap. Valentini called her at her parent’s house in the Poconos and told her,

“We would love to have you on One Life To Live; I think you’re amazing.”
But when General Hospital came calling, Monaco couldn’t resist the offer.
“I was like, a die-hard General Hospital fan. That was my dream,”

She admitted.

“I was like, General Hospital, all the way! So I was thrilled when then-ABC Daytime President Brian Frons said they would create a role for me.”

Monaco’s work ethic proved effective as she was committed to playing the role of Sam McCall to perfection.

She said,

“You don’t have a life when you’re doing this show, but that keeps me going,”

“Some people work to live, and some people live to work, and I live to work; if I’m in a full day’s worth of scenes, I don’t come out of my dressing room. I’ ’ll be running lines until I’m called to set.”

When Monaco first started in 2003, she didn’t know what the show had planned for Sam.

“They told me loosely that she would be some sort of con artist, a grifter, rough and tumble. And I was like, ‘Perfect! That’s me to a T,”

She mused.

“I thought, how fun! I get to play a bada** chick!”

‘General Hospital’ Spoilers: JaSam Was An Epic Super Couple

Initially, the audience wasn’t crazy about Sam and her affair with married mobster Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard). The landmark moment that humanizes Sam and makes the audience empathize with the character is when Sam’s baby girl, Lila, is stillborn.

“That’s when Sam became really vulnerable, really real,”

She said in 2023.

“I think it changed how the viewers saw me as an actor and saw the character. You knew she had a heart, and it was bleeding into the audience. It goes down as one of my favorite storylines because it was so personal and healing. I knew there would be so many young girls and women who would be able to relate to that story and the loss.”

The loss of her baby was heartbreaking for Sam, but when she and Jason Morgan (Steve Burton) got together, it was endgame. The audience felt the chemistry between Jason and Sam. They were known to the GH audience as “JaSam.” The pair quickly became a bonafide super couple.

Her epic romance with Jason Morgan put her on the map. She became one half of the iconic super couple, JaSam, and from that point on, she was a beloved member of Port Charles and became like family to many viewers.

The two characters had an unconditional love toward each other.

“I felt like they always would have come back to each other, and I still feel for the history of the characters,”

She explained.

Everything changed for Sam in 2006 when she discovered she was Alexis Davis‘s (Nancy Lee Grahn) daughter. She also became a big sister to Kristina Corinthos-Davis (then Lexi Ainsworth, now Kate Mansi) and Molly Lansing-Davis (then Haley Pullos, now Kristen Vaganos). Sam finally had a family, and the Davis girls were an instant hit with the fans.

‘General Hospital’ Spoilers: Sam Came Full-Circle In Her Relationship With Dante

Sam also started her PI career when she and Damian Spinelli (Bradford Anderson) opened their business, McCall and Jackal P.I. She was becoming more independent and developed more layers to her character.
Sam had several significant relationships on GH, but none were more impactful than JaSam. However, Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna) and Sam had a bit of a following.

Sam came full circle with Dante, and they had a lovely little blended family, including Rocco Falconeri (Finn Carr), Danny Morgan (Asher Antonyzyn), and Scout Quartermaine (Cosette Abinate). Fans were upset that Dante and Sam finally got engaged, only for the show to kill her off.

In 2023, Monaco commented on her time at GH and the evolution of Sam,

“Sam came onto the canvas only having herself and her brother, Danny McCall (David Greenman), always taking care of someone and never being taken care of. She came in bent and broken, and I feel like there’s a lot of her that’s still broken, but she’s constantly sort of putting the Rubik’s Cube together. All the pieces don’t fit perfectly yet, but it’s certainly not broken anymore!”

GH fans are still reeling from Sam’s death. The news that Kelly would be killed off the soap broke at the end of August. Fans are livid over her firing. A petition with almost 20,000 signatures to keep her on the show, a billboard in Times Square, and angry fans on social media did nothing to persuade the powers that be to keep Kelly. Monaco has promised to tell her side of the story soon.

In 2013, Monaco made it clear how much she appreciates her role and her family at GH.

“Sometimes it’s hard to remember or wrap my head around the fact that there are actually people out there rooting for me and for my character, but I appreciate it,` and I value that so much. I feel really lucky to have found my home here.”