While rumors had been circulating for several weeks, on Monday it was formally announced that actor Ryan Paevey would be returning to “General Hospital,” where he appeared in the contract role of Nathan West from 2013-2018, though, at this time, it’s not known if he’ll reprise that role or if he’ll be playing a new character altogether.
According to Deadline, which first reported the news, Paevey begins taping this week at the show’s Prospect Studios set with his first air date set for some time in September, with the actor revealing that the stage was set for his return following a “surprise text” from executive producer Frank Valentini.
“We talked a bit and he asked would I consider returning for awhile, talking story, floated different story ideas involving different time commitments of me, and I thought if we’re going to do this we should really do it and surprise the fans with a meaty storyline,” Paevey said to Deadline. “I was surprised by my excitement for a homecoming and reuniting with familiar faces after seven years. I still have my last call sheet from my final taping day on January 18, 2018, tacked up in my home office.”
When last seen in Port Charles, Detective Nathan West was shot and killed in the line of duty. by his father, Cesar Faison, though with this being a soap, the character might have been alive and well all along considering Nathan’s sister, Britt Westbourne (played by Kelly Thiebaud) recently returned from the dead despite being diagnosed with Huntington’s disease and having a deadly toxin injected into her system just before her planned exit from Port Charles back in 2022 — she got scratched by The Hook serial killer’s weapon of choice.
Since leaving “General Hospital,” Paevey has made a name for himself outside of daytime, playing memorable roles in several Hallmark Channel original movies, including “Under the Christmas Sky,” “Fourth Down and Love,” “Two Tickets to Paradise,” “Coyote Creek Christmas,” “A Little Daytime Drama,” and most notably playing Donovan Darcy in “Unleashing Mr. Darcy” and “Marrying Mr. Darcy.”
Other roles for Paevey include a guest appearance in the comedy “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” the BET+ original “Games People Play,” and the original podcast series “Hearts of Stars.”
In 2009, Paevey played Christina Aguilera‘s love interest in the music video for the song “Your Body.” He later appeared in “The Client List,” starring Jennifer Love Hewitt.
