Last month’s action-packed episodes of “General Hospital,” featuring a guest appearance from “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” host John Oliver as Z, the head of the World Security Bureau (WSB), which had fans on the edge of their seats pondering the fate of Cassius Faison after he was shot by Ross Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) and reported dead, at least that’s what Port Charles has been led to believe after the WSB covered things up when it was later revealed to the viewing audience that the character was indeed alive, though wounded, and quietly departed town.
At his event during the recent General Hospital Fan Club Weekend, which took place at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport, portrayer Ryan Paevey addressed his recent exit and a potential return to the daytime drama series, among other topics, during a Q&A with fans as reported by Soap Central editor Michael Maloney, who was in attendance.
Among the questions the actor was asked included which of his two characters he preferred to play on the daytime drama series, his original role as Nathan West, which he played from 2013-2018, or his most recent one, that of Cassius. He chose the latter role.
“Nathan was lovely. He was adorable,” Paevey noted, while explaining how, as the husband of Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms), the character later felt more like an accessory to his wife rather than having his own identity. “Don’t get me wrong,” started Paevey, before saying, “I mean that as no insult to the writers or anything like that. We all have a function that we serve [in terms of storylines].
“Either you’re a big part of a big, powerful family and you’re doing stuff [or] you’re part of a big company.” For him, “I was a part of a couple.”
As for Cassius, and how the character differed from Nathan, it was his ability to interact with more people across Port Charles and do all different kinds of things in general, including being in scenes with the likes of Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) or providing Carly Spencer (Laura Wright) with a weapon at Wyndemere for her protection.
“It was fun,” Paevey shared. “I got to do fun stuff. There was a lot of stuff going on, and I loved it.”
Whether he returns to the show or not remained a hot topic, with Paevey stating, “That’s a ‘Frank chat,'” referring to the show’s executive producer, Frank Valentini. Meanwhile, he revealed, “I’m a bit of a drifter. So, I’m not sure that I want to go back and sign forever. Doing so took a lot of things out of my life, stuff that is valuable to me.”
In a statement released to TV Insider following Paevey’s exit from the show, Valentini said, “Ryan’s return was always planned as a short-term arc.” He added, “He did incredible work, and we loved having him back.”
In the years since his exit from the series as Nathan West, Paevey explained he became the parental caretaker for his parents, and how he dealt with a setback with his jewelry business, Fortunate Wanderer, which was a hot commodity among fans over the weekend as they gobbled up as many pieces as they could.
“But, yeah, I would come back and stir the pot if Cassius could be a good agent of chaos,” Paevey continued. “A conversation could be had, and a conversation might be had with Frank about exactly what ‘not dead’ means.”
Check out a clip below where John Oliver’s Z talked about Cassius and his involvement in things with WSB agent Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy).
