Roger Howarth of General Hospital reflects on his departure from the soap opera after 11 years: ‘I had a fantastic journey’

Roger Howarth opened up about the end of his 11-year-run on General Hospital during an interview with Soap Opera Digest that was released on Monday.

The 55-year-old performer, who has portrayed Austin Gatlin-Holt, Franco Baldwin and Todd Manning in the long-running series, was killed in a shooting during an episode that premiered on November 17.

The actor began his sit-down with the media outlet by speaking about how he initially learned that his most recently-portrayed character was being written off of the show.

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‘Several weeks ago, I got a phone call from somebody I’ve known for a very long time who I love very dearly telling me that when my contract was up at ABC, I would not be offered a new contract and that the character of Austin would be killed,’ he said.

Howarth described the decision to kill Gatlin-Holt as ‘something they both wanted and needed to do to move [the] story.’

Speaking his mind: Roger Howarth opened up about the end of his 11-year-run on General Hospital during an interview with Soap Opera Digest that was released on Monday

The performer then stated that although it took ‘a minute to kind of adjust’ to the fact that his character was being written off the show, he eventually accepted the decision.

He then ‘realized how lucky I was to have been able to do something I really love doing for more than a decade with people who I really enjoyed working with.’ 

Howarth expressed that he understood that the choice to kill Gatlin-Holt, whom he has portrayed since 2021, was not personal and that he was grateful for the opportunity to appear in the show. 

‘I’m a lucky guy. I had a great run and this was a decision made by people who make these kinds of decisions for a living,’ he said.

The actor, who said that he felt ‘very respected and supported’ throughout his run on the show, recalled that his final day on set was festive and lighthearted.

‘Everybody was very sweet to me. The producers gave me flowers and I got to say thank-you and good-bye to an awful lot of people who I really admire,’ he said.

Howarth added that he had always felt ‘supported by writers and producers who had enough faith in me as an actor to ask me to play three different parts’ throughout his run on the show.

The performer made his debut on General Hospital as Todd Manning in 2012, and he held the role until the following year.

Understandable: Howarth described the decision to kill Gatlin-Holt as ‘something they both wanted and needed to do to move [the] story’

Moving along: Howarth added that he had always felt ‘supported by writers and producers who had enough faith in me as an actor to ask me to play three different parts’ throughout his run on the show

Ready for more: The performer, who stated that he would ‘one hundred percent’ be interested in returning to daytime television, concluded his interview by expressing his gratitude for the longtime support of his fans

The actor quickly returned to portray Franco Baldwin, and he appeared as the character from 2013 until 2021, when the character was killed off.

Howarth stayed with the show, however, and took on the role of Gatlin-Holt that year.

The performer, who stated that he would ‘one hundred percent’ be interested in returning to daytime television, concluded his interview by expressing his gratitude for the longtime support of his fans.

He stated: ‘The daytime fans are the most loyal, smartest, most discerning. enthusiastic, supportive, bunch of people in the whole history of entertainment ever and they’ve been very kind to me and very generous with their support.’