It's been nine years since General Hospital fans have seen Lucky Spencer and the actor who first played him, Jonathan Jackson. The last time Jackson brought Lucky to life, it was only for a few brief episodes in 2015. Lucky returned to Port Charles after finding Elizabeth's presumed-dead son, Jake, and quickly took off again after delivering the boy to his mother.
Since then, we have heard about his and Elizabeth's son, Aiden, visiting his dad in Africa or having scheduled video calls with him, but otherwise, Lucky has remained pretty much out of sight and out of mind. However, those days are coming to an end later this summer when Jackson brings Lucky home.
When Jackson appeared on The Daily Drama Podcast with GH's Steve Burton (Jason Morgan) and Bradford Anderson (Damian Spinelli), he explained how his return came about. Sometimes, it's all in the timing.
"My relationship with General Hospital over the years, from my perspective, it's just kinda always there," Jackson said. "Even when I left the show in 1999, I always had the intention of coming back. It always felt like this is such a special place, and growing up there, working with Tony [Geary, ex-Luke Spencer] and Genie [Francis, Laura Collins]. It was never in my mind, 'Okay, I'm leaving, and I'm never going to return.'"
He did return a decade later, playing Lucky from 2009 to 2012, as well as briefly in 2015. Thanks to the 2015 appearance, Jackson got to know GH's current executive producer, Frank Valentini, who he has kept in touch with. Knowing his good friend Burton had just returned to the soap as Jason helped Jackson make his decision.
"When Steve came back, I was super excited for him and for the show and everything," Jackson continued. "I was hearing a lot of great things about what was going on there, and it just kind of happened organically like that. It just felt like the right time, and it all came together. There have been other times throughout the years where something like this almost happened, but it wasn't quite the right time for various reasons. Everything fell into place, and it was like, 'Yeah, let's go.'"
One thing that was especially attractive to Jackson about returning to GH in 2024 was the opportunity to work with Genie Francis again, something he did not get during his last extended run.
"When I came back, it was incredible, 'cause I got to work with Tony again after all those years," Jackson admitted. "There's a very special thing about this medium that you can work with someone when you're eleven to 17 years old and then work with them again when you're 28...but Genie wasn't really there for those couple of years. I got to work with her very briefly in 2015 in those few episodes, but I always thought that I'd really like to get to work with her again. So, that definitely came into play. We haven't really had any substantial story together since I was 17."
The length of time Lucky has been away has an added appeal to the actor because it's like working with a fresh slate. After all, fans have no idea what Lucky has really been up to all these years.
"There's sort of the paradox of the deep relationships and history but also this amount of time that's past...everything gets to be re-imagined," he said. "For the performers, the writers, and for the audience."
Who should Lucky be paired with when he returns to Port Charles? Do you hope his visit lasts awhile? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
