General Hospital fans were crushed when Lulu (Emme Rylan) recently received divorce papers from Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), but there may be a silver lining to the breakdown of one of Port Charles's cutest couples: Lulu is finding herself a single woman just as charming fella Dustin Phillips (Mark Lawson) has come into her life.
The mysterious man first came onto the scene in mid-July, when Lulu accidentally found herself on a date with him in the middle of a sting to catch an online dating criminal. Fans immediately noticed the chemistry between the two characters, and luckily, Dustin is returning to Port Charles today.
Lawson, who soap fans remember as One Life to Live's Brody Lovett, says keeping his return to soap operas under wraps was pretty difficult, especially in this age of social media. In fact, after his first GH appearance aired, he did a really good job of hiding the fact that he'd be returning so soon, which makes today's appearance another surprise.
"It was really hard not to talk about it, but I hope the surprise was worth it!" he tells TV Insider of both appearances. "It came about from my staying in touch with Frank [Valentini, executive producer, who also helmed OLTL]. We've always had a good relationship. I've been in the [GH casting] room a few times and it all worked out at the right time. I was offered the part of Dustin, which was really nice, after having tested for a few other things."
As for what fans can expect from Dustin in the future -- and whether or not the character's future might include a romance with Lulu -- Lawson remains pretty mum on the details.
"I'm trying to stay a little bit flexible on that. We're taking it one day at a time right now," he teases. "I gotta be honest, I like keeping him a bit of a mystery man for now. I do think he's this lonely guy who has learned how to cover that up by being extroverted. He has to be [outgoing] because he's a teacher, but there's a loneliness there. Dustin can be dashing and charming, but, again, there's some loneliness."
To find out what else might in store for Dustin and his flirtations with Lulu, be sure to keep tuning in to General Hospital. And for more from Lawson, check out his full TV Insider interview here.
What do you think about Mark Lawson returning to GH? Would you like to see GH explore the potential between Dustin and Lulu? 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.
