It's been a couple of months since the news of Marcus Coloma's impending exit as General Hospital's Nikolas Cassadine first leaked. But the passage of time hasn't really answered any of fans' most pressing questions. Why did Coloma's time on the ABC soap come to an end? Was Coloma fired? Did he quit? What plans does GH have the for the character?
As it turns out, Coloma doesn't appear to have many of the answers, either.
In a guest appearance on the latest episode of the That's Awesome podcast hosted by Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson, Coloma discussed his departure from television's longest-running drama series.
First, a little history on Coloma's time on GH. Coloma joined General Hospital in October 2019, taking over a role that had most recently been played by Tyler Christopher. In 2021, actor Adam Huss temporarily stepped into the role after Coloma contracted COVID-19. Huss would step in several more times as Coloma battled some of the "lingering health issues" from the disease. In December 2022, Coloma confirmed a report that he was no longer with the show. A rep for the actor, however, pushed back against claims that Coloma walked out after learning that his contract would not be renewed. The rep said that Coloma and GH had reached a "mutual decision" to let the actor exit early and have another actor finish up his remaining episodes.
In his podcast appearance, Coloma stated that he knew his time at General Hospital was coming to an end even before he received official word from the network.
"I knew the end was coming, it wasn't like GH was saying, 'Hey, Marcus, we want you to stay.' There was no negotiation," Coloma shared. "And all I can say to that is I don't know why that decision was made, but I don't feel any ill will and I didn't feel like I got fired. It just felt like ... there was maybe an understanding that I was going to be there for three years."
Even with his end in Port Charles in sight, Coloma admitted that he was surprised by "how much it hurt" to have his time on GH end. The actor did, however, find a bit of a bright side: the ability to take on projects outside of daytime. "I really do have some big goals, and those goals would have never been realized if I would have stayed," Coloma said. "That's not to take anything away from GH because I admire everything about it."
Huss took over the role of Nikolas on a permanent basis last week and will finish up Coloma's unfilmed episodes. GH has not said how long Huss will continue in the role.
You can watch the entire That's Awesome podcast episode below, and be sure to visit the Comments section below this article to share your thoughts with us.
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