‘General Hospital’ Star Reveals if This Port Charles Scoundrel Has Really Been Redeemed

Ric Lansing has quite a shady Port Charles past, which makes the residents of that Upstate New York town and fans of General Hospital a bit wary. Ric seems like a new guy at the moment, but is he or is he about to screw up again in a monumental way? Rick Hearst, the Emmy-winning actor who has been bringing Ric to life off and on for more than two decades, thinks he has the answer.

Ric Rights His Wrongs…Or Has He?

When Ric first returned to Port Charles and the GH scene in 2024, he was there to offer support to daughter, Molly (Kristen Vaganos), over the tragic loss of the baby Kristina (Kate Mansi) was carrying for her and TJ (Tahj Bellow). The audience immediately knew that he’d pursue Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) again, but she quickly friend-zoned him for well over a year.

A dalliance and blackmail scheme with Ava Jerome (Maura West) landed Ric in ex-wife Alexis’ basement, attached to a gurney with a ball gag in his mouth, for over a month last summer, but that little respite gave Ric some time to reflect. When he was finally set free, Ric seemed like a brand-new man. He didn’t turn Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn), Ava, and Kristina in for what they did to him (he knew they could also send him to jail), repaired his relationship with Sonny (Maurice Benard), and even won the girl.

Ric and Elizabeth are together again and Ric is determined to do better this time, but that doesn’t mean others he has wronged in the past aren’t a little hesitant to give Ric another chance. According to Hearst, Ric has come to an inflection point in his life and he doesn’t seem his character as the villain on the canvas anymore.

“Your past will catch up with you at some point and you will be faced with it,” Hearst said on a recent episode of Steve Burton and Bradford Anderson‘s podcast That’s Awesome. “And how you deal with it at that point is going to be the determination of whether you continue in this life as a miserable human being or if you find a way to integrate that. And I feel like we’re integrating him right now and that’s what I really like.”

Recently, Sonny suspected Ric may have been tricking him with all this newfound family loyalty and pulled a gun on his brother, but Ric proved to Sonny he’s the real deal…at least for now. General Hospital is a soap, and on a soap, anything can happen.