Soap Opera
How Maurice Benard Knew Stephen A. Smith Was Perfect for ‘General Hospital’
Stephen A. Smith returns as Brick on ‘General Hospital’ soon. Maurice Benard confirms the ESPN star will reprise his GH role, first introduced in 2015.
To sports fans, Stephen A. Smith is known as the no-holds-barred ESPN sportscaster famous for his often controversial opinions. But to soap opera fans, he is General Hospital’s Brick, the tech genius West Coast enforcer who spent years on Sonny Corinthos’ payroll.
GH fans have not seen much of Brick since Sonny made the decision to leave the mob this past summer, but a recent snap and post from Maurice Benard revealed that Smith will be making another appearance as Brick soon.
Smith has been bringing Brick (no last name) to life since 2015. He’s been popping in and out of Port Charles ever since whenever Sonny needs an important job done that only Brick can handle. In his recent social media post, he recalled Smith’s beginnings on GH and how he knew Smith had aced the role.
“Guess who I’m working with today, @stephenasmith?” he wrote. “You know it’s funny. Nobody knew whether Stephen could do the job. He opened his mouth to say his first lines and I knew we struck gold.”
It was also Benard who helped Smith land the GH gig. In 2015, Benard appeared on an episode of ESPN’s First Take and a friendship began, leading to Smith becoming Brick.
“I have four older sisters and when we came home from school, all the TVs in the house were on General Hospital,” Smith said back in 2015, according to the ESPN press site. “Since I wasn’t allowed outside until I finished my homework, I watched the soap every day.”
GH fans last saw Brick when he was playing basketball with Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) in an effort to force him out of town. He later gave Carly (Laura Wright) a flash drive with a history of Valentin’s dirty deeds. Why Brick shows up in Port Charles next has yet to be revealed.
