Soap Opera
The ‘General Hospital’ Villain Who Was Never Supposed to Survive
‘General Hospital’ villain Ross Cullum was only meant to last two months. Actor Andrew Hawkes reveals how Cullum outlived his original exit plan.
General Hospital’s Ross Cullum has only been menacing Port Charles for about six months. That may seem like a short time in the scheme of things, but he wasn’t even supposed to make it this far. In fact, the ABC soap’s newest ruthless villain should have been gone months ago, but lived to cause more soapy chaos and angst.
‘General Hospital’s’ Cullum Lives On
When Rocco Falconeri (Finn Carr) shot Ross Cullum on Pier 55 in March, fans thought that was the end of a temporary villain who had just murdered one character and was trying to murder another. Cullum had already creeped out half of Port Charles between his December arrival on the scene and the March shooting and was wielding a sharp metal stick above Jason Morgan‘s (Steve Burton) head, ready to strike, when Rocco picked up a gun on the pier and shot the crooked WSB agent in the back.
Cullum went down and things looked precarious, but Cullum pulled through with Lucas’ help. Little did Lucas (Van Hansis) know he had saved the man who had just killed his boyfriend. According to Andrew Hawkes, the soap newcomer bringing Cullum to life, Lucas was never supposed to save Cullum at all.
When Hawkes landed his first soap gig late last year, he was sure it would be over after the Christmas break.
“I started filming around December 2, 2025, and the show filmed up till the 18th, where the Christmas break was,” Hawkes told co-star Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) on the podcast State of Mind with Maurice Benard. “I kept saying to my wife, “Do not be surprised because they’re probably going to call and fire me. They’re going to fire me over the weekend,” and it didn’t happen. I was supposed to be on for like two months. I was supposed to die when I was shot by Rocco on the pier, and they kept me around.”
After Rocco pulled the trigger, Jason took the fall for the shooting, but Cullum eventually realized Rocco was the culprit and is now determined to find him. It’s all in a day’s work for a villain who was never supposed to even make it this far.
General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC and streams each weeknight on Hulu.
