Soap Opera
Why This ‘General Hospital’ Star’s 11th Daytime Emmy Nomination Means More Than Ever Before
Steve Burton earned his 11th Daytime Emmy nomination for lead actor with emotional scenes, honoring late ‘General Hospital’ star Leslie Charleson.
General Hospital’s Steve Burton had a big day on Monday, July 13, 2026. Not only did the soap he has called home since 1992 air its 16,000th episode, but Burton also returned to the show during that hour after a multi-month hiatus. By evening, the day became even more momentous when he learned he had received his 11th Daytime Emmy nomination, and his .
Burton’s Emmy Reel Gives Fans the Feels
Burton acknowledged the day’s events during a special mini-episode of his podcast, That’s Awesome.
“The nomination is a lovely thing and it’s beautiful, but really, it’s to honor Leslie Charleson,” Burton said. “A lot of my material was because of her. And to be able to be nominated because of her and because of that and how I started on the show as a Quartermaine, it just means a ton.”
Burton, of course, is referring to his scenes last fall after Jason’s mother, Monica Quartermaine, had passed. The on-screen death was necessitated by Charleson’s off-screen death on January 12, 2025. Jason was the one who found that Monica had died in her sleep and told Tracy what had happened. The funeral the following week showed Jason’s evolution from a brain-damaged college student in the 1990s to a family man and Monica’s cherished son decades later.
Burton submitted those scenes as part of his Emmy reel, earning him his 11th Daytime Emmy nomination. He has won twice previously, both in the supporting actor category. This time, he is nominated for lead actor. The actor admitted that his love and affection for Charleson made it easy for him to play Jason’s grief.
“Honestly, there was not a lot of preparation,” he told TV Insider when they aired. “My relationship off camera was great with Leslie, so it wasn’t difficult to get where I needed to be. What you hope for as an actor is that you have to control your emotions as opposed to muster them up, so that was the most difficult part, controlling my emotions as opposed to going, Oh, this is going to be a sad scene. I gotta prepare for this, and hopefully the emotions come when they roll tape.’ It was actually the opposite.”
