General Hospital Star Nathan Dean Reveals The Co-Star Who Saved His Job At The Last Minute

Here’s a little soap opera backstage story you probably haven’t heard: Nathan Dean, who you know as Ethan on General Hospital, once thought he’d blown his big soap debut—before he even got through his very first scene. Yeah, it’s one of those actor-gets-in-his-own-head situations, and honestly, it’s pretty relatable. The fun twist? Anthony Geary (aka the guy who played Luke Spencer and is basically General Hospital royalty) swooped in and set him straight.

When the New Guy Almost Got Himself (Not Really) Fired

Dean spilled all this recently on Maurice Benard's State of Mind podcast, which is quickly becoming the go-to for actor therapy sessions and showbiz stories you never knew you needed. So here’s what went down:

• First day, first take, first scene—Dean is told to be this 'cool bartender' type, but there’s just one problem: he’s never bartended a day in his life. So, naturally, he decides to improvise some flair bartending tricks.
• The result? The bottle he’s holding goes full splash mode—booze everywhere. Picture the worst drink spill you can imagine, but on a TV set, with the cameras rolling.
• Convinced this is the end, he turns to the stage manager (Crystal) and asks, basically, 'I’m fired, right?'

Enter Anthony Geary. Instead of getting annoyed or dropping any star tantrum, Geary apparently just laughs and says:

'That was hilarious. Just do it again. The worst thing they can ever say to you is like, "No, don’t do that."'

Instant pressure relief. Dean credits that moment—and Geary’s whole vibe—for helping him actually relax and start owning the job instead of worrying about screwing up. He explains that he and Geary 'just kind of thought and functioned the same way,' claiming the connection between their characters on screen was genuinely there in real life first.

More Than Just Co-Stars

Dean’s stories about Geary don’t stop there. After Dean left General Hospital (roughly six years before Geary retired), he’d fly out to Amsterdam specifically to hang with Geary and his partner Claudio Gama. That wasn’t just a quick visit—Dean calls them his 'European family,' and says he spent a lot of time with both. It’s the kind of “offscreen friendship” few people get to experience, and definitely not what you’d expect in a cast with as many revolving doors as a long-running soap.

Sadly, Dean also talks about Geary’s passing, making it clear just how much the veteran actor meant to him personally, not just as a colleague. If anybody doubted these guys had real affection for each other behind the scenes, this pretty much settles it.

So, next time you catch Dean’s Ethan pulling bartender moves in Port Charles, you might want to remember: only one spilled bottle stood between him and soap oblivion. Thank you, Anthony Geary, for saving the day—and probably a few bartop props along the way.