Exclusive: Michael E. Knight Opens Up About His Return To GH As Martin Grey!

cowboy sam · ‎06-15-2015

What will Jack ask Anna and Carly to do as a "payback favor " for his help finding Lucky??

preds 06-21-20
"Always be thankful andyou'll have more than you know."

Laura14 · ‎06-09-2014

Exclusive: Michael E. Knight Opens Up About His Return To GH As Martin Grey!

September 16, 2024 10:43AM

ABC/Ricky Middlesworth

Grey Area: Michael Knight will be back on screen on General Hospital as Martin beginning this week.

It was all the way back in February that Martin Grey left town after calling things off with lover Lucy Coe(not to mention catching her after a literal roll in the hay with her ex, Scotty Baldwin). But now the character — who in addition to his romance with Lucy has other key ties to the canvas, given that he is the brother of the mayor, Laura Collins, as well as Cyrus Renault — is heading back to Port Charles, which means that his Daytime Emmy-winning portrayer, Michael E. Knight is, too.

Long Time Coming

Originally, Knight’s on-screen absence was intended to be shorter. “It was supposed to be three months,” he says. But his planned hiatus coincided with the shake up of the show’s writing team, which extended Martin’s stint out of town, and the actor wasn’t sure if GH’s future plans included the character. “By the time it got to August, I was thinking, ‘Okay, well, you know, no harm, no foul,’ ” he admits.

That’s because of how genuinely grateful he was for the time he had already spent on the show. “Frank [Valentini, executive producer] brought me on initially to work with Roger [Howarth, whose Franco was attorney Martin’s client] when I was trying to make my health insurance [work requirement]. And I will love Frank for the rest of my life for doing what he did, because four days [of GH work] turned into four years,” Knight declares. “So, to me, I already had the brass ring in my pocket. I wasn’t going to complain about four days turning into four years! I’m one grateful monkey, you know what I mean?”

But, after another change was made at the top of GH’s writing team, and the new head writing team of Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten was firmly in place, Martin was once again on the show’s radar. Soon, Valentini reached out to Knight about resuming the role. “My first loyalty is to Frank, always,” says Knight. “And when Frank called me and told me about bringing me back and gave me the lowdown [about the show’s plans for Martin], I was a very happy guy.”

We Meet Again

While Knight can’t divulge what brings Martin back into the Port Charles fold, he does hint that the character will have a key function, teasing, “People used to ask me, ‘Well, what’s your role on General Hospital?’ And I would say, ‘It’s kind of like paprika. You don’t use it a lot but you use it to sort of spice things up.’ ”

As a vet of the genre — he played Tad Martin on All My Children for the better part of 30 years after joining the show in 1982 — he sees the big-picture creative advantage to his recurring status with GH. Knight notes, “The best position you can be in on a soap is being the new toy, because once you’ve married Dixie three times [as Tad did], you’re, excuse the expression, screwed. It’s like, if they bring her back from the dead for the third time and don’t even explain why just so you guys can ride off into the sunset, you’ve been there a little too long. You’ve overstayed! Well, now I get the benefit of Chris [Van Etten] being back; Chris created Martin. And I get to be a new toy for Chris, twice.”

Now that he’s once again immersed in the Port Charles universe, Knight is delighted to once again be working with the talented cast, including several actors he had previously worked with on AMC, such as Maurice Benard (Sonny; ex-Nico, AMC) and Genie Francis (Laura; ex-Ceara, AMC) — and now, he can add one more to the mix: Eva LaRue (Natalia; ex-Maria, AMC). “What can I say about her?” Knight smiles. “She’s gorgeous, she’s wonderful, she’s been a friend for 30 years. It was awesome to see her.”

Digest actually got to break the news to Knight that yet another figure from his Pine Valley past is poised to be a part of his Port Charles future, since Alexa Havins — who, as AMC’s Babe, was romantically linked to Jamie Martin, the son of Knight’s character — is joining the GH cast as a recast of Martin’s niece, Lulu Spencer. “Oh, my God. Alexa?! Stop, you’re lying! Oh, that’s amazing. That’s fantastic. That’s really, really good news. She is a wonderful actress and I just love both of them [Havins and her husband, Justin Bruening, ex-Jamie, AMC].”

Lucky Draw

The actor is having a blast with his new storyline, and enthuses, “I’m very happy to be here. I’m eternally grateful to Frank for this opportunity — especially since I get to play with great people, and there are so many great people to play with here. I thank my lucky stars for this fortune cookie.”

His gratitude extends to GH’s viewers. “If it wasn’t for the fans, none of us would have a job,” he points out. “So, to the fans, God bless each and every one of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you for giving me the chance to play.”

BeckiWV · ‎04-12-2011

Yay, I love Michael E. Knight, Tad AND Martin. Hopefully the writer situation is resolved. When people of his quality are brought on, they need to be USED.

cowboy sam · ‎06-15-2015

@Laura14 @BeckiWV

Wow! I am so happy they are bringing him back...i missed him!

preds 06-21-20
"Always be thankful andyou'll have more than you know."

Laura14 · ‎06-09-2014

GH RECAP MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th

On today’s General Hospital, Sonny shows up at the gallery to let Ava know about postponing Avery’s custody court date. “If you don’t want a fight, Sonny, give me back my daughter!” She’s not giving up and she’s not postponing. Sonny tells her this postponement is a gift, “to find a hack lawyer.” Ric comes in just then to tell Sonny he’s her lawyer, “and I’m not afraid of going up against Diane Miller.”

Sonny admits he heard his brother was in town, after which Ric needles him about his “hot mess” daughter Kristina, and how easy it’ll be to prove Sonny’s an unfit parent. Sonny blasts Ric on turning the mother of his daughter into the police. “You vindictive son of a bitch.” He’s sure Ric’s feeling guilty about not being in Molly’s life.

Ava tries to redirect them to her problems and Sonny snaps at her that this deadbeat dad who took Molly’s mom away isn’t the best person to fight for her kid. The brothers fight about Alexis and which of their daughters has gotten the short end of the stick. Sonny rolls his eyes and shouts, “You’re still whining about our mother giving you up and keeping me!”

Ava again tries to get them focused on her problems, but Sonny and Ric fight some more over Alexis and Kristina. Ric tells his brother that if he wants to save Alexis, maybe he should save the cops some time and turn himself in. Before Sonny storms off, he tells Ava that Ric will do to her what he does to everybody: “He’s gonna turn on you.”

Danny runs into the hospital to see Dante, telling Liz Jason just left for Africa to find Lucky. His dad’s going to save Lucky and Lulu, but Liz wants more info about where Lucky is. Danny doesn’t know much, he just wanted to run and tell Dante the good news.

Over at the Quartermaines’, Tracy demands to know why Sasha thought she could hold social events on the family property. “A brunch?!” Sasha apologizes, but Tracy isn’t having it. There are boundaries. Sasha casually asks, “So if Cody throws a party, would you stop him?” That freezes Tracy’s smile on her face.

After a bit of thinking, Tracy tells Sasha that the “insinuation masquerading as a question” is a non-issue. He wouldn’t do this and there’s no favoritism. BS there isn’t, Sasha says, but that’s fine. But still, he has his own family now and Tracy needs to let him connect with them. Tracy then lays into Sasha about wasting her time and wasting her talent. Her food is amazing, the best Tracy’s had, and at some point she needs to do more with her life than making Cody happy.

Alexis paces in the PCPD until Mac comes in to talk to her. She doesn’t have a lawyer yet and just wants her phone call. Sam comes in to find out what’s going on. Alexis isn’t sure what the new evidence they have on her is, but it’s something big. She’ll find out what it is by agreeing to be interviewed.

Sam’s aghast, especially when Alexis suggests she’ll have to represent herself because Diane’s representing Sonny. Before she can get too far into it, though, she gets a text from Liz about Danny and Jason. Alexis shoos her away and insists she’ll be fine — but if she’s not, Sam has to promise to look after Kristina.

Mac comes in after, at which point Alexis says she’ll do the interview without a lawyer. “Are you sure?” She is, but he can’t do the interview because of their personal relationship, so he calls in Detective Bennett to do it. They go over the risks of what she’s doing, then get started with how she got her hands on the gun.

She tells him she found the gun near the driveway after dinner, but has no idea how it got there. She wanted the gun off her property because of her grandchildren, but throwing it away was stupid in hindsight. She fishes for whether that’s all they have, and if so, she needs to be released. That’s not. They’re just getting started.

They go over details about when she threw the gun away, how she got to Blackstone and what she did after. Alexis flashes back to realizing Kristina took her keys that night. “Anything might have slipped your memory?” the detective asks, cautioning her to answer the next question truthfully. Alexis looks worried as he walks behind her, leans over, and asks if anyone drove her car on the night of Cates’ murder.

Sam runs off to Danny to find out what’s going on. He excitedly fills his mom in about Jason playing hero, though she’s not thrilled to hear that Jason’s already run off. Liz sends Danny away and Sam goes off on Jason coming home enough for Danny to fall in love with him, then run off again to potentially get killed.

Liz tries assuring her that if anyone can bring Lucky back, it’s Jason, but Sam’s ticked that he won’t make Danny his priority. “He abandons Danny with a text and he still thinks he’s a hero?!” Liz commiserates about her similar problems with Lucky and Aiden. Sam used to be the same and accept Jason for what he is, but she realized her kids needed ONE parent there for them.

Sam turns the conversation to how Liz will handle Lucky coming home, which doesn’t thrill her. She just wants Lucky safe, that’s all she can manage right now. Sam tells her Lucky and Aiden will have trouble just like Danny and Jason did — not to mention the extra feelings Liz has. Lucky won’t stay for his son, and when he leaves, Liz will lay awake wondering if he never comes back again next time.

Danny returns just then to overhear his mom and immediately puts it together. “You think dad’s gonna die?”

Kristina barges into Molly at work, demanding to know if she turned her in for Cates’ murder. Molly just shrugs that she told the police Kristina was unaccounted for, and the two bicker some more over the baby. Molly tells Kristina to stop making everything about her, she’s just looking to help Alexis who’s covering for her.

Kristina counters that Molly got their mom arrested by going to the police in the first place about her. “This is a new low, even for you.” The two then fight once again over the baby until Molly tells Kristina that if she wants to help their mom, she needs to confess. “Molly, I can not confess to a crime I did not commit!”

Dex calls Molly to tell her that Alexis has been arrested and she’s talking without a lawyer. Molly gets ready to run off, but not before demanding to know if Kristina murdered Cates. She has to confess if she did it. Kristina says she’ll explain on the way to the station, but Molly says that unless there’s a full confession from who did, nothing will help Alexis.

Molly storms off telling Kristina to stay away if she can’t help, so Kristina texts Dante asking where he is.

Dante’s holding Lulu’s hand when Cody comes in, figuring it was time to meet Lulu. Dante waxes on about Lulu’s virtues and says it was his fault their marriage fell apart — though he wouldn’t change his relationship with Sam. But he thinks that after his last case he did for the WSB, something inside Lulu broke. She never got her spark back and he never should have left.

He loves his life, but he’d give anything to see Lulu back, feisty and fiery. Dante gets Kristina’s text and looks up worriedly. “She’s in trouble.”

In the show’s final moments, Sam tries reassuring Danny, but he’s not worried. “Dad’s gonna be fine. You’ve just got to have a little faith.” He smiles, sure that Jason will solve everything.

Ava warns Ric to be careful, but he’s not afraid. And he’s a great lawyer. “Does Sonny have a point? Can I trust you?” Ric won’t let her roll over for Sonny, and she says that’s fine, just get Avery away from Sonny for good.

Dante leaves Cody to watch over Lulu while he goes to Kristina. Cody introduces himself. Out at the nurses station, Kristina runs in asking if Dante can find out why they arrested her mom. He’s not on the case, but if they arrested her, they must have serious evidence. Sasha tells Tracy that she’s flattered about the interest, but she’s pretty sure this is all about the party she threw Cody and his family because Tracy’s afraid of losing him. She doesn’t have many friends. “You ever wonder why?” Tracy just looks off.

Alexis says she was the only person to drive her car that night. “You see, that’s interesting, because your car was seen parked in the Quartermaine driveway around the same time Cates was shot.” Just after, Sonny shows up at the PCPD and asks Molly what’s going on. Alexis is in there “burying herself to protect your daughter.”

Next on General Hospital,

Sam has a theory that may clear Alexis

Sonny issues Molly a challenge and Alexis makes a huge sacrifice.

Wsmom · ‎03-09-2010

@Laura14 , thanks for the recap. Most of the show was interrupted for the news update yet in reading the recap I really didn't miss anything.

Boy that Davis family is unlikable!

mysoutherncomfort · ‎05-05-2019

Alexis: what's that expression about a lawyer defending themselves and having a fool for a client. So now Alexis is lying through her teeth about "that night". Yeech!

Ric/Sonny: whatever

Ava: Loved her outfit today!!

Tracy/Sasha: Let's get to the part where Tracy actually becomes friends with not only Cody, but his girlfriend too. As an aside: Still don't know how Tracy is Sasha's "boss" since Olivia hired her. Just sayin'.....

Martin you silver fox: Come back sooner than later. Did you bring me some hummingbird cake?

Kristina: Put on your big girl pants and tell the truth. Of course you won't because that is not the soapy land way. LOL

Laura14 · ‎06-09-2014

I felt bad for Tracy when I caught up this morning. Sasha didn't have to be mean. I know she never knew Edward, but being the black sheep of the family creates defense mechanisms and it's not like Tracy hasn't come a long way baby. Just see a psychic and ask Gregory.

Excuse Tracy for not being a sweet, popular supermodel like Chefette Boyardee. And unless I'm wrong, I don't remember Tracy ever being in a psych ward multiple times or on drugs.

I got a kick out of Ric and Sonny! Finally! I loved that Sonny called out the whiner who can't get over black sheep status. Speaking of... At least Sonny never pretends to be an upstanding citizen. He owns his dark side.

How long does it take to get to Africa? They had an entire weekend and Laura and Kevin must have taken the slow camel.

And by the way, did customs not notice the entire city of PC is coming to Kenya and Somalia when checking passports? Anyone think to detain a few people to ask questions or does Somalia think their new travel brochure and marketing campaign for piracy and smuggling once in a lifetime vacation experiences is working when they all of a sudden have a line? Even the monkeys are shaking their heads at this one.