Actor Kelly Monaco has ended her run on “General Hospital” after more than twenty years on the soap opera. A former champion of “Dancing With The Stars,” Monaco played the role of Sam McCall on the soap from 2003 to 2024 (although the role was occasionally played by Lindsay Hartley). Monaco’s final scenes on the show were shared with her “General Hospital” co-star Dominic Zamprogna, who plays detective Dante Falconeri. Their last scene was filled with high emotions and vulnerability, a painful goodbye for the two characters who had been dating on the show since 2021 (and got engaged in scenes before Sam’s death). As his screen time with Monaco came to an end, Zamprogna spoke about his experience working with the seasoned actor, calling her “Amazing, amazing, amazing,” until the very end of her run.
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“You become fast friends with people that you work with like that,” he told Soap Opera Digest, adding that the long work days helped with those bonds. Zamprogna said that he learned more about Monaco when their characters became a couple on the show. “And she’s a remarkable person,” he continued. “She’s tough as nails and admirable in so many ways, and it’s been cool to become a friend of hers. And that won’t end.”
Zamprogna also told the outlet how he and Monaco were able to be open and vulnerable with each other about things going on in their lives, which he didn’t expect because of his initial impression of her. “I just loved getting to know her, understanding who she really was, because she’s deep and complex,” he said.
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Sam and Dante became a hot GH couple
The character Sam McCall became a fan favorite during Kelly Monaco’s 21 years on “General Hospital,” so fans were shocked and upset to learn her time on the show was coming to a close. The character was abruptly killed off the show, suffering an unexpected heart attack after a surgical procedure. Her death meant in turn that the relationship between Sam and her fiancé, Dominic Zamprogna’s character Dante, would come to a tragic end. The chemistry between Monaco and Zamprogna made the couple a fan favorite.
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Referring to the pairing, Zamprogna told Soap Opera Digest in August 2024 that, “I like everything about it. It’s revealed different sides of him and shown new things about Dante. In talking to Kelly [Monaco, Sam], we’ve discussed how it actually shows different sides of both of them, together and apart.” Zamprogna added that he enjoyed the scenes relating to his and Sam’s respective families coming together as one: “The times where we get to play that blended family element has been so interesting; it’s interesting playing a dad to a kid who isn’t your son. So, the whole thing has been great.”
While Sam and Dante’s romance seemed dull at first, Zamprogna said he liked that the two characters were more independent than Dante was with his previous love interest on the sudser. As for him and Monaco, ” … we’ve brought out different things in each other [as actors]. That’s what I’ve enjoyed about it. And Kelly is fiery and fierce and always fun to work with.”
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