Maurice Benard
In August 2023, Emmy® Award-winning actor Maurice Benard will celebrate 30 years on “General Hospital” as the popular character Michael “Sonny” Corinthos Jr. Complex, confident and wise, Sonny Corinthos has taken his hard-earned experience as a street hustler and transformed himself into one of the most powerful figures in the fictional town of Port Charles. The character of Sonny was initially written as only a six-month guest arc; however, Benard’s powerful portrayal became wildly popular with fans and the celebrated actor quickly took Sonny from a peripheral to central role. For his portrayal of Sonny, Benard has received three Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, including nine nominations. Additionally, Benard has won three Soap Opera Digest Awards, a Prism Award and four Latino Media Arts Award nominations.
Sonny has long been on the forefront of socially relevant issues woven into storylines like AIDS, Alzheimer’s awareness and bipolar disorder. An advocate for mental health awareness, Benard himself was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 22 and pushed for his character, Sonny, to be diagnosed as bipolar so mental health awareness can be front and center on a daily television platform. Benard’s journey with mental illness has also been profiled on “Oprah,” “Good Morning America,” “The View,” and magazines including People LA Life and BP. He has also lent his face and voice to numerous organizations to further the cause, including International Bipolar Foundation (IBPF), the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), Mental Health America (MHA) and Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, to name a few. For his contribution to mental health awareness, Benard has received numerous awards and has testified before Congress on mental health issues.
In 2020, HarperCollins published his New York Time’s bestselling memoir about his mental health journey, “Nothing General About It: How Love and Lithium Saved Me On and Off General Hospital.” Currently, Benard continues to raise mental health awareness by hosting his popular YouTube show, “State of Mind with Maurice Benard,” where Benard interviews guests from all walks of life to discuss their own journey with mental illness.
Benard’s multicultural upbringing began in San Francisco, where he was born to parents from Nicaragua and San Salvador. Benard started modeling jobs in his early 20s, and following that, he took up acting in numerous theatrical productions in the Bay Area. After auditioning for a role on the ABC daytime drama “All My Children,” Benard was cast as Nico Kelly. Two years later, he struck out to find new challenges and moved to Los Angeles, where he was soon cast as the lead in the TV movie, “Lucy and Desi: Before the Laughter.” In addition to “General Hospital,” Benard’s other film and television credits include starring as John Gotti in Lifetime’s acclaimed “Victoria Gotti: My Father’s Daughter,” David O’Russell’s critically acclaimed “Joy,” “Ruby,” “Mi Vida Loca,” “Hold On,” “Equal Standard,” “A Lover Betrayed,” and the indie film “The Ghost and the Whale,” produced by Benard’s wife, Paula.
Benard lives outside of Los Angeles and enjoys martial arts, working out and playing host to a menagerie of dogs, cats and goats. He and his wife, Paula, are the proud parents of daughters Cailey Sofia, Cassidy Rose, Heather, and son Joshua James.
