Ian Buchanan On His Return to 'General Hospital'

Getty Images

In the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest, Ian Buchanan opens up about his brief return as Duke on General Hospital. Duke appears as an apparition to Finola Hughes's Anna.

"I was very pleased to be asked," says Buchanan. "I wasn't quite sure what it meant when I was told that I would be an apparition, but I felt like, 'Well, that's fine, I can do that! I can be apparitious!' And it was great; I had a great time, but it was bittersweet, of course. Finola had a line like, 'Oh, Duke, I've longed for this for almost a year,' and I said, 'Well, you should have longed harder and sooner [laughs].' Of course, that was not scripted-- and not included! I also felt like, 'If you're going to conjure me, you could have conjured me up with a more comfortable pair of shoes!' " he teases.

"They were honestly the most uncomfortable pair of shoes I've ever worn; I thought I'd never have to wear them again, and there I was, with my toes cramped inside these tiny, little shoes! But I couldn't bring my own shoes to somebody else's dream. That's very rude, like bringing your own sandwich to a picnic!"

Although Buchanan worked with Hughes, he didn't work with his newly revealed on-screen son Matt Cohen (Griffin). Buchanan says, "I think it's very nice [that Duke was given a child]. I met him at Soap Opera Digest's 40th anniversary party; he introduced himself to me and said, 'I'm your son!' I was like, 'Okay, I don't know what that means!' But I watch the show at the gym and I saw the scenes he did with Finola when it was revealed he was Duke's son and I think it's a really nicely told story. They're great together. But Griffin doesn't appear to be longing for me because I don't appear to him [laughs]!"

What did Buchanan think about Duke and Anna's scenes? "I found it very interesting to work on the scenes with Finola and I thought they were very sweet, very beautifully written and very poignant."