General Hospital fans have enjoyed watching Griffin Munro give up his job as a priest to focus solely on being a neurosurgeon over the course of the last three years, and now the character is going to go through yet another transformation: a complete disappearance. Griffin's portrayer, Matt Cohen, reveals that after giving it some thought, he has decided to exit the ABC soap opera.
"It was a great time and I had great fun playing the character, but I'm a guy who gets uncomfortable when he gets comfortable. I need to give Griffin a little rest right now," the actor shares with TV Insider, adding that his split from GH is amicable, and the door has remained open for a possible return in the future. "Maybe I'll pop into GH every once in a while? That'll be up to Frank [Valentini, executive director] and the writers as to what we do."
As for what Cohen's plans are now that he's no longer tied to a soap opera, the Florida native says he's diving headfirst into continuing to work on his "face-melting" action film Mama Bear, which stars his wife, Mandy Musgrave (ex-Chelsea Benson, Days of our Lives), and tells the story of undying love and devotion of a mother to her child.
"I've wanted to direct some feature films for a long time," he shares. "I directed a 'proof of concept' [which shows I can do the entire film]. It runs about thirteen minutes and we're shopping it around. We have several interested buyers. We're winning awards at the film festivals. It's won best director twice, best picture twice, best actress, and original score. I have stayed true to a vision and a passion. People told me I can't direct. I said, 'Well, I've studied and followed directors.' I felt I was ready and I think it came out great."
Watch for Cohen's final airdate as Dr. Munro on Friday, March 22. And for more information on Mama Bear, check out Soap Central's original article on Cohen's film here.
UPDATE (March 26, 2019): General Hospital posted some photos of Cohen's farewell celebration. You can check them out below.
It wouldn't be a #GH goodbye without cake. And now that Griffin's last episode has aired, we can finally give you a peek inside @mattcohen4real's last day on set. #GH55 #BehindTheScenes pic.twitter.com/Ivbhs1dQmV
— General Hospital (@GeneralHospital) March 25, 2019
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