Steve Burton reflects on the emotional farewell to Monica Quartermaine, sharing how saying goodbye onscreen brought back the real-life loss of his longtime TV mom, Leslie Charleson.
It’s been a tough few weeks for General Hospital fans as the goodbye to Monica Quatermaine plays out. Steve Burton led the show to the loss of Monica as Jason Morgan. For him, it wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill storyline; it was the second time he was saying goodbye to the woman who played his TV mom for the duration of his time on GH.
Burton Discusses Mourning Leslie Charleson
As GH viewers watched Monica Quartermaine’s funeral, Steve Burton opened up to TV Insider about what it was like filming these scenes so many months after celebrating Leslie Charleson’s life. Burton arrived in Port Charles as Jason in 1991, and despite his back-and-forth with the ABC soap, he always adored Charleson as his TV mom.
He said, “I never had to really prepare my scenes with her because we just had a connection as soon as I came on the show.” Burton and Charelson’s chemistry was evident as their on-screen relationship changed a few times over the years. Jason went from Quartermaine to Morgan, and even when he lost his memory, he knew that Monica loved him.
Burton attended the memorial earlier this year as Charleson’s friends and family mourned her following her death earlier this year. He told the publication, “It’s a surreal thing, because you have a woman who I love dearly who passed, but you had her character who was still alive. So, it was just this weird world to be in. We had the celebration of life for Leslie, and now we’re having a funeral for Monica, so it definitely was difficult.”
Monica’s Funeral Highlights Jason’s Feelings
While saying goodbye to Monica on GH, Jason spoke about his mom and how she loved him through everything. He is her last surviving child, and Steve Burton was able to highlight the emotions Jason would be feeling. It wasn’t hard for him to channel those, though.
Burton revealed that he didn’t prepare for the monologue and did it in one take. In the world of soaps, that’s incredible and a testament to how much he cared about Leslie Charleson.
