General Hospital set is 'a little somber' after Johnny Wactor's death
The 'General Hospital' set has been "a little somber" after Johnny Wactor's death.
The actor - who played Brando Corbin on the soap from 2020 to 2022 - was fatally shot last month aged 37 during a "robbery gone wrong" after he confronted three men apparently tampering with his vehicle, and his former co-star Carolyn Hennesy admitted there is an "ugly overlay" with the way he died.
Speaking to People magazine, she said: "It was a homicide, so that lays a special ugly overlay to his particular death, and it's been a little somber on set."
The 61-year-old star - who has played Diane Miller on the show since 2006 - admitted returning to filming this week after a break means Wactor's death has only just started sinking in for many of the cast and crew.
She explained: "I think people have processed a bit. We were dark last week, so people are processing in their own way.
"Also, I did not know him to the extent that I know a lot of other people. But any death, period, any death on the show, any death in my industry, I take it to heart.
“We have a lot of lovely actors on the show, and when we lose one, it's a killer. It's just a killer."
After his death, Wactor's family revealed he saved his co-worker's life when he was shot and killed, in a description that matches that of an incident shared by the Los Angeles Police Department.
His brother Grant told the MailOnline: "We’re Southern, born and raised, and we would never let a female walk to their car by herself. We’re Southern, born and raised, and we would never let a female walk to their car by herself.
" He came across them and he thought his truck was being towed. So he said something to the guys, like, 'Hey, are you towing?'. Once he turned around, he saw what was happening and he put his coworker behind him. That's when they shot him."
Johnny's mother Scarlett initially explained to TMZ that Johnny was with a colleague when they saw three men "messing with Johnny's car" and that the suspects "allegedly tried to steal a catalytic converter".
Scarlett noted that Johnny "did not try to stop" the alleged suspects in their actions, and that even though paramedics rushed to the scene shortly after the shooting, he was pronounced dead in hospital.
Johnny - who had also starred in 'Criminal Minds' and 'Siberia' - joined the cast of 'General Hospital' in early 2020 as the ex-con mechanic Brando Corbin and stayed with the show until 2022, when his character was stabbed and woke up in the hospital only to suffer a fatal seizure.