Spoiler alert! This story contains a character's fate from the latest "General Hospital," so beware if you haven't seen it yet.
Soap opera veteran Chris L. McKenna is opening up about his "disappointing" exit from "General Hospital."
The actor, who portrayed Station Chief Jack Brennan for just over a year, was killed off on the ABC daytime drama Tuesday, Sept. 1. McKenna took over the role in 2025 from Charles Mesure, who played the former World Security Bureau boss and intelligence operative since the character's 2023 inception.
McKenna, 48, told TV Insider that he's had time to process the familiar change.
"This is the third soap that has either written me off or killed me off," he told the outlet. "I did my last episode in June, so I've had a few
months to adjust."
McKenna got his start on soap operas and has continued to return to the genre. One of his first television gigs was playing Victoria Lord's son Joey Buchanan on "One Life to Live" starting at age 12. His storyline included being the best friend of what is thought to be the first gay teen character featured on a daytime drama, portrayed by Ryan Phillippe. The role was later portrayed by Nathan Fillion.
Twenty years later, McKenna starred on "The Young and the Restless" as Detective Mark Harding for a year in 2014, and an episode of "The Bold and the Beautiful" in 2016.
On "General Hospital," McKenna's Jack Brennan made a secretive arrival and was involved in rocky romances with Carly Spencer and Nina Reeves, as well as power struggles at the World Security Bureau.
"Jack had an extremely unfortunate run of bad luck circumstances," McKenna said of the character's storylines, which had unexpected turns. "But also, that story ended up giving Jack some of the best material I've ever been able to do on camera."
The actor told TV Insider that though the move is "disappointing," he's still "really grateful" for his time on "General Hospital.
"This was a gift. Between my son being born and having this place to go to work for the past couple of years, this has been just a fantastic time, and it's been so much fun," he added. "I got to be introduced to an entire new legion of soap fans who weren't familiar with me, got back into the daytime world and did some powerful work I'm really proud of, so it's been a great experience. I have no complaints."
The Queens, New York, native has also had a number of guest roles, including in "That '70s Show," "Touched by an Angel," "NCIS," "House," "Criminal Minds," "Lucifer," "The Blacklist," "Chicago Fire" and recurring roles in "90210" as Patrick Westhill and "Good Trouble" as Marc Rothman.
In film, he starred in the 2003 indie neo-noir thriller "King of the Ants" as Sean Crawley, as well as acting in "Wishcraft," "Art School Confidential," "Suitable Flesh," shorts and Hallmark films.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Chris McKenna leaving 'GH'? Soap veteran speaks out on 'disappointing' exit
