SHOCKING EXIT! Maurice Benard Finally REVEALS His Retirement Plans on General Hospital!

Hot on the heels of Sonny’s shocking retirement on General Hospital, Maurice Benard is also talking about retirement — namely whether it is in the cards for him or not any time soon.

General Hospital Star Looks Toward the Future

Benard, who just celebrated 33 years as soap opera’s quintessential mobster with a heart of gold, wouldn’t mind a few more years of bringing Sonny Corinthos to life. When his contract is up early next year, he plans to sign another one.

“I’m not going to retire soon, but I’m at a certain point where I can retire if I wanted,” Benard recently said during an interview with The Ty Butler Show. “

But I don’t want to as long as I’m happy at GH, and I’ve been happy at GH for a while now. So, they’re going have to kick me out. They’re going to have to say, ‘Nah, we’ve had enough. Get the hell out.'”

While Benard doesn’t want to retire, his longtime alter-ego, Sonny, just did. When the powers that be came to the Emmy-winning actor with this new direction for his character, he didn’t flinch and even acknowledged that the mob world stories weren’t everyone’s cup of tea.

“When [the writers] told me I was out of the mob it didn’t throw me,” he said. “I was like, ‘let’s see what I can do here.’ There were a lot of people during the heyday of the gangster period who did not like it.”

With that settled and with Sonny looking for a whole new direction in life now that he’s chosen to leave the mob behind, what comes next for Port Charles’ premiere coffee importer?

From what fans have seen so far, Sonny still plans to buy Jenz Sidwell’s (Carlo Rota) assets and remain a major Port Charles player, just without the guns, violence, and illegal imports.

“I don’t care what I’m doing as long as Sonny maintains power, and that power doesn’t mean killing people, or being a gangster,”

Benard said, before adding a tease about the latest upcoming story. “I do know the story and I can’t say [more], but it’s really amazing. When I heard about it, I said, ‘Oh, wow!'”