Rory Gibson Shares Family's Sweet Reaction to Being Cast as New Michael on 'General Hospital'

Rory Gibson is making his General Hospital debut!

On Friday (May 23), the 29-year-old actor made his first official appearance on the ABC soap opera as the new Michael Corinthos after taking over the role from Chad Duell, who left the show earlier this year.

In a new interview, Rory – who previously played Noah Newman on The Young and the Restless from 2021 to 2023 – revealed that he actually first auditioned for a different role on GH and shared his family’s sweet reaction to learning that he would playing the new Michael.

Keep reading to find out more…“I originally sent in a tape for Vaughn [Bryce Durfee],” Rory shared with TV Insider. “I came in and did a chemistry read with Eden [McCoy who plays Josslyn Jacks], then I had a nice little chat with [executive producer] Frank [Valentini] afterwards, and I could kind of see the wheels turning as we were talking.”

A few days later, Rory got a callback, but for a different role.

“It was super, super top secret,” he recalled. “I came in and screen-tested for that with Kate Mansi [who playsKristina Corinthos] and Katey MacMullen [who plays Willow Tait], and it went well. They were super warm and welcoming.”

Rory continued, “A couple weeks went by, and they brought me in for another screen test with Steve Burton [who plays Jason Morgan] and Laura Wright [who plays Carly Spencer]. About a week after that, they locked me in, and it’s been a nice little journey ever since.”

The actor then said that his family was super excited about him being cast on General Hospital, especially his grandmother.

“My family watched General Hospital religiously when I was growing up,” Rory shared. “My grandma and my mom were diehard fans, which made it kind of a trip when I came in for the screen test, especially with Steve, because I just remember seeing Steve’s face when I was a little kid on my mom’s television.”

So, when Rory secured the role of Michael, his grandmother was the first person he called and told.

“I called my grandma first, and she was just shouting, hollering, screaming,” Rory recalled. “Right when I got off the phone, I could just hear her yell out to my uncle in the background, ‘He’s Michael Corinthos!’ So, they were very, very excited.”

Find out why Chad left the show after nearly 15 years of playing Michael.

New episodes of General Hospital air weekdays on ABC and are available for streaming on Hulu.