General Hospital has officially bid adieu to cast member Adam J Harrington. The actor joined the ABC soap opera in February 2024 as the surprise recast of Jagger Cates. He had big shoes to fill taking over for Antonio Sabato Jr., who played the role from 1992 to 1995. Although fans had mixed reactions about the recast, Harrington quickly won them over.
Jagger’s return to Port Charles had him facing off with his old rival Sonny Corinthos. Many viewers were rooting for the FBI agent in his quest to take down the mob boss. Yet, as fans know, Sonny can never be taken down and unfortunately Jagger became the mob kingpin’s next victim.
On August 30, 2024, Jagger was killed during an intense showdown with Sonny in the rain. While the scenes made for dramatic storytelling, it was a tough day for Harrington. In an interview with Michael Fairman TV, the actor describes what it was like filming his final scenes.
I finished on a Friday. The shooting was filmed on a Wednesday, and on Thursday, I was partly laying on the ground, soaking wet with rain going up my nose.
But it was his final day on Friday that was hard for the actor.
On Friday, it was wonderful and sad, and bittersweet and everything. But it was really an intense day because it was a last day before everyone goes on hiatus for a month. Everybody was working really hard. I had 70 pages of dialogue to do that day, and the cast and the crew and the producers were all amazing just to try to get me through it. Then we all had a big, and really sweet hug fest at the end.
Adam J Harrington Suspected His General Hospital Run Was Ending
Throughout the course of his six-month General Hospital run, Harrington’s character Jagger underwent many transformations. The once law-abiding FBI agent turned into a bad guy, hellbent on revenge against Sonny.
The revolving door of writing regime changes did little to help with Jagger’s characterization as Harrington explained:
So, every time a new writing team comes in,they’re going to want to put their own stamp on it to show their bosses why they got hired. So, I knew after the first writer change, everything might be up in the air as far as why I’m there, because Jagger was so newly re-introduced. I didn’t know ahead of time that there were changes in his motivation, but I understood why they were once I clued into them and why they were happening, just because it was coinciding with the writers changing.
Although Adam was sad to see his General Hospital gig end, he suspected it was coming. “I had a friend point out to me, who said, ‘Listen, just so you know, two things are going to happen. Either, half the town goes to prison, or you’re going bye-bye,'” Harrington revealed.
The actor learned of his firing in May, but didn’t know how his final storyline would wrap up. As for the final confrontation with Sonny, the star has some grievances about the plot holes.
How do we get the audience to buy into the conceit that an FBI agent would show up without a gun? And the other one for me personally, was, ‘What happens to my son Stone?’
While everyone in Port Charles is dealing with the fallout of Jagger Cates’ death, Adam J Harrington is moving on. The actor is working on a new project, which he is keeping a secret. Hopefully, this one will go better than his General Hospital gig.
