ROGER HOWARTH ON GH COMEBACK

On May 27, Roger Howarth — whose Franco was killed off in March — returned to the show in his latest guise, that of Austin, the doctor who delivered Maxie’s daughter.

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The actor admits that playing Austin for the first time was daunting. “I was straight-up terrified, 100 percent,” he reports. “Excited and pleased and grateful — I love what I do and I was glad to get back to it — but there’s a certain amount of nervous energy that showed up. That guy showed up! But I don’t dislike that; I think that kind of excitement and anticipation and level of opening-night, jittery thing that happens is super-fun and when it shows up, I always just think that’s great. I have some tools to regulate that kind of energy, but I’m frequently nervous; coping with the stress of performing and being an actor is part of what comes with [the job].”

Howarth describes himself as still “in the approach” as he wraps his mind around his new character, the third he’s played (the first being his ONE LIFE TO LIVE alter ego, Todd Manning) since he joined the GH ranks in 2012. “Even five or six weeks in [to taping episodes as Austin], there are still things that I don’t know and still things that I’m trying to figure out,” he notes. “But what I do know for certain is that I like him. I hope the audience enjoys him, because there is some great story coming and it’s exciting to me.