Soap fans know Maurice Benard for his Emmy-winning portrayal of Sonny Corinthos on GENERAL HOSPITAL, a role he has been playing since 1993.
And before that, he made his daytime debut as Nico Kelly on ALL MY CHILDREN in 1987. But before that, the talented actor tried his hand at modeling!
“Back when I was 20 years old, I failed as a model miserably,” Benard shared on Instagram, sharing a photo of himself looking absolutely cover-worthy in a tuxedo sitting at a table with a glass of wine.
The problem was obviously not his looks. “I was not very tall in a tall man’s world,” he admitted.
Still, this photo and many others were taken by a photographer who could see the magic that Benard brought to the camera. “I did have one photographer, Hank Hernandez, who believed in me,” he revealed. “He was truly brilliant, meticulous, a perfectionist. Not long after this picture, sadly he died of AIDS. Why do the great ones always die young?”
Though his early ‘80s modeling career may have fizzled out, casting directors took note of Benard’s magnetic screen presence and that’s when his career truly took off.
Still, as you can see by this example, Benard was equally as magnetic in still photographs, even if he wasn’t tall enough to catch the interest of model agencies. And fans and friends (including some GH co-stars) agreed, filling the comments of his Instagram post with praise and admiration.
“Mo!!” exclaimed Finola Hughes (Anna) while Cameron Mathison offered up a trio of heart-eye emojis and Scarlett Brielle (Donna) declared him “Dapper” with a fire emoji for emphasis. And we’d have to agree!
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