Before Daniel Goddard showed up on General Hospital as Henry Dalton, the professor knee-deep in experiments and shady business, he was about to play another character on the show. Fans remember him from The Young and the Restless, but way before that, Goddard was hustling through auditions, close calls, and twists that shaped his soap-career.
Now, he’s spilling the tea on the surprising GH role he almost landed years ago, a role that would’ve completely changed how his story in Port Charles kicked off.
Daniel Goddard says he nearly played another General Hospital role before Henry
Daniel Goddard revealed in his interview with Soap Opera Digest that his General Hospital journey actually started way earlier than anyone knew, all the way back in 2005. That’s when he was in the running to play Dr. Patrick Drake.
At the time point, Goddard had just moved to Hollywood, gaining experience with modeling gigs and roles in shows like Home and Away and BeastMaster. He was making the rounds, meeting casting directors across daytime TV, including GH’s legendary casting boss, Mark Teschner.
Patrick Drake, the role Goddard almost snagged, was eventually portrayed by Jason Thompson. The actor went on to play the smooth-talking neurosurgeon for 10 years and became a fan-favorite.
Goddard said he auditioned for the role but could feel that he wasn’t exactly the puzzle piece they were looking for. So when Thompson landed the gig, he took it in stride, admitting the choice felt right and that Thompson was the perfect match for the role.
“Isn’t that ironic?” “I read for the role, Jason got cast, and then I got cast over at Y&R within a couple of months of that. So, there’s this bizarre kind of, like, crossover moment, where I’m like, ‘That’s the girl that could have been my daughter if I had been cast in the role that Jason Thompson got!’” Goddard told Soap Opera Digest.
In a funny twist of fate, Goddard later ended up working side-by-side with Jason Thompson on The Young and the Restless once Thompson transitioned to the show to play Billy Abbott. However, he says he held no hard feelings about missing Patrick: “To not have gotten the role, I was totally okay with it.”
