During the May 7 episode of General Hospital Emmy winner Maurice Benard’s State of Mind, he admitted that, when he heard on-screen son Chad Duell was going to be a father, he had reservations. “We all had our feelings about it,” Benard said.
Duell understood. When the news broke that he and girlfriend Luana Lucci were expecting, “I’m sure a lot of people obviously were shocked to find out,” he said. “We were shocked to find out. It was obviously a surprise.
“My kid could probably watch this someday when I say that,” he goes on. “What you have to understand, though, is… me and Luana were praying not knowing we were praying for the same kind of thing at the same time… We weren’t really in a relationship at that time, either, when she was praying for it.”
And what was… it? Greater purpose.
The Missing Piece of the Puzzle
From the outside, Duell seemed to be doing terrific. But “when you live a life of routine, time goes by fast, and it’s depressing,” he said. “My greater purpose isn’t about being on a TV show and making good money. That shouldn’t be anybody’s purpose.” What was his, though?
Finally, Michael’s portrayer knows. With his and Lucci’s son due “around September,” he can tell that this is it for him. “I know that this is going to be my big purpose,” he said. “I feel like it’s going to change me. Your ultimate growth is when somebody’s in your life that you would completely die for.”
A Miracle in the Making
Not that Duell is in any hurry to check out, mind you. But if today were to be his last, he’d die happy, he said, knowing that “I contributed something so beautiful [to the world as this child]…
“It’s hard still to wrap my head around,” he added. “Seeing [the sonogram] is so surreal, I still can’t process it. It wasn’t like you go, ‘Hey, let’s have a kid,’ and there’s a whole plan for it. It was a shock, but what a beautiful shock, and it’s gonna be a blessing that keeps on giving, too.”
Change for the Better
Though Duell is well aware that a roller-coaster ride lies ahead of him and Lucci, he’s as ready for it as he can be. “It’s gonna be a whole adventure. It’s gonna be scary. It’s gonna be overwhelming,” he acknowledged. “But I just want to make sure that I give everything I possibly can to him emotionally, most importantly.
“That’s going to be my purpose, to make sure that this boy, soon to be man, is going to be somebody who’s going to change people’s lives, hopefully in a positive way,” he concluded. “There’s no greater purpose than being a father or a mother.”
Oh, and about Benard’s reservations? After hearing Duell speak about fatherhood, he no longer had any. Before Duell adds a branch to his family tree, review the ties that bind the Corinthos clan in the below photo gallery.
