Rick Hearst Teases Possible ‘General Hospital’ Return As Ric Lansing

It has been quite some time since the character of Ric Lansing caused trouble in Port Charles, but General Hospital fans have been speculating that it might be time to bring him back. Actor Rick Hearst recently did an article to promote a new project of his, and he addressed the idea of returning to GH to reprise his old character.

While Hearst has been away from the world of soap operas for a while, fans know that he’s played characters on almost all of them. As Soap Opera News points out, years ago he played Alan-Michael Spaulding on the now-defunct Guiding Light.

Hearst played Scott Banning on Days of Our Lives as well as Whipple Jones on The Bold and the Beautiful. Fans may also remember him as Matt Clark on The Young and the Restless.

In his time away from the land of soaps, Hearst has worked on a number of other projects. He has a role in the movie Full Count, which debuts later this month. The project stars Natalia Livingston, who used to play Emily on General Hospital along with Jason London. Rick plays a deputy in the film.

While Hearst may be focusing on promoting this movie right now, he was ready with an answer when asked if he’d be willing to go back to General Hospital.

“The door is wide open and I have stated as such. The canvas has changed a lot but I don’t think it has changed enough where there is no room for Ric Lansing. Ric is a legacy character. He is tied to so many relationships and people on the show.”

As Hearst notes, the character of Lansing is still tied to many core General Hospital characters. For example, as Soap Central notes, Ric is Sonny’s half-brother and Molly’s biological father.

Over the years, Ric was involved with Alexis, Elizabeth, and Nina, and he even ended up in bed with Sam once. Lansing kidnapped Carly at one point and was also the man who orchestrated bringing Hayden to town.

Heart initially joined General Hospital in 2002 and departed in 2009. Rick returned in 2014 and was last seen in 2016.

In recent weeks, some fans have speculated that it might be the perfect time to bring Ric back to Port Charles. In all likelihood, it probably wouldn’t be all that difficult for the writers to come up with something juicy for him to do. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound as if the show has jumped on this possibility.

“But I still haven’t received any calls, any interest or anything. I feel like it’s in their court as to whether or not they feel that the character of Ric Lansing and the actor of Rick Hearst is an attribute to their canvas or not. The fact that it has been this long makes me believe it’s not in their plans right now.”

Despite the fact that Hearst says General Hospital hasn’t been in touch with him, fans on social media are speculating about what the writers could do with the character. Ric hasn’t tangled with Ava before, for example, and some GH fans suggest that the two would certainly make a dangerous duo.

Ric Lansing is just the right amount of vengefully lethal for my Ava Jerome. #GH

— Nigel Campbell (@nigel_campbell) June 18, 2019

Fans have speculated that Dev will turn out to have a real connection with Sonny, and some viewers have mentioned that maybe Ric could be involved here.

Lansing could perhaps end up tied to all of the Helena, Cassandra, and Peter chaos, or he could return to try to be sincerely helpful to Elizabeth as she struggles with this Drew fiasco.

I was hoping to get Ric Lansing back on canvas as the DA when Margaux leaves. But good for Rick Hearst. He deserves writing that will do his talent justice. Still… I wouldn't be mad if we got a double serving and saw him on both shows. #GH #AmbitionsOWN

— Cj B. (@imgoodbackup) June 17, 2019

Should General Hospital bring Rick Hearst back and have Ric Lansing stirring up some trouble again?

As The Inquisitr noted previously, fans have already been speculating about the possibility of having Bryan Craig return as Morgan and Tyler Christopher return as Nikolas as well. Viewers would certainly have a lot to buzz about if any of these men were to reprise their earlier roles and everybody will be anxious to see if anything comes as a result of any of this speculation and wishful thinking.