General Hospital fans are currently celebrating the 35th anniversary of Finola Hughes stepping into the role of Anna Devane, so naturally, everyone has been going down memory lane when it comes to the super spy. But there's a big part of Anna's life that didn't play out in Port Charles: her emotional romance with All My Children character Dr. David Hayward (Vincent Irizarry).
As soap fans may recall, in 2001, Anna moved to AMC's Pine Valley, where she fell in love with Irizarry's David and had a daughter (who ultimately died) with the doc. She eventually moved back to Port Charles and is now in a relationship with Hamilton Finn (Michael Easton). But seeing as how their relationship is currently a bit shaky, fans are wondering if a blast from the past might come to town and take advantage of the tension between the lovers.
Some GH fans are guessing that Finn's ex Hayden Barnes (Rebecca Budig) will be that blast from the past, but others are betting that Vincent Irizarry might bring David Hayward to the canvas to sweep Anna off her feet. While no official casting news has been announced, the actor says that if the opportunity arises, he would be very open to the idea of heading to GH -- which just so happens to be the only currently airing soap opera that he hasn't been a part of.
"It would be fantastic to change that! I would love an opportunity to work with Finola Hughes (Anna) again and work with that cast," Irizarry tells Soaps In Depth of possibly joining the ABC soap as Dr. Hayward. "He has crossover appeal because of Anna... Our characters were married, we had a child together, and the child died. That was such a dramatic story, and Finola and I had a great working relationship. So I think it would make sense."
As for what David has been up to since viewers last saw him in Pine Valley back in 2013, Irizarry says he's "curious." After all, the character didn't get a defined ending when AMC was canceled.
As the actor explained back in 2017, "I would love playing David Hayward again... because of how it was left off, with All My Children going off the air. There was absolutely no closure at all. It just stopped, after forty one years, because we kept thinking we were coming back. So the stories stopped, as it was, frozen in time. There was no resolution with the characters. So at least for me, and the audience, where the character is concerned, if that availed itself, if I had the opportunity to do that, it could potentially give something to the character, and to the show, and to the audience."
He continued: "[David] is a doctor, and it's General Hospital, and considering that he had a child with Anna, considering the fact that he is a doctor -- and not just any doctor, but a world-renowned cardiologist, thank you [laughs] -- I could see that it would be an easy fit. But... it's their show and they get to decide what they're going to do for whatever would be best for their show."
In addition to playing AMC's David from 1997 to 2013, Irizarry played The Young and the Restless' David Chow, The Bold and the Beautiful's Dr. Jordan Armstrong, Days of our Lives' Deimos Kiriakis, Guiding Light's Brandon/Lujack Luvonaczek, and Santa Barbara's Dr. Scott Clark.
Would you like to see Vincent Irizarry bring Dr. David Hayward to General Hospital? Why or why not? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
