Nancy Lee Grahn earned the top spot for October for the palpable heartbreak she conveyed when Alexis found out about her daughter’s death. But that wasn’t the only reason.
It was a hard-fought race to be named Performer of the Month for October. The last four weeks on General Hospital were highly dramatic, providing plenty of opportunities for the show’s actors to thrive.
October 2024 Performer of the Month
In October, the residents of Port Charles had to deal with the continued fallout of Sonny (Maurice Benard) murdering Agent John Cates (Adam J. Harrington). This resulted in Alexis’s (Nancy Lee Grahn) incarceration. The need to find a donor for Lulu (soon-to-be Alexa Havins) reached desperation levels. As a result, Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) became distraught. Plus, guilt overwhelmed Lucky (Jonathan Jackson), who found out he wasn’t a viable donor for his sister. Then Ric Lansing (Rick Hearst) antagonized his daughter’s sister for a case while also being responsible for helping set Heather (Alley Mills) free.
Then Sam (an exiting Kelly Monaco) died, which threw this vote into overdrive.
Dominic Zamprogna, Jonathan Jackson, Nancy Lee Grahn, and Rick Hearst were the nominees for GH’s Performer of the Month for October.
Jonathan Jackson had the top spot in the bag going into yesterday when Nancy Lee Grahn edged him out. GH fans must have reacted to Grahn’s portrayal of a mother who suddenly and irrevocably lost her daughter after she gave the gift of a lifetime, part of her liver, to an ailing and comatose Lulu.
Nobody thought Sam would actually lose her life. Grahn gave a heartbreaking performance filled with incredulousness, denial, acceptance, rage, and mostly immense grief and sadness at the unfairness of her daughter, the hero, dying.
On X, formerly Twitter, Grahn admitted how hard it was for her and her castmates to play these scenes. She wrote, “Playing Kelly Monaco’s mom has been effortless and the love is real.”
Grahn’s performance seemed effortless, beyond riveting, and award-worthy. There will undoubtedly be more of the same in November as Alexis continues to mourn Sam.