Chris McKenna is speaking candidly about leaving “General Hospital,” calling the end of his run “disappointing” even as he counts the role among the highlights of his career.
Jack Brennan, the WSB chief McKenna played since February 2025, was found dead in the Metro Court pool during Tuesday’s episode, closing out a storyline that had made him one of Port Charles’s more layered antagonists. McKenna wrapped filming in June, giving him months to process the character’s death before it aired. “It’s disappointing how it’s ending right now, but this was a gift,” he said in an interview with TV Insider. “Between my son being born and having this place to go to work for the past couple of years, this has been just a fantastic time, and it’s been so much fun.”
McKenna stepped into the role after Charles Mesure originated the character in December 2023, taking over a part that put him in front of a fresh audience of daytime viewers. He called the response to his casting “overwhelming and humbling,” noting that 18 months on the show earned him a devoted following he hadn’t expected. He also pointed to Brennan’s unfinished romance with Nina Reeves as one of the storylines he wishes had gotten more room to breathe, even while praising the character’s complexity.
This marks the third time in McKenna’s daytime career that a show has written him off or killed off his character. He debuted on “One Life to Live” as Joey Buchanan in 1990, later played Detective Mark Harding on “The Young and the Restless,” and made a brief appearance on “The Bold and the Beautiful” in 2016.
McKenna doesn’t view the exit as permanent. He remains close with several “General Hospital” cast members, lives near the studio where the show films, and expects to cross paths with former co-stars at fan conventions and other projects already in the works. “I’ll always look back on this with pride and with joy,” he said, adding that fans “will see” him again soon.
