Anthony Geary on former entitlement, being saved by Luke and his wishes for a perhaps slightly unfair farewell

Anthony Geary opens up about his final days on General Hospital and how his exit will go down, whether it's fair to everyone else or not.

As Luke Spencer's final moments draw near on General Hospital, the character's portrayer, Anthony Geary, is opening up about his experience playing the beloved Port Charles character for 37 years as well as why he's decided to walk away from the role. And now, in a new interview with Paolo Presta of A Spoon Full of Paolo, the actor reveals some new information about his exit and the permanent mark Luke has left on him.

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Even though Geary knows in his heart that his time on GH is meant to come to a close, he can't help but carry Luke Spencer with him for the rest of his life. After all, the two have been connected for almost four decades. "It's such a great character. He's become my alter ego. He's kept me very entertained for over half my life," the actor says in the interview, which you can watch below. "If I get in a difficult situation with people or, you know, if there's a little danger in the area or something, my Luke Spencer kicks in, because he's much more brash, he's much more aggressive, and he's much more sure of himself than I am. I'm shy and I'm a pacifist, so he has taken care of me in certain situations. That sounds so artsy fartsy and crazy, but it really is true. If you have an alter ego for 37 years, you would understand!"

As for just recently winning his eighth Daytime Emmy for the role, Geary explains that he's much more appreciative of the award now than he's ever been before. "I think when I was young, I thought I was entitled to it," he explains. "I thought we were working hard and I thought we were breaking new ground, and I don't know, I think youth has an entitlement factor to it and age has more wisdom than that. So this one was particularly gratifying, and I didn't expect it."

Of course, what he does expect is a lot of hoopla surrounding his upcoming exit from the show, which he's torn about, considering he doesn't want an emotional sendoff. "I hate to see actors indulge in that, but you know, it's difficult to say," he explains. "I begged them -- my [executive] producer, Frank Valentini, who has been wonderfully supportive and honorable about my leaving the show, he's just been terrific to me -- [I] begged him, 'Please don't have a cake and please don't bring everybody in and have a goodbye.' But [Frank] said that it's not fair to everyone [who wants to say goodbye]. And I thought I could sneak out the fire exit and disappear into the night... It's not going to happen!"

For more from Geary, check out the full Spoonful of Paolo interview below.

What do you think of Geary's parting thoughts? Are you prepared for Luke's exit? 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.

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