Here's how General Hospital's Van Hansis and newcomer Adrian Anchondo know each other

It was a hilarious moment on General Hospital when Lucas (Van Hansis) learned that he threw up on Marco (Adrian Anchondo), a man he just met and was attracted to. Of course, he was drunk at the time and didn’t remember it, but the newcomer was very understanding about Lucas’ need to drown his sorrows because his ex, Brad, had disappointed him again. Excited to dive into this new storyline, Hansis opened up about how he knows Anchondo off-screen.

He Was Done

Hansis explained to Soap Opera Digest that he was informed about a month before the scenes that Marco was going to be introduced as a potential love interest for Lucas. “There’s so much complication and history between Brad and Lucas that having a new love interest coming in is really fun and exciting,” he enthused. For a hot minute, it looked like Lucas and Brad were going to reunite, but when the lab tech revealed he blackmailed his way to the Miami symposium so the two could be close, Lucas was finally done.

Illustrating what a small world we truly live in, Hansis divulged that he has known newcomer Anchondo for two decades. He recalled being in a play that co-starred Jean Smart (24), David Hyde Pierce (Frasier), and Marissa Tomei (As the World Turns), adding that, “Adrian was there, too, so we met 20 years ago. We didn’t keep in touch or anything, but we followed each other on Instagram when social media started popping off.”

Hansis lived in New York while Anchondo was in LA, but every so often, the two would end up bumping into one another at LA parties. He praised his future scene partner, remarking, “He’s the sweetest guy, such an awesome dude.

He was happy for his co-star

He recalled that executive producer Frank Valentini asked him one day to read with some actors trying out for a part. Hansis had no idea the character would be Marco and was shocked when he saw Anchondo. “So then I walk into the waiting room, and all the guys are there,” he explained, continuing, “and Adrian was there! I was like, ‘Oh, my God, Adrian!’ We hadn’t seen each other in so long.”

He realized that Anchondo didn’t appear to be as equally surprised when they saw each other and figured the actor had done his GH homework. “I’m just so, so happy he got it,” Hansis remarked. Although at the time they’d only known each other in passing, Hasis was quick to explain that, “Just having somebody I’ve known for that long was nice because there was a level of comfort that was really awesome — and, as you know from watching it, we kind of jump into it pretty quickly!”

You can watch new episodes of General Hospital on ABC and Hulu.