deVry Joins GH!

Daytime vet William deVry has revealed that he is joining the cast of GENERAL HOSPITAL as Derek Wells, and will first air on Tuesday, July 30. We also understand that Derek is Connie’s boss, although Kelly Sullivan (Connie) is set to exit the soap soon, so the character will likely have his fingers in a few other pies as well.

“Finally! I just got word I can tell you I just finished my first day of work on GENERAL HOSPITAL,” deVry posted to Facebook. “It is a contract role. Very rare these days indeed. And I come to town as the character of Derek Wells. Derek has an agenda, let me tell ya!”

Given how much success deVry had enjoyed since leaving daytime in 2008, how did GH lure him back to the medium? While the actor admits that he’d let go of his attachment to it in order to move on, he says his affection for it never waned. “I love the challenge of it,” he explains. “And I had been sad that it was slowly dying, because I just enjoyed it so damn much.” However, being a part of the tight ship that GH has become was a temptation too good to pass up. “What I’ve learned since coming back is that daytime is actually gaining traction again,” he enthuses. “There couldn’t be a better time to get back into it!” However, for deVry, the biggest lure was the opportunity to share scenes with two-time Emmy winner Maura West (Ava). “She’s fantastic!” he grins. “As soon as I heard I’d be working with her — and I won’t tell you in what capacity — I became very excited.”

The actor is best known to daytime fans for his roles as ALL MY CHILDREN’s devious Michael and THE BOLD & THE BEAUTIFUL’s troubled Storm. So deVry should fit right in in Port Charles! For more from the actor, including details on his intriguing new character, pick up the next issue of Soaps in Depth.