State Of Mind with Maurice Benard

You won't find a more driven, dedicated, and inspirational man than my guy Clark Bartram. And oh, did I mention his guns! Not the deadly kind, I'm talking his arms. You want to feel good, listen to Clark. You won't regret it!

Mark Teschner has been the Casting Director at General Hospital since 1989 and has won ten Emmy Awards for Casting. Mark has unique ability to communicate with actors, encouraging them to deliver their best performances and he shares insight in his casting of Vanessa Marcil, Steve Burton and Michael Sutton. Maurice and Mark talk about the younger generation's outlet of being able to showcase their talent being on platforms like TikTok and Youtube and shows like American Idol and America's Got Talent.

Jillian Barberie (Good Day LA, Fox Sports, EX-treme Dating, American Idol Extra) Jillian is incredibly candid as she opens up about her life. She and Maurice talk about her incredible career, marriage and divorce, leaving Good Day LA, going to therapy, dealing with alcoholism, depression and anxiety and how she aggressively battled breast cancer.  Through it all Jillian has always found a way to move forward.

Jordi Vilasuso (Young and The Restless, Guiding Light, All My Children, Days of our Lives). Jordi is Cuban-American, raised in Miami, Florida, and even with a family full of doctors he knew he wanted to be an actor at a young age.   He talks about his childhood and when he moved to NYC and joined Guiding Light, but things get deep when Jordi opens up about his relationship with his wife Kaitlin. When things got tough, they sought out therapy and continue to put the work into their marriage.   Jordi and Kaitlin have a new podcast called “Making It Work” where they candid about lessons they've learned in their own relationship and discover new ways of making it work in life, love & marriage.   Socials: Youtube: mbstateofmind Instagram: @MauriceBenard @mbstateofmind Twitter: @MauriceBenard @mbstateofmind State Of Mind with Maurice Benard Merch: SHOP

Liz Vassey (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, All My Children, The Tick, Nikki & Nora) Liz began acting at the age of nine, performing in over fifty musicals and plays. She moved to New York at the age of sixteen to join the cast of All My Children and actually screen-tested with Maurice! It was during that time that her father left their family. Liz talks about what that was like and how that changed her relationships moving forward. An avid runner, Liz made her directorial debut with the documentary feature, The Human Race, which focuses on runners over the age of fifty. To find out more, and watch the film, visit: https://www.the-human-race.net.     Socials: Youtube: mbstateofmind Instagram: @MauriceBenard @mbstateofmind Twitter: @MauriceBenard @mbstateofmind State Of Mind with Maurice Benard Merch: SHOP

Michael E. Knight (All My Children, General Hospital, Drop Dead Diva, Law & Order: SVU) Michael and Maurice laugh.. a lot! They reminisce about their friendship, younger years on All My Children and trips they've taken together, but things also get really deep. Michael talks in depth about his journeys with OCD and dysthymia, benefit of therapy and the ability to seek out help and medication when it's needed.   Socials: Youtube: mbstateofmind Instagram: @MauriceBenard @mbstateofmind Twitter: @MauriceBenard @mbstateofmind State Of Mind with Maurice Benard Merch: SHOP

This week's episode I'm joined by former Thai death row inmate Tyler Gerard, and his mom, Tracy Gerard. The Gerard Family and my family's children went to school together. We have come to know and love them over the last decade, during the time when Tyler was falsely accused, arrested, and unlawfully imprisoned in Thailand. For six long years, he was on death row in Thailand for crimes he did not commit. Tyler and Tracy are here to share their story of survival—A young man facing relentless torture and mental anguish in an overseas prison. A family brought to their knees with the financial and emotional burdens of fighting to save their son's life. Fortunately, with the help of an international nonprofit, Tyler was recently freed. He is now determined to now be an activist to help other prisoners and families facing unlawful prison sentences in Thailand and around the world. The Gerard Family - GoFundMe

Parry Shen. (General Hospital, Hatchet) Parry's appeared in 350 film and television roles and his voiceover resume includes video games and audio books. Recently, he has co-created two graphic novels and produced the movie “Unidentified”, available on Amazon. When not acting, Parry strives to demystify the acting business and sharing his experiences as an Asian American in the media to college students across the country.

Vincent Irizarry. (Guiding Light, Santa Barbra, All My Children) Vincent and Maurice talk about what it means to find your passion and how, for Vincent, the decision to allow himself to dive into music and acting changed the course of his life. Vincent shares a very poignant story of losing his cousin Lauren to suicide and what that's meant to him and his daughter. Also discussed are Vincent's acting experiences in Heartbreak Ridge along side Clint Eastwood, Marie with Sissy Spacek and the Lucky Chances miniseries where had a starring role along side Sandra Bullock, Eric Braeden, Nicollette Sheridan and Michael Nader.

Jophielle "JoJo" Love. (Grey's Anatomy, General Hospital) She's a 7-year old talent, born in France to a mom who is a stunt woman and a dad who is a high-wire walker. They met 20 years ago while working with Cirque du Soleil so talent is in her DNA. Jophielle started acting at age 3, but she loves to perform her circus act balancing on her dad's hands, play guitar, piano and sing. Please enjoy Jophielle singing a song which she wrote, called "Walking in the Dark", at the end of the episode.

Laura Wright (General Hospital, Guiding Light, Loving).  Laura is an Emmy award winning actress with a 30 year career in Daytime. Her vulnerability shines through as she opens up divorce, how she fought it with feelings of self-loathing and shame until she found a way through it with meditation and re-discovering herself.  Laura opens about the loss of both her parents and how she was able find strength in the gifts that they gave her.  She and Maurice also spend some time talking about General Hospital, where their characters have been off and on again since Laura joined the show back in 2005.  

Eric Braeden (The Young and The Restless, Titanic). Born in Germany during WWII, with a life having been shaped by losing his father at age 12, Eric learned to channel his emotions into sports and later acting. Having immigrated to the US as a teenage, after college, Eric found roles in dozens of movies and television series. He shares few anxious moments before performances and how he was able to overcome it as we talk about what it was like working with Marlon Brando, his roles in Titanic and as Victor Newman The Young and The Restless.

Linsey Godfrey (The Bold and the Beautiful, Days Of Our Lives). Linsey shares her heroic story with Maurice of having survived not only cancer, but a debilitating car accident. She spent endless hours learning how to re-walk, just as her daughter was starting to learn to walk for this first time. Having been diagnosed with Bipolar II and Borderline Personality Disorder, Linsey is focused on de-stigmatizing mental health. Additionally, Linsey is an Ambassador for INARA, which is a non-profit that provides access to life-altering medical and mental health care to conflict impacted children.  To learn more about INARA and how you can help, please visit: https://www.inara.org.

Maurice Benard is joined by actor, writer, producer, director Ronnie Marmo. Maurice and Ronnie share many laughs as they discuss their passions for their acting careers, roles on General Hospital and pursuing their dreams in LA.  Ronnie tells his tale of being raised by a single mother. While she worked three jobs, he fell into the wrong crowd. At just 12 years old, he was selling and using drugs and alcohol. Thanks to his mother's love and a mutual admiration of community theater, Ronnie turned his life around by the age of 21. Now, he can be seen performing as Lenny Bruce in “I'm not a Comedian…I'm Lenny Bruce”, which he also wrote. For more information on how you can see it live, please visit https://www.lennybruceonstage.com.

Maurice Benard is joined by Army veteran and Wounded Warrior J.R. Martinez. J.R. has shown resilience and optimism since suffering severe burns, going on to star on All My Children and win Dancing with the Stars. This New York Times Bestselling author shares his heroic story and you'll be inspired by his ability to adapt and overcome.

Maurice Benard is joined by Emmy Award winning actor Tyler Christopher. Tyler Christopher has acted in tv and movies since 1996. Known best for his work on General Hospital, Days of Our Lives and The Lying Game. For the first time in an interview, Tyler Christopher openly discusses his bipolar diagnosis and alcoholism, and how his addiction led him to having a traumatic brain injury and almost dying before finding himself homeless on Skid Row. He reflects on his childhood, being a father and how he has come to living life to its fullest.  Socials: Youtube: mbstateofmind Instagram: @MauriceBenard @mbstateofmind Twitter: @MauriceBenard @mbstateofmind State Of Mind with Maurice Benard Merch: SHOP

Maurice Benard is joined by former Pro Wrestler and New York Times Bestselling author AJ Mendez. AJ Mendez is a mental health advocate, an ambassador for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), author of Crazy Is My Superpower: How I Triumphed by Breaking Bones, Breaking Hearts, and Breaking the Rules and former WWE Pro Wrestler. They talk about what it is like being bipolar and the time leading up to their diagnosis. AJ is a suicide survivor and describes her suicide attempts and the stranger who listened to her in her time of need. Plus: AJ tells Maurice about her time in WWE under the ring name AJ Lee. This episode contains discussions about suicide attempts and talk of suicidal ideation. If you are struggling, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255 (available 24 hours). Socials: Youtube: mbstateofmind Instagram: @MauriceBenard @mbstateofmind Twitter: @MauriceBenard @mbstateofmind State Of Mind with Maurice Benard Merch: SHOP

Maurice Benard is joined by his son Joshua Benard.   They talk about their mutual passion for acting and dislike of auditioning, but things get interesting when Joshua shares where he gets his confidence from. How he channels his feelings into writing music and playing the piano or guitar. Socials: Youtube: mbstateofmind Instagram: @MauriceBenard @mbstateofmind Twitter: @MauriceBenard @mbstateofmind State Of Mind with Maurice Benard Merch: SHOP