General Hospital fans who witnessed the brutal stabbing of Marco Rios by corrupt WSB Director Ross Cullum (Andrew Hawkes) had good reason to fear it would soon be curtains for the lawyer character played by Adrian Anchondo since March 13, 2025. Indeed, poor Marco met a tragic end in the March 25 episode, and Anchondo spoke out about his exit from the show in a new interview with TV Insider.
Such Sweet Sorrow
The actor admitted that he had suspected that the show might be planning to kill him off since late last summer — to the point that it felt like “it was less a question of if and more of when and how it would happen.” In response, he shared, he poured himself into his work and reminded himself that “I have no control and that I can’t take it personally. It’s not really about me. It’s about the story and the story is more important than any one actor.”
Marco’s death capped off a dramatic arc in which he teamed up with his lover, Lucas (Van Hansis), to procure the medication Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) so desperately needed to control her Huntington’s disease — medication that Marco’s father, Sidwell (Carlo Rota), and Cullum were keeping under lock and key at Wyndemere. Marco did manage to swipe the meds, but Cullum found out and ambushed him at his law office, where he proceeded to stab him. By the time Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) found him, Marco had lost a significant amount of blood, and he ultimately died during surgery. “He had a short journey, but it was full of love,” summed up Anchondo, who described his character’s grand finale as “a beautiful way to end Marco. He got to go out a hero.”
Of course, leaving the show comes with some heartache for the actor, who had grown close to castmates like love interest Hansis and on-screen dad Rota. “Those are real relationships that we developed over the last year that have gotten stronger even in the last half a year,” he noted. He also spoke highly of his experience collaborating with Thiebaud, enthusing, “The biggest surprise and the most joy I got was working with Kelly.”
Anchondo also voiced his appreciation to Executive Producer and Mark Teschner “for taking a chance on me and bringing such a unique character to daytime, especially a queer and Latino character during this time. It just felt so important to be seen and represented.” And while he has just to book his next job, the actor has been actively auditioning, even getting a callback for an HBO project. He mused, “I think that this has opened the door for me. I would have loved to do many years on General Hospital, but I’ve been given a gift from Frank and Mark and the whole team. I feel like they helped me find my wings.”
While Marco’s death brings his love story with Lucas to a heartbreaking conclusion, Anchondo’s own love life is soaring: Last year, he started dating Days of Our Lives star Colton Little (Andrew), and fans cheered news of their relationship. “People really needed a happy ending,” Anchondo observed. “Even if Marco didn’t get to have the happiest ending, I feel like I got to have a happy ending in some ways.”