Maurice Benard is celebrating 30 years of playing the bipolar mob kingpin Sonny Corinthos on ABC‘s long-running soap opera, General Hospital. And during today’s episode of The View, the actor opened up about why he thinks so many women are attracted to his character.
Joy Behar brought up the topic when she pointed out that he has “zillions of fan sites all across the internet” and that “women love” Sonny, despite him being a “ruthless mob boss.” She continued, “It’s like Tony Soprano was also very attractive to women. What is it about these mob guys that women just flock to them?”
While Sunny Hostin speculated that it’s because “bad boys” are “sexy,” Benard jokingly presumed, “Women want to fix a man that’s messed up.”
The comment evoked laughter from the audience, while Whoopi Goldberg flashed a confused look to the camera. Meanwhile, Benard went on to say that when he first started on the show in 1993, Sonny was “really bad.”
“I said if I ever get bored, I’m out,” he revealed. “Well, I never got bored.”
Benard continued, “When I decided that I wanted to stay there, I played his pain. I started playing his pain and that’s when people started gravitating towards him. He wasn’t just one-level bad.”
He explained that when his character killed somebody, it would bring out a reaction — which he believes is when the audience “started going” with him.
“It’s like women who are attracted to men who are in prison,” Behar said, referencing the Menendez brothers, who were convicted in 1996 for murdering their parents, before noting that “one got married in prison.”
She added, “There are women who are attracted to that sort of vulnerable thing that you’re saying.”
The View airs on weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.
