Exclusive Interview
‘General Hospital’ Alum Jason Thompson Looks Back at Patrick & Robin’s Wedding, 17 Years Later
What To Know
- Jason Thompson reflects fondly on his decade as Dr. Patrick Drake on General Hospital, emphasizing the special chemistry with Kimberly McCullough’s Robin and the impact of their supercouple storyline.
- Robin and Patrick first got married on December 26, 2008.
- The actor spoke with Swooon about the anniversary and the return of Emma Drake.
Jason Thompson will mark 10 years in the role of The Young and the Restless‘ Billy Abbott in January 2026, but before moving to Genoa City, he spent a decade on General Hospital as Dr. Patrick Drake, a role that still holds deep meaning for him.
Looking back on his first daytime job, Thompson can’t help but feel a profound appreciation for being paired with Kimberly McCullough‘s Robin Scorpio. “There’s a magic to watching someone grow up in front of your eyes, and General Hospital fans had that in Kimberly,” Thompson points out to Swooon. “She was on that show at five years old, and she never really left. And you’re talking about full-on storylines where she was holding her own for many, many years.”
That long history helped set the stage when Robin’s love interest was the newcomer Patrick in 2006, a shift that pushed McCullough’s alter ego into a modern supercouple romance. “To be able to see that character as an adult, knowing everything that that character went through, the HIV, [the death of] Stone [Cates, Michael Sutton], all of that, was special,” he notes. “And then with the history of [Patrick’s father] Dr. Noah Drake [Rick Springfield], having this pompous young ass show up and think he’s all that, only to get knocked down in a way, and then you put those two characters together with struggle, with honesty, with them both just wanting to find someone that they could love, and then you add [daughter] Emma in there, it was an incredibly special moment in time with amazing people.”
Beyond the storytelling itself, Thompson credits the collaborative forces behind the scenes, as well as the fans, for helping “Scrubs” resonate so powerfully. “We had incredible writers that really leaned in on ‘Scrubs,’ and it was nothing without the fan energy,” he acknowledges. “Knowing what I know now, how special it is when you capture a little bit of that magic in a couple of characters for however long it lasts, I know how lucky I was to have someone like Kimberly that I could rely on, that I trusted.”
For Thompson himself, stepping into Patrick’s shoes was equally formative. “I had great support from the writers and the producers at the time with that character,” he says. “I was able to learn how to mold and grow a character. I kind of started as a younger kid and ended up 10 years there, and all of that was just because of this incredible relationship that forced me to be vulnerable. And I think that’s really part of that magic. I was never afraid to let people see who that character was when nobody else was looking, and I think that’s a little bit of the window that becomes special for what we do. You get to see these people day in, day out, and the struggles that they have and the insecurities and everything.”
One of the most memorable milestones for both the characters and the actor came with Robin and Patrick’s wedding on December 26, 2008. “I just remember being like a fish out of water,” he recalls. “I was so far away from that in my personal life that I was like, ‘What is this going to be? What is this going to mean?’ But the day of, I just remember how big it was and the attention that it was getting at the time. Again, when I think back on it, I just know how big those moments are more so I can just have a really deep appreciation for when those moments happen.”
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That sense of connection resurfaced when Patrick and Robin’s onscreen daughter Emma Drake returned to Port Charles in 2024, now played by Braedyn Bruner. Though he’s firmly settled at Y&R, Thompson admits a part of him still wonders what it would be like to slip back into Patrick’s life. “It makes me a little bit jealous that I can’t be there with her a little bit, and it makes me want to know her,” he shares. “Don’t get me wrong — I’m incredibly, incredibly happy where I am, and I have no plans of going anywhere. And if it’s up to me, I’ll be doing this for the next 30, 40 years on Y&R, but at the same time, I still love that character, and I still would love to embody it a little bit. I think back on who that little girl has become, and I want to be a part of it. I want to learn what she loves. I want to know what our relationship is like. I want to know if she likes her dad or if he messed her up or what’s going on. It makes me think about all the possibilities of what could happen with her as an adult. I hear she’s doing great, too.”
Thompson reports that he remains connected to Emma’s original portrayer, Brooklyn Rae Silzer. “She’s gone and become a nurse, which I think is just so beautiful in its own way,” he praises. “So, I’m just stoked that the Drakes are still happening. I mean, you have the cornerstone with Finola [Hughes, Anna Devane] there, and anything’s possible with her. So, I know that Emma is in good hands even though Robin and Patrick aren’t around as much right now.”
Ultimately, Thompson looks back on Patrick Drake — and “Scrubs” — as one of the most fulfilling chapters of his career. “When I think back at ‘Scrubs,’ I just think about what they went through,” he reflects. “And then with Robin’s death [in 2012] and then seeing her again when she was alive [in 2013], it was just incredible story writing. That relationship was everything that we do well in daytime television, and I’m just incredibly grateful to be part of that piece of history and stoked that people still think about that character and that couple.”
General Hospital, Weekdays, ABC
