Jason Morgan and Courtney Matthews

Steve Burton and Alicia Leigh Willis as Jason Morgan and Courtney Matthews

**Jason Morgan** and **Courtney Matthews** are fictional characters and a former couple from the ABC daytime soap opera *General Hospital.*

## Casting

The role of Jason Morgan was portrayed by Daytime Emmy award-winning actor Steve Burton, on and off, from 1991-2012. Burton made his debut on December 19, 1991 and portrayed Jason on *General Hospital* for a total of twenty-one years. After leaving the show in 2000 to pursue other interests, Burton returned to *General Hospital* full time in May 2002. Burton exited the show again in 2012, after ten more years with the soap.

In 1998, Burton won a *Daytime Emmy Award* in the category of *Outstanding Supporting Actor* for his portrayal of Jason.

Actor Billy Miller portrayed Jason from 2014-17.

On Jun 28, 2017, *Soap Opera Digest* broke the news that Steve Burton would be returning to *GH* after 5 years. It is unknown if he will be portraying Jason, as Billy Miller is now Jason, if he will be portraying someone new or if there will be a Tale of Two Jasons.

On August 14, General Hospital’s official Twitter page announced that Burton is back on set. On September 8, TV Line announced that Burton's first appearance would be on September 19. Burton returned on September 19, as Patient 6. On December 1, it was revealed that Burton is in fact Jason and Miller is portraying his twin.

In September 2001, *General Hospital* released a casting call for Courtney, described to be in her early 20s and "sexy, vibrant and dynamic." The character was speculated to be the sister of Sonny Corinthos, played by Maurice Benard. Benard had hinted at a recent fan club event that Sonny's sister would be brought on canvas.

Alicia Leigh Willis was cast in the role of Courtney in December 2001. Casting director Mark Teschner fought for her to be hired in the role, and coached her before her callback with the show's executive producer at the time Jill Farren Phelps. Years later, Teschner spoke highly of his experience with Willis, "She nailed it and she got the role and four years later, she was one of the most successful additions on the show. That's also very gratifying when you fight for somebody and they do you right by doing a great job with the role."

In 2006, Willis chose not to renew her contract. She was written off the show, but at her goodbye party on set, Jill Farren Phelps asked if she would stay on and wrap up her character's pregnancy storyline, to which Willis agreed.

As the story played out, Willis voiced her opinion on *Soap Talk* on her character's future, "I love playing Courtney and to see someone else come in, it's like, 'It's *my* character!' I don't want to see someone else come in, but if they do, I wish them all the luck." Although the network had initially announced recasting the role, it was later confirmed that the character would in fact be killed off. Willis last appeared on February 21, 2006.

Willis received two consecutive Emmy nominations for her portrayal of Courtney.

Willis returned, as a ghost, on May 4-5, 2015.

## Background

Jason is the son of the late Dr. Alan Quartermaine and his mistress, the late, Susan Moore and the adoptive son of Dr. Monica Quartermaine. He is a member of the prestigious Quartermaine family.

Courtney is the daughter of Mike Corbin and Janine Matthews and younger paternal half-sister of Sonny Corinthos. She is a member of the Corinthos family. Sonny's wife Carly Corinthos was Courtney's best friend. She came to Port Charles, following her mother, who was blackmailing Edward Quartermaine for money.

Jason and Courtney started as forbidden lovers. They became romantically drawn to each other while she was still married to his older brother A.J. Quartermaine. Their relationship also caused friction with Sonny, who did not want his little sister involved with Jason due to their mob ties. Jason and Sonny had their first falling out ever over his relationship with Courtney.

Jason and Courtney married on October 10, 2003 in France with only Sonny and Carly in attendance. Their marriage was later proven to be invalid due to issues with her divorce from A.J.

After divorcing and moving on to new relationships, Jason and Courtney remained friends until she died from the encephalitis virus in 2006.

## Storylines

* 2003
* 2004

Jason and Courtney started to bond when he stepped up to protect her from a stalker. At the time, Courtney was married to his brother A.J. and secretly working as a stripper at The Oasis to pay for damage caused to the club when A.J. drove his car into the side of the building during a drunk driving incident.

Initially, there was animosity between Jason and Courtney due to the animosity between Jason and A.J. But as Jason and Courtney spent more time together, the tension faded. She quickly fell in love with him and he felt the same. But she was still married to A.J. and refused to cheat on him. It was later revealed that A.J. himself had hired Courtney's stalker after finding out that she was working at the club. Enraged, Courtney divorces A.J.

After the divorce, she began dating Jason. Their relationship was forcibly put on hold when Jason got caught up in a murder trial and was forced to marry Brenda Barrett so she couldn't testify against him. During Jason's fake marriage to Brenda, he still saw Courtney secretly.

After Jason and Brenda annulled their marriage, he and Courtney finally came clean to Sonny about their relationship and he was furious. Sonny forbids them to see each other so they start seeing each other behind Sonny's back. When Sonny found out he was furious and made Jason choose between Courtney or his job. When Jason chose to continue seeing Courtney, Sonny fired him and angrily kicked him out of the organization. Time passes and Sonny eventually comes to terms with their relationship and gives Jason his job back.

With Sonny's eventual acceptance, Jason and Courtney soon get engaged and begin planning a future together. Their wedding date was set for June 13, 2003. Family and friends gathered at St. Timothy’s Catholic Church, but the ceremony was interrupted by the news that a pregnant Carly is missing. Jason and Sonny became consumed with finding her for several weeks and Courtney supported their efforts.

During the search for Carly, Courtney discovered that she was pregnant with Jason's child. Before telling Jason about the pregnancy, she asked him how he would feel about starting a family. Jason replied that he didn't want to bring a child into the escalating violence and tension between the Alcazars and Corinthoses, so she kept quiet about her pregnancy.

Courtney is taken hostage by Lorenzo Alcazar and held hostage on his yacht in place of Carly, who had been rescued by Sonny and Jason. To escape, she jumps overboard during a storm into freezing waters and swims to shore. She overexerted herself and wakes up in a hospital room to the devastating news that she had miscarried. Jason finds her before Alcazar has the chance to track her down and take her again.

Once at home, she confesses to Jason that was pregnant and lost the baby during the escape. Jason is devastated and angry that she kept her pregnancy from him. His inability to comfort her over their shared loss, drives Courtney to become addicted to pain pills. In an effort to reconnect and grieve their loss, Jason takes Courtney to The Island. It is here that she finally confesses to him that she is addicted to pain pills and he is committed to helping her recover.

One night while Courtney was drugged up on pain pills, she runs down Elizabeth Webber with her car, but completely blocks out the incident and doesn't remember. Jason and Sonny discover that she was the one who hit Elizabeth and they cover up the crime to protect Courtney. They also did everything they could to make sure that she couldn't confess.

Jason takes Courtney away to France to get away from everything happening in Port Charles. They are married in France on October 10, 2003 in the garden of Le Chateau Cinq Mains. Sonny and Carly flew to France to be present at the wedding. After returning home, drama found them again. Carly went into labor at her new home during a torrential storm. She begged Courtney to find someone who could help deliver the baby. As Courtney was racing into town for help, she flipped her car.

She was rushed to the hospital and once stabilized, she told Jason and Sonny where to find Carly. Sonny went to find Carly and Jason stayed with Courtney as she recovered from her injuries. Sonny found Lorenzo helping Carly give birth and shot him. Unfortunately, the bullet goes through him and hits Carly in the head. She falls into a coma shortly after giving birth to a newborn son, Morgan.

Jason and Courtney are named Morgan's godparents, and Courtney cares for Morgan and his older brother Michael while Carly is in a coma. Fearing for Michael and Morgan's safety, she takes them to live in another town. She meets a police officer named Brian Beck, who owned the house they were staying in and they become friendly. Eventually, Jason comes and brings them back to Port Charles and Brian follows them and gets a job at the Port Charles Police Department.

Due to the increasing mob violence, Jason and Courtney start to drift apart. Courtney began to realize that she couldn't deal with all of the secrets and violence that surrounded the mob life. Deciding to leave him rather than watch him die, she moved out of Jason's penthouse and into a room above Kelly's. She starts to bond and spend more time with Brian who was also staying at Kelly's. During her separation from Jason, the two start to date and attend the opening of the Haunted Star together.

Both Jason and Sonny tell Courtney that Brian is only using her to get dirt on them, but she doesn't believe them. She ignores them until she starts to see the evidence of their claims. One night, she became suspicious and followed Brian to The Waterfront. He was preparing to ambush one of Sonny's deliveries.

A shoot out starts and Courtney notices Brian about the shot Jason in the back. She acts instinctively and shoots Brian in the back before he can shot Jason. Courtney feels extremely guilty and wants to turn herself in, but Jason will not allow it. Brian also protect her by naming Zander Smith as his shooter.

In February 2004, the Port Charles Hotel burns down. While trying to find Jason in the burning building, Courtney helps a wealthy old woman and her dog to safety. The old woman is so grateful that she writes Courtney a very big check. Courtney becomes CEO of the company responsible for managing the piers shipments. During her tenure as CEO, she tries to force Jason and Sonny to only conduct legit business by forbidding any illegal business dealings on her property. However, after more than a few run-ins with Sonny, Jason, and Faith Rosco, she decides to sell the property.

Jason and Sonny create a dummy corporation to try and buy the company from Courtney, but she discovers their ruse and sells the property to the competing bidder. She is horrified to learn that the other bidder was Lorenzo Alcazar. Jason and Sonny felt betrayed by her decision and actions.

Jason and Courtney had drifted so far apart, that reconciliation looked unlikely. They had filed for divorce, but before signing the papers, Courtney made a last ditch effort to reconcile. Jason was initially open to reconcile but then she betrayed him again by saving Alcazar. Courtney found Jason about to kill Alcazar and she hit him over the head, knocking him out and preventing him from doing so. Then, she called the cops when Sonny chased after Alcazar to finish the job himself. Sonny was furious and disowned her.

Despite still loving each other, Jason felt betrayed by Courtney and they had shifted too far apart. They officially divorced when Jason signed the papers in April 2004 and both moved on to different relationships. Some time later, Courtney reconciled her relationship with Sonny and Jason. After rebuilding their friendship, Jason and Courtney remained friends until she died of the encephalitis virus in 2006.