Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna)

Dante Angelo Falconeri a.k.a. Dominic Pirelli is a fictional character on on the popular daytime soap opera General Hospital. Dante is the son of the popular character Sonny Corinthos and his old flame Olivia Falconeri. He has been portrayed by Dominic Zamprogna since June 22, 2009.

Character description and casting
Dante was born in Bensonhurst around 1985 to a 16 year old Olivia Falconeri. Olivia dated Sonny Corinthos in high school. After the relationship ended, Sonny began dating Olivia's cousin Connie (now known as Kate Howard). After Sonny left Bensonhurst, Olivia learned she was pregnant. The only other person who knew Sonny was Dante's father was Connie. Olivia swore her to secrecy to protect Dante from Sonny's dangerous lifestyle. Dante is Catholic like his mother.

Since the announcment of the character in the summer of 2008, there has been much speculation about who would portray the character. First Tom Pelphrey was considering the role. He had just relocated to California leading fans to believe he was joining the cast. Pelphrey later released a statement saying he wanted to seek work outside of daytime. Then in October 2008, it was announced that David Lago had reportedly been cast as Dante. All seemed to be going well except for the fact that Lago had never actually signed a contract and the deal fell apart. Lago instead returned to his former job as Raul Guittierez on The Young and the Restless. In late spring of 2009, it was announced that Canadian actor Dominic Zamprogna had been cast as the character of Dominic. Seeing that the character had the same name as the actor led to much speculation among fans. On July 8th, 2009, Dominic is confirmed to be Dante Falconeri.

Arrival in Port Charles
On June 22, 2009, Dante - operating under the alias "Dominic Pirelli" - arrives in Port Charles under the orders of Claudia Zacchara to kill Jason Morgan. However, Claudia's brother Johnny intervenes and saves Jason's life, killing several of the shooters. Though he is shot, Dante manages to slip away and finds Morgan Corinthos, who attempts to navigate Dante out of the forest until Carly Jacks, Morgan's mom shows up. While holding Carly and Morgan at gunpoint, Dante is attacked by Michael Corinthos. Carly tells him to leave and they can act like this never happened and he agrees. Dante finds his way to Sonny's house were he confronts Claudia about her failed plan. Claudia lets him sleep in her bedroom then attempts to kill him the next day. He meets Kristina Davis, Sonny's daughter and she helps him out. He finally shows himself to his mother who is kind of upset that he’s in Port Charles but also happy to see him. He doesn’t tell her why he’s there.

Dante goes to Sonny looking for a job. He attempts to get Jason to trust him, but with Claudia and Johnny against him, Jason is hesitant. Dante then seeks out Kristina asking for access to her father. Sonny decides to give him a chance anyway when Dante storms into Sonny’s house while Carly is with him. Before Sonny shoots him, he explains that if he wanted trouble, he would have hurt Carly & her sons, but he didn’t. Dante flirts with Claudia whenever he gets a chance knowing she hates him. Dante also has a crush on Carly Jacks and has a growing likeness for her. He unknowingly rents a room from his grandfather, Mike Corbin at Kelly's Diner.

Relationship with Lulu
On August 3rd, 2009, Dante still going by Dominic meets Lulu Spencer. He is very much attracted to her and they seem to be getting along until her brothers, Lucky and Ethan beat him up because he works for Sonny. Lulu pretends she's not interested in him but he doesn't stop flirting. Also, Dante walks in on Johnny and Olivia about to have sex. The horrified look on Dante's face clearly tells that he is scared for his mother that she is sleeping with mobster, Johnny Zacchara.

When he and Johnny are found out by the police overseeing a Zacchara shipment, he lets Johnny run and he's arrested. He has to admit to police commisioner Mac Scorpio that he is actually an undercover cop. Olivia tries to get him to abandon his mission but he refuses. As Dante struggles to keep both his identities a secret, Carly is suspicious of the resemblance between him and Morgan after he rescues Morgan from Kristina's angry boyfriend Kiefer Bauer. . On August 11, 2009, Mac confirms that Dante is a detective undercover as a mob soldier named "Dominic Pirelli."

"Dominic" begins forming a close relationship with Morgan. The two have almost a brother like relationship. He then finds himself identifying with both Sonny & Morgan when they talk about their pasts as baseball players and how they all played the same position. He also tries to get Lulu's attention much to her brother Ethan & her step-mother Tracy's dislike. The two kiss on August 26th, 2009 after he dares her. On Auguest 31st, 2009 Dante was a signed to be Michael and Morgan bodyguard. On September 4, 2009 Dominic accompanies Michael, Morgan, Kristina & Molly to the carnival. When Edward Quartermaine crashes his car through the carnival, he pushes Morgan out of harms way and is left in critical condition. Olivia desperate and thinks she may have to tell Sonny the truth because Dante may need a kidney transplant.

Dante heals up, but things go from bad to worse when Lulu finds his badge. He claims that he stole it and she believes him but she doesn't give it back to him. Sonny at one point is in his room arguing with Jax, Carly's husband. Dante's badge is not that far from both of them, and he's afraid Sonny will see it. Luckily, Jax manages to sneak it out, and later returns it to Dante, revealing that he knows he's an undercover cop and that he's Olivia's son. He tells Dante that he won't blow his cover because he wants Sonny out of his family's life so he won't cause any more danger to them. Sonny asks him to move in with him just so he can keep an eye on him. Claudia isn't happy about it and tries to kick him out. Dominic attends the wedding of Damian Spinelli & Maxie Jones just so he can see Lulu who is the Maid of Honor.

Undercover work
When Dante is talking to his partner, Ronnie, on the pier, Lulu shows up drugged and unstable. Dante takes her back to his apartment to sleep off the effects, hoping she didn't hear Ronnie address Dante as an officer. She has no apparent recollection, and Dante is relieved. On October 29, 2009, Dominic is working as a guard at Claudia's birthday party hosted by Sonny. When Sonny outs Claudia for putting Michael, Sonny's son, in a coma, she takes Carly hostage and leaves the party in a stolen car.

Dominic ends up going with Lulu to the old Zacchara mansion to look for Claudia and Carly, and they end up encountering Johnny, who also thought Claudia would have come to the mansion and came to stop her. Before any of them can search any further, Lulu falls through the floor into the basement, which has been flooded by the outside storm. She is not able to get out, and Dominic ends up staying with her in the rising water while Johnny calls for paramedics. Lulu's condition is worsened when she starts experiencing hypothermia due to the water, but she tells Dominic she remembers the night on the pier and him being referred to as "Officer Falconeri." At first he lies, but then he tells her he is actually Dante Falconeri, a cop, as well as Olivia's son. She loses consciousness just as Johnny arrives and tells Dominic that paramedics have arrived, but they're able to save her from freezing to death.

Lulu asks Dante not to prosecute Sonny since he is her father's friend, but he refuses to back down; they reach an impasse when neither one of them will give up their argument. At the hospital, Dante finds out that Carly has been found, and she and her baby are safe, but there's no sign of Claudia. He suspects Sonny of killing Claudia, but it was actually Sonny's son, Michael who killed her. He goes to Sonny's place just as he burns his bloodied shirt. Sonny later asks Dominic to go to the cabin where Carly was found to make sure there's no evidence. He doesn't tell Dominic the truth about Claudia's death or Michael. Dominic ends up at the cabin just as Johnny shows up, and the two team up to find out what happened to Claudia.

Dante manages to get his hands on the ashes from Sonny's fireplace where the shirt was burned, and gives it to Ronnie for analysis. Ronnie comes back and later tells Dante they managed to recover a bloody fragment of Sonny's shirt, giving them evidence to back up their theory. Jason is later blackmailed by someone when they send a picture of Claudia's body to him. Sonny shows Dante the picture, and tells him to find out who took it, but not what happened to Claudia. Dante shows the picture to Olivia, telling her that Sonny is capable of doing anything. That picture is later discovered by Johnny.

Franco
Sonny tries to arrange a truce with Joey Limbo, a Zacchara henchman who is acting on the orders of Anthony to take Sonny out. Joey later reveals he plans to ambush Sonny when he comes for the meeting. When Sonny goes for the meeting, he brings Jason and Dominic along as backup, as well as Max and Milo. Just as Sonny is about to enter, Dominic sees the ambush setup and pulls Sonny out of the line of fire. All of the Zacchara men, including Joey, are taken out in the ensuing shooting and Sonny, Jason, Max, Milo, and Dominic are able to just make it out of the ambush site alive. To throw the cops off their trail, Sonny, Jason, and Dominic attend artist Franco's gallery opening at the Metro Court. Dante brings Lulu along as his date. There, he notices something very familiar about Franco's work.

Dante catches Lulu nearly revealing his identity to Sonny. He tells her to not blow his cover. Dante manages to get an incriminating tape of Sonny implicating himself in Claudia's murder, but it's later ruled inadmissible because evidence is circumstantial. Dante, upset, goes to Jake's and finds Lulu outside there. They dance together. Jax later finds out about this and gets an incriminating tape himself of Sonny inadvertently admitting to Claudia's murder. This does not please Dante, as he tells Jax that he's trying to run the investigation. Later, Jax deletes the recording, saying he loves Carly more than he hates Sonny, so he's gonna let Dante do his job.

Dante figures out later that Franco's work corresponds with one of a tagger he arrested when he was a rookie cop. On December 11, 2009, he goes to the PCPD to look up the arrest, but he is caught by Lucky Spencer, Lulu's brother. Lucky, though, figures out who Dante is, and helps Dante try to bust Franco for the murder of Joey Limbo, who was killed after the shootout by Franco. Meanwhile, Dante finds out that Jason is being blackmailed by Franco, who has dug up Claudia's body and stolen it. When he tells Ronnie about this, Ronnie gets angry and tells him to work one evidence arresting Sonny. Later, it is revealed Ronnie and Franco have a past. Ronnie is later run down by Franco and brought in by Lulu. Dante realizes Franco was the one responsible and questions Ronnie, but Ronnie doesn't give anything away.

Dante takes Lulu on a date to the opera, and despite herself, Lulu finds that she likes the opera. While they're riding in the limousine after attending the opera, they are on the verge of getting hot and heavy when the driver opens the door to say they are at the destination. Lulu and Dante stop, saying they'll come out, but laugh at their silliness after the driver closes the door, indicating their relationship is going somewhere.

On January 5, 2010, Franco kidnaps Sam, Jason's girlfriend. When Dante goes looking for clues at Franco's apartment, he finds Maxie there, trying to find incriminating pictures Franco took of her. Dante stumbles upon something more disturbing, though: blueprints to build a bomb. He goes and tells Jason this, and subsequently goes to Maxie to see if she remembers anything from the apartment.

When he goes to see Maxie, he finds out Lulu was also kidnapped by Franco and he and Jason scramble to find both of them. Dante calls in Lucky for help and they both try to figure out where Lulu is based on past murders Franco has committed. Jason calls Dominic right after a confrontation with Franco, and tells him where Lulu is, and that she's sitting on a bomb. Dante rushes to save her. Jason finds Sam, but they find out too late that the bomb that Franco planted was fake, but the one Lulu was siting on was real and blows up the warehouse. Luckily, both Dominic and Lulu make it out safely.

Case against Sonny
When the warehouse is being cleaned up, the police find Claudia's body. While trying to get information on Claudia's murder case, he runs into Johnny, who reveals that he knows who Dante is. Dante figures it was his mother who outed him and goes to confront her, only to find Johnny there, as well. Johnny yells at Dante for being mean to his mother as the reason why he has not told Sonny the truth was because he doesn't want to see Olivia get hurt. Dante leaves, still angry and hurt over his mother's constant risks with his life.

Dante realizes he's closing in on the case and decides to break up with Lulu for her own safety. He later admits to Johnny that he's fallen in love with Lulu, and he doesn't want to see her hurt. Lulu later tells him it's not over until she says it is, because she's fallen for him, as well. On January 15, 2010, Dante is trying to get information on Claudia's murder investigation when he overhears a conversation between Sonny and Michael when they're talking about Claudia. He misinterprets and believes that Sonny was confiding to Michael that he was the one who killed Claudia and goes and tells Ronnie about this. Ronnie encourages Dante to call on Michael as a witness, but Dante is hesitant to do that.

Sonny calls on Dominic later and tells him that when he retires, he wants Dominic to take over the business. Michael comes in and hears this. He's furious as he was hoping to inherit the business from Sonny, eventually. He threatens Dominic and tells him that he will do whatever it takes to make sure he gets the mob business, not Dominic. Dante is later telling Johnny about this offer and says how he forgot for a moment that he was a cop. Unknown to them both, Michael finds out when he just happens to walk upon their conversation.

Olivia tries to get Dante taken off the case, but this instead leads to the arrest warrant for Sonny being pushed up in the date. Dante, meanwhile, confesses to Lulu that he loves her, and that's why he has to let her go. However, she tells him to let her decide for herself whether she's safe or not, and they decide to continue their relationship. On January 28, 2010, Ronnie informs Dante that the arrest warrant for Sonny has come in. Dante tells Ronnie they're going to wait until after Josslyn's christening to take Sonny down to let the family have "one last good moment."

Discovering paternity
On the day of the christening, Sonny calls Dominic over and tells him to go check on security somewhere. However, Dante figures out that this is just a way to get rid of him and calls Sonny on the conspiracy. Sonny reveals that he knows that Dominic has betrayed him. Dante then pulls out his badge and arrests Sonny for killing Claudia. Sonny, though, pulls out his gun and berates Dominic for betraying him and his family. Dante tells him how he was seeking vengeance for Mr. Polletti, but Sonny denies any involvement, saying if he did kill Mr. Polletti, it was because he deserved it. He shoots Dante, who falls to the ground just as Olivia comes in and screams when she sees her son lying motionless with a bullet hole in his chest on the floor. She desperately runs to Dante to save him, turning to Sonny and telling him that he just shot his own son.