Sonny and Brenda Corinthos

Sonny Corinthos and Brenda Barrett Corinthos are fictional characters and a popular supercouple on the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital. Sonny is portrayed by Maurice Benard and Brenda is portrayed by Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo. The couple was popular in 1990's and for a short stint from 2002 - 2003. The couple reunited when Brenda returned to the series in 2010. The couple has had many stand in their way, but mostly Brenda's ex-fiance Jasper Jacks and Sonny's ex-wife, Carly Corinthos.

Casting
The role of the beautiful and tenacious Brenda Barrett was originated by Daytime Emmy Award winning actress Vanessa Marcil Giovinazzo on September 18, 1992. After a six-year run with the show, the character of Brenda was believed to have died after her mentally ill mother drove their car off a cliff. After a four year absence, Marcil reprised her role for a few short months in 2002 to 2003. Marcil was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in 1997 and 1998 for her role as Brenda. In 2003, she won a Daytime Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role as Brenda. In 2010, after a seven year absence from General Hospital, Marcil once again returned to the show as Brenda Barrett.

The character of ruthless mob boss Sonny Corinthos was orginated by Daytime Emmy Award winning actor Maurice Benard on August 13, 1993. After four years with the show, Benard left on September 24, 1997, and after a brief return in the spring of 1998, has continued to portray Sonny since December 18, 1998. In 2003, Benard won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for the role of Sonny Corinthos. Since 1998, Benard has been with General Hospital for 13 years and including his first run on the show, he has been playing Sonny Corinthos for a total of 17 years.

Meeting and instant attraction
In 1993, Sonny and Brenda met each other informally through their romantic ties to Karen Wexler and Jagger Cates respectively. When they met the attraction between them was almost instantaneous, it also had a hint of the forbidden as Brenda was only 18 years old and Sonny was in his early 30s. When Sonny officiall introduced himself to Brenda on the Port Charles docks, the attraction between them grew to an all out flame. Sonny and Brenda were intensely attracted to one another and played a game of cat-and-mouse as each took turns hesitating to jump into a relationship that both knew neither could turn away from once it would begin. When Sonny is shot after attempting to break mobster Frank Smith out of prison, Brenda nurses him back to health and their romances truly begins. Everyone warned Brenda of how dangerous Sonny was but she refused to believe them, because she wanted to be with him. Sonny and Brenda finally made love while on a trip to the city for L&B (Lois Cerullo and Brenda Barrett) Records, a business that they were both associated with. The relationship sees Sonny open his heart and let Brenda in, often through a series of fights and make up sessions that came to define the couple. While dating Sonny, Brenda grew to be a confident woman through his encouragements. The rumors of Sonny and his mob ties increased and in an attempt to prove the naysayers wrong, Brenda wore a wire in hopes of proving her friends wrong and finding out the truth about Sonny's organization. Lily Rivera found out about the wire and told Sonny who was furious with Brenda. He broke up with her and threw her out of the house, telling her that he never wanted to see her again. Brenda was heartbroken over the breakup, but still planned on winning Sonny back, but that proved almost impossible when Sonny married Lily, the daughter of a Puerto Rican mob boss that could assure him protection from going to jail. Even though Sonny was married to Lily, he continued to drift back to Brenda because in all his anger at her wearing the wire, he had never stopped loving her. Sonny finally admits his feelings to Brenda and attempts to leave Lily for her, but shortly after, Lily discovers she is pregnant. Knowing what having a child means to Sonny, Brenda realizes they can never have a future and moves on to marry widower Jasper Jacks. Jax and Brenda's marriage turns out to be invalid when Jax's wife Miranda Jamison turns up alive. Brenda returns back to the city just as Sonny's wife Lily and their unborn child are killed in a car explosion meant for Sonny. Due to this, Brenda decides to stay with Jax, but still helps Sonny cope with his loss.

Back together and left at the altar
Some time later, Sonny was framed for a drug rap. Brenda was also kidnapped and taken to the catacombs so that Sonny would rescue her. An explosion at the catacombs trapped them both in a cave. While trapped together in the cave, the two admit their feelings for one another and make love again. They were rescued by Jax, and Brenda admitted the truth to Jax, telling him that she was still in love with Sonny. Jax and Brenda separated and Sonny and Brenda became a couple again. Hernando Rivera, Lily's father wanted revenge against both Sonny and Brenda and when Dr. Pierce Dorman was murdered, her framed Brenda for the deed. Sonny later kills Hernando in self-defense and ultimately clears Brenda of all charges. Sonny and Brenda in the clear, then finally move on and Sonny proposes. Brenda happily accepts and the two set to marry after overcoming and accepting the differences in each other. Once they were married, Sonny intended to leave the mob behind and the two of them would leave Port Charles together to start a new life. On their wedding day, Sony realized that Brenda would never be safe with him, and fearing that she would meet the same fate as his first wife Lily, he left her at the altar and sent his lieutenant Jason Morgan to tell Brenda that he had left town. Brenda was devastated and went to live with the Quartermaine family for awhile before moving in with Jax. Jax tries to help Brenda cope and even calls on her sister Julia Barrett to help Brenda deal with the loss of Sonny, but Brenda's emotional and mental health only gets worse with time. Brenda is institutionalized and after she recovers she decides that she wants to be with Jax and they plan to marry. By this time, Sonny returns, but Brenda has already moved on to be with Jax and Sonny is understanding of her decision to move on. In 1998, Brenda's estranged mother Veronica Wilding arrives in town and tells Brenda that the same mental illness that was plaguing her, could be hereditary and Brenda could carry the gene. Brenda got tested to see if she carried the gene, but before she could see the results, her mother drove off a cliff, with Brenda in the passenger seat. Brenda was presumed dead and in his grief, Jax ripped up the test results without reading them.

Brenda's return and reconciliation
In 2002, Brenda turns up alive, on the yacht of arms dealer Luis Alcazar. Luis had rescued Brenda from the water after her accident and brought her back to Port Charles. Luis tells Brenda that she does have Veronica's illness, but he was going to care for her. Luis becomes insanely jealous of Brenda's past with Sonny and Jax and plans to kill them both, because Brenda still held strong feelings for them. In an attempt to escape, Brenda lures Luis to St. Timothy's Church, where they are supposed to marry. Brenda opens the doors of the church to fiind a shocked Sonny and then watches in horror as he is shot multiple times. Jason arrives and finds Brenda crying over Sonny who orders Jason to keep her safe. Brenda blames herself for Sonny’s "death" and tries to escape from Jason to warn Jax. Eventually she escapes and warns Jax, but he is still shot. Lukcily he survived and at this time Sonny, who had faked his death, also returns and attempts to kill Luis. Jax becomes paralyzed from his injury and Brenda helps him recover. Brenda begins to worry about the damage her renewed love for Jax could do, and blackmails Jason into marrying her. Jason agrees but only to keep Brenda away from Sonny who is now married to his best friend, Carly Corinthos. Luis convinces Skye Quartermaine, Jax's jealous and jilted ex lover to help him kidnap Brenda. He takes Brenda away on a plane not knowing that Sonny is hiding onboard. The plane crashed into the jungle, but Sonny and Brenda are rescued by Jason and Carly. Jax later found out that Luis had been lying and revealed to an overjoyed Brenda that she did not carry her mother's mental illness, disease. When Luis is killed, Skye blames Brenda for the murder. Brenda along with Jason are arrested and put on trial for his murder. Evidence is found that cleared Jason and Brenda of all the charges and they left town to get a quick annulment of their marriage. On the night before her wedding to Jax, Brenda runs into Sonny. They had unfinished business from the night that he left her at the altar and they finally confronted it. She forgives him for it and the two share a passionate kiss that is witness by Carly. Hurt and angry Carly quickly leaves and tells Jax what she saw. Feeling betrayed Jax called off his wedding to Brenda because he couldn't trust her. Brenda later ran into Sonny who revealed that Carly had left him too. Upset and heartbroken, Brenda decides to leave town. Jason drops her off at the airport and after they say their goodbyes, Brenda leaves Port Charles to start a new life.

Love rekindled and marriage
In 2010, after a seven year absence, Brenda returns to the screen, this time in Rome, Italy. She is being threatened by a European crime lord named The Balkan who wants revenge on her for killing his son Aleksander Janacek. While fleeing from an attempt on her life, Brenda runs into a crowd and is shocked to find Sonny who reveals that he is on the run from the police. After reminiscing about their tumultuous relationship, she persuades him to return home. When Brenda's security seems to be failing, her friend Suzanne Stanwyck contacts her ex-husband, Jason Morgan to come and protect her. Jason brings Brenda back to Port Charles realizing that he would be able to better protect her there. Back in Port Charles, Brenda meets Damian Spinelli and reunites with Jax and her best friend Robin Scorpio. She later goes to see Sonny to tell him that it would be best if they stayed away from each other. While visiting Sonny, she runs into Dante Falconeri, Sonny's son with Olivia Falconeri and Sonny introduces them, but it is clear that they already know each other. Even though Brenda told Sonny that she wanted nothing to do with him, he still broke up with Claire Walsh, a woman he was involved with at the time, so that he could be free to pursue Brenda.

Overtime Brenda admits to Jason and Dante, the truth behind why she is running from the Balkan. It is revealed that Brenda was involved with The Balkan's son Aleksander, but once she learned that he was involved with exploiting children, she left him. Aleksander became obsessed with Brenda and started stalking her. While in Manhattan, Sonny's son Dante became her bodyguard and they bonded, but she was not aware that Sonny was Dante's son at the time. Aleksander's torture of Brenda finally came to an end when she killed him in self defense and to prevent him from killing her close friend Dante. Brenda was terrified after she shot him, but Dante dumped the body and covered up the murder. While in Port Charles, a similar event occurred. A mobster named Anton Benovek was sent by the Balkan to kidnap Brenda and ended up in a fight with Dante. Brenda shot and killed him in order to save Dante. After the event she broke down and was later charged with his murder by the Benovek family. Theo Hoffman was hired to be Brenda's lawyer and get the charges aganist her dropped. Theo and Diane Miller, Sonny's attorney work to get the charges against Brenda and Dante dropped and eventually they succeed and the law suit is ended in a settlement. Sonny remains by Brenda's side throughout these ordeals and vows to protect her and keep her safe. This brings them closer and overtime their love rekindles. On December 27, 2010, while attending the wedding of Luke Spencer and Tracy Quartermaine together, Sonny and Brenda get engaged again. Sonny tells Brenda he has "never been able to let her go" despite the passage of time, other marriages and having children. Brenda says no at first, but after some convincing she accepts Sonny's proposal. They plan to marry in February and both are overjoyed that they finally got the chance to gain back all that they had lost in the past. Sonny and Brenda made the annoucement of their engagement at Luke and Tracy's wedding reception. Meanwhile, Spinelli reveals to Carly that Brenda and Dante had a child together, but the truth about the child wasn't as it seemed. Nevertheless Carly ran with the information and was determined to use it to keep Sonny from marrying Brenda.

On January 11, 2011, Sonny gave Brenda two rings - one that he was supposed to put on her finger at their first wedding in 1997 and the second to assure her that he will show up on their second wedding in 2011. Sonny then shows Brenda a third ring that symbolizes their future together, and how much he'll always love her. He tells her he will give her the third ring at their wedding. On February 18, 2011, their wedding finally occurred and was on the air for 6 days. Sonny's daughter Kristina Corinthos-Davis and his niece Molly Lansing were bridesmaides and his son Morgan Jacks was the keeper of the ring. Brenda's best friend Robin Scorpio was Brenda's maid of honor and Sonny's son Dante, was his best man. Brenda was walked down the aisle by Jason. She felt this was appropriate since Jason was the one who was there for her, when Sonny left her at the altar in 1997. The wedding, held at Archer's Pavilion, was very elaborate, and close friends and family were in attendance. Before the actual wedding, the couple faced many obstacles that attempted to stop their wedding. First, Jason went missing and there was a concern that he would not be available to give Brenda away. Next, Carly threatened Brenda with revealing her secret past with Dante and insisted that she leave Sonny at the alter. Lastly, Sam McCall and Jason discover that the Balkan is actually Brenda's lawyer, Theo Hoffman, and he has been using his proximity to Brenda to wreak havoc in her life and exact his revenge. Brenda finally makes it to the altar, but objects to her own wedding, knowing that Carly would do so if she didn't. Brenda breaks down and tells Sonny about what she thought was her miscarriage and her relationship with Dante. She revealed that after killing Aleksander she found out she was pregnant with his child. In order to protect her child, she hid her pregnancy and Dante declared himself the father, so that no one would know it was really Aleksander. Brenda started walking away from the altar - assuming that the wedding was off after her secret wass revealed, but Sonny stops her, forgives her on the spot and decides that he cannot let her leave like he did in 1997. Sonny gives a memorable speech about how much he loves Brenda and how her father was wrong to make her believe she's not worthy of love. Sonny and Brenda then finally marry amidst a mostly happy crowd. As Sonny and Brenda leave for their honeymoon, a bomb explodes in the limo that Brenda had just gotten in. This scene was a reference to the famous 1996 "Clink...Boom!" scene, when Brenda and Jax marry ("Clink") just as Sonny's wife, Lily, dies in a car bomb ("Boom"). Sonny is shocked and devastated at the thought of losing Brenda and vows revenge against Theo. After the explosion, he refuses to leave her body at the site of the explosion and insists on seeing her body. When they lift the tarp, it was revealed that Sam was in the car, used as a decoy due to her resemblance to Brenda, and Brenda was nowhere to be found. At this time it was also revealed that Brenda's good friend Suzanne Stanwyck was actually Theo's wife and Aleksander's mother and she was in on his plan the whole time to help him with his revenge. Theo kidnapped Brenda and took her to a cave to interrogate her on the whereabouts of his grandson who he believes is still alive. After Sonny, Dante, and Jason catch up the Theo, he releases her and escapes, but not before injecting her with a deadly neuro-toxin. Sonny rescues Brenda and rushes her to the hospital. Due to the efforts of Robin and her husband Dr. Patrick Drake, Brenda makes a full recovery and Sonny takes her home.

Married life and new revelations
Soon after Sonny and Brenda return home and Brenda is fully recovered, they leave for Positano, Italy for their honeymoon. During the honeymoon she admits to Sonny that she sometimes misses her son, whom she still believes that she miscarried in her 7th month of pregnancy. Their honeymoon is cut short however when they get the news that Jason's son Jake Spencer was killed in a hit and run and they rush home to support Jason. Carly's daughter Josslyn Jacks, with Brenda's ex Jax was also diagnosed with kidney cancer. In the wake of these tragedies Sonny returns to support Carly and Brenda goes to Carly to make a truce. Sonny and Brenda are there for those that they care about, but still take time to themselves to enjoy their new life as husband and wife.

In late April, Suzanne returns Lucian, Brenda's presumed-dead son, to her, but this begins to cause problems in Sonny and Brenda's marriage. Before returning Lucian, Suzanne kills Theo in an effort to protect her grandson. It was revealed that Brenda did not have a miscarriage while on a relief trip for ASEC in Africa, but instead Suzanne drugged Brenda and had the baby delivered early, in order to protect him from Theo. She then lied to Brenda and told her that she had a miscarriage. Brenda bonds with her son, but has doubts about raising Lucian in a mob environment, while Sonny, distrustful of Suzanne, doubts that Lucian is actually Brenda's son and convinces her to get a DNA test. However, before they can, Suzanne kidnaps Lucian and spirits him away to San Antonio.