By 
The rumors are true. In the latest Soaps In Depth issue out this week, Julie Marie Berman confirmed in an exclusive interview with the magazine that she will be leaving her role as Lulu Spencer Falconeri on General Hospital.
Berman told the magazine that the decision was hers and she gave the show notice back in July that she wanted to leave when her contract expired in November. While Berman called the role she played for seven and a half years “a dream,” she also admitted that she has a desire to grow and challenge herself in other mediums.
“And there are enough reasons now that my gut is telling me that this is the right time to finally let go of GH,” Berman told SID.
The show’s executive producer Frank Valentini convinced Berman to stay a little longer and she agreed to give them until March 1. She taped her final scenes on February 26. According to SID, when they conducted the interview, the actress had not filmed her final scenes yet, but she had seen the script and was not pleased with them.
“I can’t say that I’m happy about my sendoff, as there really isn’t one when you’re potentially being recast,” Berman told the magazine. “But it was my decision to leave the show. That’s where my control over things ends, and I understand that.”
Will you miss Berman? Is recasting essential? Hit the comments below to let us know what you think and be sure to check out the latest issue of SID to see which actresses the magazine editors think might be a good fit.
still not used to the other girl playing LuLu, beautiful photo of you
[…] of Luke & Laura’s daughter. Soap Opera Digest confirmed Rylan will replace Emmy winner Julie Marie Berman, who taped her final scenes last […]
Her and Dante really had that spark!
I’m going to miss that girl. She’s so awesome and beautiful. Irreplaceable, hope to see her in something great soon.
I love Julie Marie Berman and agree she is extremely versatile and talented. However, give Emme a chance, as I believe Emme will also be an interesting and intriguing Lulu. In actuality, it is the character whom is blah right now, because she has memory loss. So her brain is blah. I believe, as Lulu’s memory comes back, the character will envelope into an exciting new Lulu. This, in no way, takes away from my missing Julie in this role. But, Julie wants to expand her horizons and do different things in her career. So, because of this, I am happy for her. I’m glad they recast Lulu, because the other solution would be to have Lulu’s character leave GH. I like Luke and Laura’s children being major story lines. Luke and Laura are essential to the show’s history. Welcome Emme and best wishes in your new ventures Julie!
The new lulu is nothing like the one we are use to. Julie always had a sparkle in her eye. This new gal does not, just kind of blaaa!
I’ll miss you, Julie! I don’t care for the “new” Lulu!
I agree with every word that all the fans has stated! Come Back!!!!!!!!!
Lulu, Julie, there is no way to replace you! You are so beautiful and talented! I don’t like the show without you. You are lulu! I wish you the best,I just wish it was still at General Hospital. Dante is not the same with out you either! That amazing spark you too had on screen was amazing!, good luck in your future endeavors!
The new Lulu sucks Julie please come back :(
Juliet am very sad to see you go. I don’t like the the new LuLu
Julie you are truly a beautiful & talented actress. I loved you from day 1 and will truly miss you in GH. It will be difficult to replace you. I am still not happy with Steve leaving. I hope this isn’t an end to my favorite soap for the last half century.
*Dante and Lulu
Miss her…Now that Dante were not the focus of this show and there was more ensemble storytelling I was very happy! Come back Julie!!!
Yes, I will miss her. After 7 1/2 yrs she becomes like part of the family. It’ll be hard to get used to another Lulu no matter who she is. But she has a right to move on – and I wish her all the best!
it will neer be LULUgood luck Julie you will be sadly missed
You must not have been watching since the 80s as I have or else you would really be appreciating those old players!
I met Julie Marie at one of the Super Soap Weekends in Orlando .. she’s a beautiful person and I truly hate to see her role recasted because Julie made this her own … she grew up in this role and having someone else playing Lulu won’t be the same … I would have rather she died than be recasted. Maybe the folks at GH are hoping she will change her mind and come back to the role, hence the reason of recasting it.
Sad to see her go, all they have is the way old players which is getting a bit boring. And stop with the silly story lines about vampires and such please
so stupid
THIS LULU IS BETTER!
My fav character… Goodluck and no other Lulu will be like Julie
I am sorry to hear LuLu will no longer be on GH. My interest in the soap was not what it used to be. The vampire scenes were so stupid that I stopped looking for a while. Good luck to Julie. i sure loved her part in GH.
She needs to come back!! Lulu isn’t the same ):
I am sad Julie is leaving GH I have watched the show since beginning(I was 16) and ever since Julie has been LUlu she has been perfect! I was so happy when she and Dante became a couple. She will be missed but I wish her the very best in whatever she choses in the future. It will be hard to accept a “new” Lulu for sure! Good luck Julie I know you will soar!!!
I will miss her however, I love her recast!
I really liked Julie as Lulu, but I understand wanting to try new things. Good luck,Julie. You are a talented actress.
Well I cant speak for anyone else but I watched you for years on this show and I for one will miss you being on the show no Lesley Lu will be the same hope you find what it is your looking for in something else because as I have seen stars have started from Soaps good luck to you
Hate to c u leave, the good ones always leave, best of luck, hope u come back.
I agree, to just kill off characters and then bring in new ones is a crime when there is still such good storylines already in place. They could have let Lulu find out about the Spixie baby and go off to Europe looking for her mom and then reunite them in a few weeks with a new Lulu. The chemistry between Lulu and Dante is the story not just the actors. DZ is great and his cheesy pic up lines are so HIM but Jmb could be replaced so just do it!
My prayer is that this beautiful, talented, kind and loving young woman finds the career success (outside of her phenomenal work on GH), that she so richly deserves. My sincere (and admittedly selfish on my part), wish is that she not leave the role as she has inhabited it from the beginning and made it her own. Should the doors re-open for her to return to the part (along with her choosing to do so), I will welcome her back with noisy addulation. Losing the additional joy that is her partnership with Dominic Zamprogna’s Dante is the other sorrow that I (and all Lante lovers), are having to wrestle with. From the moment these two “met” at Jake’s they have formed a pitch perfect pairing and they have built and deepened both characters to where it’s difficult to imagine these two actors one without the other on screen.That she also has the chops to match such veterans as Anthony Geary, Jane Eliott, Genie Francis and Finola Hughes has been another particular satisfaction to observe. That her leave taking happens at this particular moment in GH history hurts terribly but I take solace in the knowledge that Julie is the one to choose this pathway. It doesn’t make it easier to deal with, but it’s her time to leave the GH “nest” and go on to soar as far and as high as she cares to. I will always support her in whatever she decides to do. With much love and respect for you, Julie. God bless….
I think FV has to big of an ego to let a couple shine that wasn’t his creation. No more JaSam because Steve Burton walked. No more Liason because Steve Burton walked. And now, no more Lante because Julie Berman walked. Such a pity and very sad.
I think the role can easily be recast
I wonder whether they would consider a re-blonde Jen Lilly as a recast?
I wish Julie the BEST of luck.
I wish her the best of luck in whatever she decides to do next but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t upset that she is leaving. It’s nice her character is staying but she will be dearly missed playing the character. I hope whom ever they get can do as great of a job as she has done.
I wish her well but with laura back it would be wromg to not recast lulu
Best of luck to Julie. I’ve never really been invested in LuLu, so I’m hoping a recast will breathe new life into the character.
Not a big fan of the character LuLu once she was old enough to start interacting. Kind of hated her during the whole teasing Spin thing. And they wrote her as being a Carly mini-me for years and I hated Carly so that didn’t help. Never felt the Lante love either. I do like DZ, so I hope they will find some great storylines for him. As for a recast, I do want to see the Spencers have some presence on the show, but lately, you would hardly know Lulu was a Spencer. If they recast, I hope it is to write some better stories for the Spencers, i.e. the Ice Princess. I figure Helena will kidnap Lulu for a whlie and when Luke & Laura find her she will have a new face!
Personally I think it might be better for Lulu to find out about the baby and head to Europe. It’s the Spencer way! But if they are going to recast I hope the new actress is good and makes the role her own.
It’ll be hard for the recast to have the same amazing sizzling chemistry that JMB has with DZ that made Dante and Lulu more than just an average soap couple. Not to mention, JMB is fantastic as the daughter of L&L, works so well with both TG and GF and can hold her own with vets like JE, FH, MB and JJY. And the pregnancy reveal will be much less exciting with a different Lulu.
While I’m sad to here that Julie is leaving, I wish her well in her future career. I’m not sure recasting the role is a good idea or not. Some recasts work but anymore they don’t seem to work for modern audiences.