when jackson left the role in 1999, a recast was opposed by viewers and costars. when jackson's departure had previously been rumored in 1996, anthony geary (luke) told "tv guide" that he "went to (the "gh" powers) and said, 'if we lose him, then let's kill lucky.' jonathan is too much a part of us to replace him." geary repeated these sentiments when jackson confirmed leaving in 1999. when a recast was rumored in early 2000, jackson stated: "when all the actors who are going to be working with the character don't want it, it's kind of too bad that they still do it. but i don't really get surprised with a lot of things that they do." the role was recast with jacob young, and by the time he appeared on-screen in february 2000, the character had been off-screen for almost a year, speculated to be an attempt to ease the transition between actors due to jackson's popularity. young was able to become accepted by fans; in 2001, candace havens wrote in "the free lance–star": "his hard work has paid off and many fans can't even remember there was ever someone else in the role." young was named sexiest soap star by "people" magazine in 2001. in 2002, young won a daytime emmy award for outstanding younger actor. greg vaughan, who took over the role from 2003 to 2009, was the only portrayer of lucky not to be nominated for an emmy award. however, vaughan did have a fan following. he was chosen by abc daytime and soapnet to participate in their 2008 hot guys calendar, featuring popular male costars from abc soap operas. at the start of 2008, "zap2it" named vaughan no. 6 on their top 10 most improved list, stating: "the gorgeous mr. vaughan plays angry and sexy very well. thank goodness we're getting to see it." during vaughan's tenure, lucky entered into a relationship with sam mccall (kelly monaco) that was popular with fans. "zap2it" named them no. 6 on their list of top couples of 2007, and tied them for no. 3 in 2008 along with entangled couple elizabeth (herbst) and jason morgan (steve burton), stating: "[lucky and sam were] conceived out of a revenge plot, yet quickly surprised fans and execs alike with their instant chemistry. is the quad in for another partner-switching shake-up in 2009?" when vaughan left in 2009, he reflected on his reception: "i am grateful as to how the fans embraced me, whether they liked me or not. it was my job to win them over and i did that in due time." some felt vaughan was not a good fit for the character. in april 2008, allison waldman of "the huffington post" named jackson as one of the top ten actors to make an impact on "general hospital", stating: "he's still the real lucky to many people, even though two other actors have subsequently played the part."