Actors at the ‘General Hospital’ Fantasy event on Long Island. Photo Credit: Markos Papadatos
On October 29, Long Island hosted its last-ever “General Hospital” Fantasy event in Melville, and it was quite bittersweet.
In attendance were the following seven actors from the hit ABC daytime drama: Emmy winner Tristan Rogers (Robert Scorpio), Emmy winner Cynthia Watros (Nina Reeves), Emmy nominee Kathleen Gati (Dr. Liesl Obrecht), Marcus Coloma (Nikolas Cassadine), Emmy winner Maura West (Ava Jerome), Emmy nominee James Patrick Stuart (Valentin Cassadine), and Emmy winner Nicholas Alexander Chavez (Spencer Cassadine).
They participated in photo opportunities, autograph signings, and a Question and Answer (Q&A) session with the fans and attendees.
If Cynthia Watros were to look back in a rearview mirror over the last decade, she responded, “Looking back, being in this business takes a lot of tenacity, determination, and a thick skin. You can’t let the ‘nos’ get you down. Going back, I would pat all of us on the back for persevering.”
“This is the advice that I would give anyone getting into acting: you have to love it so much that you don’t let anybody else tell you that you shouldn’t do it,” Watros added.
“I see that I am always growing and I am still becoming a better actor,” Maura West acknowledged.
“I can try something in this world where the situations are set for us. I can try something completely new one day and see if it works, or if it didn’t. There are not that many acting jobs that allow you to do that: you get to try something, see if it works, and you can practice your craft and get better all while getting paid to do it, and it is magnificent. I am constantly learning and I always want to continue to get better, and I am better than I was when I started,” West elaborated.
“Five or 10 years ago, who knew that we would all still be here? The show is still running, still going on, and it is all thanks to the fans,” Kathleen Gati said.
