‘General Hospital’: Cynthia Watros Talks Nina’s Split From Ava, Being Paired with Cameron Mathison & More

A programming alert for today’s episode of General Hospital reveals that “Nina is hopeful”! We’re not sure exactly for what reason, but Nina (Cynthia Watros) might be hopeful that she’ll get through the day without being blamed for everything that’s ever gone wrong in Port Charles! Nina’s taken the fall for everything from the Lassa Fever outbreak (IYKYK) to being the drunk driver that crashed into B.J. Jones’s (Brighton Hertford) school bus. Okay, those are slight exaggerations but the fact is the Crimson magazine editor-in-chief takes a lot of flak for things that are simply not her fault!

Case in point: Nina did not commit the insider trading that Drew (Cameron Mathison) did that sent him to prison. Sure, Nina knew that amnesiac “Mike” was truly Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) when she bumped into him in Nixon Falls, but Sonny purposely tossed his wedding band – he knew there was a “Mrs. Mike” out there but he didn’t care. Again, not Nina’s fault.

TV Insider chatted with Watros about her 2024 Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress, her surprise pairing with Mathison’s Drew, Nina’s split from Ava (Maura West), and her participation in Nancy Lee Grahn’s (Alexis) “Daytime Unites” event, set for Saturday, May 4, in Glendale, Calif. An All-Star lineup of soap stars will be on hand for a meet-and-greet, Q&A, and concert, which will raise funds to help end ALS. (Click here for details.)

Congratulations on your Daytime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Cynthia Watros: Thank you!

How did you find out?

I didn’t realize that there was going to be an early announcement the night before the nominations were released. Frank Valentini [executive producer, GH] called. He told me. That’s how I heard.

Reels can be either a compilation of unrelated scenes or a series of scenes that tell a story. What’s on yours?   

You’re absolutely right. There’s an art to making a reel. I’m not good at that. We have a producer at GH, Michelle [Henry], who helps me enormously with my reel. The show is great about taking notes throughout the year. She emailed me and told me I had some great stuff. My reel has all the scenes with Nina finding out Willow [Katelynn MacMullen] was her daughter, [Carly, Laura Wright] finally telling Nina in the hospital chapel and Nina calling her a bitch. Then, Nina confesses her sins to a priest not knowing it’s really Cyrus [Jeff Kober]. I believe they allow around 15 minutes for your reel but mine was about seven or eight minutes in length. I tried to find something funny but… [Laughs] Nina didn’t have a lot of funny last year. I think more of her humor is coming out now. I’m thankful to Michelle for her help.

Are you familiar with your fellow nominees?

Of course, Finola [Hughes, Anna], my castmate, I’ve always been in awe of her talent. I’m amazed that I’m even in the same category with her. I’ve seen the rest of the nominees. I took over the role of Nina from Michelle [Stafford, Phyllis, Young and the Restless]. I feel like I’ve known all of them for years. I’ve seen their work.

What memories do you have of your win in 1998 for playing Annie Dutton on Guiding Light?

I had an amazing time on that show. I was so surprised I was nominated. I wish I’d cried a little less the night I won. I didn’t thank [everyone] I should have. I had flown in from Los Angeles [to New York City] and I remember having to get dressed in the back of my car. The plane was late. We were running late. It was all very fast and furious. It was a fun night.

You did cry but fortunately, presenter Joe Mascolo (ex-Stefano, Days of our Lives) lent his handkerchief to you.

Yes. That was very nice of him.

There’s a tradition of the Outstanding Lead Actress nominees getting together for lunch.

I have not heard yet when this year’s will be but I am looking forward to it. I’ve been to it in the past and it was great because we’re all on the same team. We look at each other and we know what we get to do. When we sit together at this lunch, it’s so great. It gets really lovely and personal and we talk about our challenges. It’s cathartic in a way. We can be ourselves and we can share in a way that some, who work in other genres, may not be able to.

You have time but now there’s the fun stuff – picking a gown, maybe borrowing jewelry?

One of the fun things is looking at dresses that maybe you can’t ordinarily afford. Oscar de la Renta is a designer whose style is I’ve always clicked with. It’s a timeless look. There’s one dress I’m obsessed with. I texted it over to our designer Shawn [Reeves at GH]. I don’t think I’m going to do it. It may not even be right. I don’t know but when I see you, I’ll say either, “This is the dress!” or “I couldn’t do it.”

You’ll be seeing a lot of your colleagues at Nancy Lee Grahn’s event “Daytime Unites To End ALS” this weekend in Glendale.

Yes. There’s a signing and a Q&A and I’ll be there. I’m so proud of Nancy and all the hard work she’s put into putting this together. This is an important cause.

Your late Guiding Light colleague Michael Zaslow (ex-Roger) passed away from ALS in 1998. Do you have any memories of him?

We never really had a storyline together but I remember him – and how amazing he was. We did work together in group scenes.

GH has put Nina and Drew together. All that animosity turned to passion.

Nina and Drew didn’t care for each other much. He thought she was the reason he went to prison. Nina felt he is the reason he went to prison. There was a lot of animosity between them. She’s been going through a challenging time as she’s losing her family.

Another big loss in Nina’s life was her friendship with Ava. Those breakup scenes in Nina’s office should be remembered for next year’s awards – for both you and Maura.

The breakup with Sonny was difficult. The breakup with Ava also was very difficult. When I read those scripts, Cynthia had to mourn that. I’ve mourned both breakups. There’s something special I look forward to when I work with a platonic girlfriend.

Friends are hard to come by.

Yes. [Maura and I] found so much when we worked together that wasn’t on the page. I had to be on my toes because she is so amazing. We have a history. We went to the same college [Boston University]. We’ve had similar challenges. It was a really great thing to get to work with her in those scenes in which we “broke up.” I had more material to shoot after our scene so [after we finished them] I just sat in Nina’s chair. Then, Maura came over to me and gave me a hug. I hugged back. It’s still a hard breakup. Who knows what will happen? But, right now, Nina and Ava can’t be friends anymore.

General Hospital, Weekdays, ABC