Cynthia Watros Reveals the ‘Sweet’ Way James Patrick Stuart Welcomed Her When She Joined ‘General Hospital’
Since 2019, Cynthia Watros has been on General Hospital, where she plays Nina Reeves. Watros recently looked back on her early days on the set of the show, and she revealed a “sweet” way her former on-screen love interest, James Patrick Stuart (Valentin Cassadine), welcomed her.
Cynthia Watros had an impressive resume before joining ‘General Hospital’
Watros was already an established actor before joining General Hospital.
In the 1990s, she became known in the soap opera world as Annie Dutton from Guiding Light. Watros played this role from 1994 until 1998. Her work even earned her a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Another well-known role Watros had is Libby Smith on Lost. She was a main character on the show during season 2 and season 6.
Other shows Watros appeared on include House, The Young and the Restless, and Finding Carter.
Cynthia Watros reveals the ‘sweet’ way James Patrick Stuart welcomed her to ‘General Hospital’
In 2019, Watros debuted on General Hospital as Nina Reeves, taking over the role from Michelle Stafford. During a recent interview with Soap Opera Digest, Watros was asked whom she received the “warmest welcome” from, and the actor shared that it was James Patrick Stuart.
“Before I started, he sent me flowers with a note that said something like, ‘We love you already,’” Watros recalled. “I took over Michelle’s dressing room, and you know how when you hang up pictures and stuff you leave little holes in the wall? He came in and, like, spackled my dressing room for me. How sweet is that? Either that or he has a lot of free time [laughs].”
Cynthia Watros admitted it was initially challenging to play Nina
When Watros first came on board, many fans were used to seeing Stafford as Nina. Because of this, Watros admitted it was initially challenging for her to take over the role.
“What would have helped me is if Michelle was just horrible at her job,” Watros joked on the Dishing With Digest podcast in 2020. “But Michelle is awesome and amazing. So it was a hard climb up to really feel like Nina was mine because Michelle was so good.”
She also added that fans’ expectations and reactions sometimes made her feel nervous about her place on the show.
“There were a lot of times I was like, ‘I might get fired today. This might be the day,’” she said. “Not that I wasn’t trying hard or the show wasn’t supportive. It was just like… it’s tough. As human beings, we don’t like change. When you love a character and an actor, when someone else is thrown in there, you don’t want change. It takes a long time to get used to that person being in that role.”
Fortunately, Watros gradually grew into the role. According to the actor, it took her about six months before she began to “feel more and more like Nina.”
