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General Hospital star Kristen Vaganos was nervous and unsure when she began playing Molly Lansing-Davis on the show in 2023. She found immediate comfort and reassurance from her co-star Nancy Lee Grahn, who plays Molly’s mother, Alexis Davis.
Grahn welcomed her new TV daughter with open arms
In an interview with ABC11 TV in North Carolina, Vaganos recounted her early GH days when she took over the role that had previously been played by Haley Pullos.
Not only did Vaganos screen test with Grahn, but she was also placed right in the middle of a heavy storyline for her character and the Davis girls in general, when Molly was trying to have a baby with T.J. Ashford (Tajh Bellow).
In one of her first scenes, Molly and TJ found out that their first surrogate, Andrea Gates (Lily Harrison), miscarried. Vaganos discussed how Grahn supported her during those early days.
“I felt vetted by the best,” Vaganos said. “Once I got there, really got a sense of her, I realized if she’s good with me, then I’m good. It was big shoes to fill and it was daunting, but I felt confident knowing Nancy had decided I would work.”
Vaganos said the scenes in which Alexis comforted Molly over the first miscarriage came in roughly her third day on set. “She gave me a ‘Good job, kid’ and I was like, ‘OK, I’m good,’” Vaganos said.
Vaganos admitted she knew nothing about soap operas when she auditioned for GH and she didn’t know she would be playing Molly until she got the job. She was grateful that the Screen Actors Guild strike didn't affect soap operas so she was able to snag the role.
General Hospital star grew up on stage
Vaganos, a Philadelphia native, attended New York University, where she received her BFA in Drama in just three years.
She has appeared in several network and streaming shows and movies, including the dance thriller Obsessed with the Babysitter, in which she portrays Elaine, the babysitter. It is currently available on Hulu.
Vaganos relayed how she fell in love with acting as a kid, saying she tried all sorts of activities when she was younger, quickly realizing she wasn’t good at sports.
Vaganos went into detail on her theater background, saying she loves playing to a live audience in a theater, but enjoys how similar the fast pace of taping at GH is to acting live in a theater.
“I did theater as a kid and I fell in love with it. I felt the happiest. It felt right,” Vaganos said. “[GH] is quite theater-like. It’s multi-cam. We have the set. The fourth wall is down and the cameras are there. You really live in the space and you can move around it. There is an element of it that feels like theater.”
Vaganos said that performing on camera actually suits her acting style more than performing on stage.
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“I did know from an early age that I was perhaps meant to be a film actress,” she said. “Doing those productions in high school and local, I wasn’t the actress who was hitting the back row, I was doing the subtle, up close work, and people said, ‘Yeah, you’ll be good on camera.’ So I feel like I’m in the right place.”
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