GH made headlines with its surprise casting of Kate Mansi — a Daytime Emmy-winner for her run as DAYS’s Abigail — to take over the role of Alexis and Sonny’s headstrong daughter from Lexi Ainsworth, who had played her on and off since 2009. Mansi, who exited DAYS in 2020 and made her GH debut on May 24, says, “I’m just really excited to be taking on a storyline about endometriosis and a character who is part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Those are things that really matter to me.”
Soap Opera Digest: Welcome back to daytime! Talk me through how your new role came about.
Kate Mansi: I obviously know Frank [Valentini, executive producer] and I’m a fan of his work, but it’s actually a funny story — I knew Mark [Teschner, casting director] and Frank together because when I was still in college, pre-DAYS OF OUR LIVES, when I was at Pepperdine University, I got my very first screen test offer for ONE LIFE TO LIVE in New York [for which Valentini was then EP]. It came from an audition with Mark. When I left Mark’s office [after first reading for him], I was like, “I totally get him. He has this great, New York vibe.” It went so great and then I went to test in New York and I was so excited to have my first screen test. The role was a bartender or something and I remember Frank came down and gave me a note. I was turning my straw in a drink and he said something, like, “When you’re turning the straw, turn it counterclockwise, not clockwise.” And I remember thinking, “Oh, my gosh, how amazing that I finally met someone who pays as much attention to detail as I do!” I didn’t get the job and I cried, of course, on my whole flight home to L.A. because I was devastated. But I always sort of had this reverence for his work ethic and his ability to be as detailed as he is. I had seen Frank around [over the years] and then I got a call from my team. They said, “Frank and Mark want to have a Zoom with you.” [On the Zoom] I said, “Frank do you remember the straw?” And we both laughed and he said, “That sounds like me!” They were both incredibly complimentary about my work and told me a little bit about the way GENERAL HOSPITAL works. They said they were looking to do a recast and being a recast myself, and then having my [DAYS] role recast [with Marci Miller], I’m quite sensitive to the actors [and] I asked him to tell me broadly about the subject matter of what the storyline would be before I dove into any research. He told me this would be a story relating to the subject of endometriosis, which I am quite outspoken about. I have endometriosis myself, I have spoken on several panels about it, and as I get older, I think it’s so important for me to choose stories that [center on] things that I really care about and am passionate about speaking out on and using my voice for. So when he said endometriosis, I was, like, “Whoa.” I think I had goosebumps. Then he said some other things that really stuck with me, like about this character being bisexual. It hit all the marks of things that I wanted to use my voice for…. Things happened very quickly [in terms of making a deal] and once I made the correlation that it was Lexi, I reached out to her before I did anything else because she’s a friend of mine and someone I respect so much as an actress. We had a great conversation and I wanted to just make sure that she knew how absolutely adored she is by me and the cast and the fans, and that I would do my best to honor her work.
Digest: Did you have nerves driving into work your first day?
Mansi: It’s funny, I didn’t feel nervous. You know, I told Frank, “This is maybe the fastest I have ever signed on for a role.” I felt this overall sort of peace about it. It was really great timing for me and I really just felt like it was a full-circle moment and when life does that, I think you kind of have to just get out of the way and surrender. Any doubts I had about coming on for this, he really put to rest with his unwavering confidence. I think he said, “Kate, I let you go one time. I’m not gonna do it again.” To know that I had him in my corner like that and his vision that he had, I was really happy to just surrender and let him be the sort of anchor and guide. And then when I started, I came in and met my [on-screen] family. I met Nancy [Lee Grahn, Alexis] and Kelly [Monaco, Sam]. Nancy couldn’t have been sweeter and we had some really great first scenes. From day one, I knew that I was in the right place, for sure.
Digest: I know you know Josh Swickard (Chase), as you recently starred in CASA GRANDE, a limited series that streamed on Amazon Freevee and was co-created by his wife, Lauren. Who else in the cast did you know coming in?
Mansi: Yes, I’m very good friends with Josh. Just from being part of the soap family, I know Laura Wright [Carly] and Maura West [Ava] — I bumped into Laura my first day and she gave me the world’s biggest hug. It felt like I was running into an old friend at a high school reunion or something like that. That felt really good. I knew more people behind the scenes, like I knew [Director] Gary Tomlin — Frank was so sweet to have him direct my first episode because Gary not only was the co-executive producer of my first episode when I was at DAYS, he also directed my first episode. So that was a really sweet callback that Frank facilitated.
Digest: How did you prepare to begin in terms of wrapping your mind around the character?
Mansi: I spoke with a couple of people at GH who really helped me with that and I took extensive notes, and there were a couple of specific episodes that Mark and Frank wanted me to watch, so I did that. And then, just like I did when I took over Abigail, I just really did some research and spoke to the writers and people that could sort of steer me in the right direction. The way I work, it’s best to sort of just sit back and listen and little things, these little nuggets, will sort of stand out to you that you can hook onto. And also, being on set, Nancy and Kelly, everyone that I was working with, was so great in terms of, like, “Oh, this is a thread that will come back up again,” and sort of keeping me posted on that stuff.
Digest: What have you discovered thus far about Kristina in terms of her personality that you feel like you can hook into or lean into?
Mansi: The main hook for me was that she’s a dreamer. She has really big dreams and she’s incredibly compassionate and empathetic and has a big heart and she wants to help and give herself. I relate to that part of Kristina; my younger self would sort of jump and on the way down be like, “Oh, I didn’t put as much thought into that as I maybe should have!” But that part of her is what I think makes her so endearing, that she has this huge heart and doesn’t always look at her decisions from every angle. I can understand where that lives for her and that’s been fun. And I also have a really strong family — I have a blood sister and several stepsisters and there is nothing like the sister dynamic! You would die for them, but no one else can get under your skin the same way. I’m so grateful to have that and I love working with Kelly. The first day we worked together, Nancy kept looking at us in between scenes and being like, “Wow, you guys really could be sisters. This is, like, remarkable!”
Digest: Have you worked with Maurice Benard (Sonny) yet?
Mansi: I have not, but I ran into him in the hallway and we spoke very briefly because he was on his way up to set. I am so excited to work with him and I’m a big fan of his work.
Digest: What do you want GH fans to know about how you feel about being their new Kristina and coming in as a recast?
Mansi: I want to say that I have nothing but respect for Lexi as a woman and also as an actor. We were friends before; we’ll stay friends after. I know that it’s an adjustment, that there will be glimmers of things that are similar and things that are really different. I appreciate the support of my fans and also Lexi’s. Something I learned as I grew up is that things aren’t always black and white, and two things can be true at the same time, so fans can love Lexi and love me, or fans can love me and love Marci, or they can love Ashley Benson [Mansi’s predecessor as Abigail] and me. There’s nowhere that’s truer than in the soap/daytime world because one doesn’t necessarily negate the other. I just feel really grateful for this opportunity and I’m excited for fans to hopefully embrace this sort of new wave of the Davis family.
