On General Hospital, Kristina Corinthos-Davis (Kate Mansi) has been through a whirlwind of emotional and physical changes that will scar her for the rest of her life. After becoming the surrogate for her sister Molly (Kristen Vaganos) and her beau, TJ’s (Tajh Bellow) child, Kristina went crashing through a window after a confrontation with Ava Jerome (Maura West) over Ava’s attempted takedown of her father, Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard).

After losing the baby she was carrying, breaking up with her girlfriend, Blaze (Jacqueline Grace Lopez) and vowing revenge, Kristina has been on a journey of extreme grief, and a new version of her is slowly emerging, where she has been leaning more towards the dark impulses within herself, like her father, Sonny. On the Wednesday, September 25th episode of the ABC daytime drama series, without speaking the words, Kristina learns that Sonny shot and killed John “Jagger” Cates; something she also thought of doing herself. However, now her mother, Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn), is in prison for the crime, putting Kristina is in a terrible predicament between her two parents.

Daytime Emmy-winner Kate Mansi debuted on GH as the recast Kristina back in May of 2023, and now with her frontburner story, Mansi is sure to be one of the actresses to beat come Emmy time next year. Soap fans first met the actress during her performances as Abigail on Days of our Lives, and just as Abigail found herself quite tortured at times, so is Kristina. In the more than capable hands of Kate, watching Kristina’s journey has been all at once heartbreaking and an often edge-of-your-seats ride, of just what the young woman will do next.

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Michael Fairman TV chatted with Kate about her soap alter-ego, working with her co-stars, the upcoming exit of her soap sister, Kelly Monaco (Sam), and playing all the twists and turns of this page-turner on the iconic soap. Check out what Kate had to say about it all below.

Kate, did you have any idea, and at what point, where this story was going to take you – from losing the baby onward? Were you informed you’re gearing up for this massive story since you were a newbie to GH?

KATE: Yes and no. When Frank Valentini (executive producer, GH) made the offer for me to come on, I knew I was coming on for two things. I knew it was a storyline that had to do with my on-screen sister’s endometriosis story that I would be a surrogate for. I thought it was important to be supportive of telling those stories, and I knew that I would be a LGBTQIA+ character. So, with both of those things, I was like, “Yes, great. Sign me up.” Frank alluded to that this is going to be a huge heavy-hitting storyline. I don’t like to get too far down the road because I like to play what’s in front of me. I knew we weren’t going to have the baby, but we didn’t know, in exactly what capacity, until maybe a month before we shot it. Then, once we knew it was going to be in this confrontation with Ava, then it made sense, since Ava started tampering with Sonny’s meds, and it kind of all fit together in this beautiful, messy way that it did.

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You are in the scene with Maura West, and then you as Kristina go crashing through the window. What did you think of that point of the story and then in Kristina’s mind, does she not realize her fault in this, at all?

KATE: You always have to play that your character is right. I think that I can see where she and I are alike and differ. She is someone who is balls to the wall in a very different way than I am. We commit hard, but she is much more impulsive than I am. So, to answer your question, “no.” Kristina in that moment didn’t feel like she was doing anything wrong. It wasn’t until later that she sort of really put it together. Then, in this episode that recently aired she was talking with Felicia. Kristina says, “My biggest fear is that Molly’s right. That this was all my fault.” So, I think in hindsight when everything blew up, then she was able to take a step back and realize her part in this and that she didn’t have to be there with Ava. But, in the moment she was going to protect her father because it was an impossible situation. It was either get on the stand and testify against her own father and have him go to prison or, say nothing. It was like being between a rock and a hard place.

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Speaking of the scene between you and Kristina Wagner (Felicia), that was amazing. Obviously, you know, she lost her son, Harrison in real- life. To have this woman say to you, “I know what’s it like losing a child,” it was just gut-wrenching, and you’re playing the other side of that in the moment.

KATE: I have to say it was so gut-wrenching, I haven’t been that nervous for a scene in a very long time. I had anxiety all day. I just went to Kristina and I said, “I have got to be honest with you. I’m really nervous.”  I said, “I know that you have dealt with this so uniquely, and that makes me nervous. I feel so insensitive, saying some of this stuff to you.” It felt very self-indulgent to be saying these things to her. When I, the actor knows it. So, I just said to her, “We can rehearse or not rehearse or whatever you want to do. I’ve got your back, but I would like to try to do these scenes as best we can to honor your son’s memory and all the strength that you have.”  When I watched the scenes back, I was texting her on the way that she played this. She was like a rock in a storm. She was very much an empath and very warm, which is also so true to Kristina Wagner. You look at this woman, who has been through what she’s been through, and the way she talks about it, and the way she has worked on herself, and how she has really truly evolved from this, is miraculous.  I’m really happy we got to do those scenes together.

I had talked to Kristina about this on the red carpet at this year’s Daytime Emmys. We were talking about grief, and she was very open about it. It was a beautiful moment we shared and she gave some very helpful words to anyone going through something similar as she had.

KATE: Exactly. She wants to talk about, and she had said to me, “I remember when we first had our first conversation, and thank you for letting me talk about it.” I said, “You want to ‘thank’ me?” And she said, “Some people don’t know how to hold space for that, and it’s so helpful to talk about.” I think about that all the time. The scene at Adela’s gravesite where I crying on her grave, I stole a line from one of my conversations with Kristina. She said about her son, “Sometimes I just wonder, where did he go? Where do you think he went?” She wasn’t sad about it, but that stayed with me. I brought that into the scene and said, “Where did you go?”

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Felicia suggests that Kristina go to a support group of other mothers who’ve lost their children and to speak to a therapist. Is Kristina too shut down to bring herself to do that; given where she is at the moment?

KATE: I think at that point, her sister Sam played by Lindsay Hartley in that episode, tells her she did such a great job. She kind of nudges her and says, “You’re going,” and there’s a beat I played right before, where I looked at her like, ‘I’m not going to do this.’ And she’s like, “No, you’re going.” I think the way that we sort of crafted it was that Kristina up until she walks into Felicia’s office, she’s not really sure if she’ll be able to go in and she’s not sure she’s going be able to process it and wants to just sort of dig her heels in and run from it. And then once she gets into the room with Felicia, it sort of overtakes her and she has to stop and she finally faces herself in that moment.

Photo: ABC

There was a series of scenes where as viewers we are watching this going, “Is this the complete character turn for Kristina?” She’s is in the hospital, she’s lost the baby, she breaks up with Blaze and she’s basically now acting like Sonny’s daughter, and we are left thinking, “Kristina’s going to be a mobster.” How did you feel about those scenes, where Jacqueline Grace Lopez as Blaze says her goodbyes, and then you see the turn to a vengeful Kristina?

KATE: For Kristina, having gone through something so traumatic and such a complex trauma from: falling from a five-story window to not only losing her baby, but almost losing her own life, and then nearly losing her dad before that, it became too much for her. She’s thinking, ‘I can’t let anyone get close to me.’ The pain is too big, and also, ‘What am I going to do about it?’ She’s really blinded by the grief and the notion of wanting revenge. Kristina has always had the luxury of sort of turning a blind eye and letting her dad handle things. Now, she is making this turn where she wants to clean up her own messes, take accountability for herself, for her actions, because there’s nothing really left for her. So, when Natalia (Eva LaRue) tells her of this (concert tour) opportunity that Blaze has, it’s sort of like the perfect excuse for her to push someone away.

And then, what did you think of those final scenes with you and Jacqueline?

KATE: I thought they were written really well, and I think it was hard for both of those characters.

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You have your Emmy reel (in my humble opinion) for your performance of Kristina in the scenes at her baby’s grave. However, I was dying for you, because you are literally acting in this “storm” with the rain falling on you in bucket amounts and you were completely soaked. What was that like having to deliver the performance in all that water?

KATE: Oh, my God. It was crazy! They had written three scenes, and most of them were three or four pages long. At first, when I read them, I was like, ‘How am I going to make these different?’ You can’t just go on and on for that at amount of time. I worked with Frank and Jennifer Brogdon (Sr. Producer, GH) to find a way to make some distinct choices. When we looked at blocking it, I said “I think that for this one moment in this arc, that she’s trying to get as close as she possibly can to her child, because she’s in so much absolute anguish that she just would crawl on the grave if she could.”  Frank was like, “Do it.”  So, my idea ended up being a terrible idea because I remember I was leaning with one ear down and all that water was going in my other ear. Then, I got up and dumped the water out. Frank was talking to me and I couldn’t even hear him. I would up with double ear infection, but it was so worth it.

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How do you see where Kristina is at in her relationship with her sister, Molly given all that has happened? How has it been working with Kristen Vaganos and creating the conflict?

KATE: They are totally at odds. I think that they love each other fiercely. I’m really lucky to work with Kristen because she came to the show with such skill and talent and that is always so helpful. We really hit the ground running. It was as if we had always been sisters, so that’s amazing. The secret that we found was as long as we both are so deeply, deeply convinced that we are right in our own way and the other person is wrong, we’ll be fine.

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Last week, we saw that Alexis is sentenced to Pentonville. Molly doesn’t trust Kristina in that she knows more about the murder of John “Jagger” Cates, and is letting her mother go to prison for a crime that she did not commit. What do you think about all of that?

KATE: I mean, does Kristina ever let anything just go by? She’s going to meddle. She knows her mom found the gun and she feels guilty about that. On top of that, this sort of triggers her. They’ve stepped on the landmine of Kristina’s impulses, which is like, “Oh, my God. This is all my fault. I have to clean this mess.” So now, she’s going to go on this journey of righting her wrongs.

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Kristina admitted that in the storm, she drove over to the Quartermaines with the intent to kill Cates. Then on yesterday’s episode, Sonny and Kristina have a discussion and he basically confirms that he killed John without really saying it, but he promises to her that Alexis will not be convicted for the crime. Does Kristina believe Sonny at that point, or is she freaked out?

KATE: I think both are true in equal intensity. I think she has the moment of realizing what her father’s done, and then also the painful realization that she is now squarely in the middle of both her parents and doesn’t want either one of them to have to take the fall for this. So then, that just further perpetuates the guilt and shame and grief and everything.

Does Kristina firmly believe she drove over to the Q’s with a gun and did not use it, or do you think she blacked out that she shot Cates, too?

KATE: No, I think that she was so blinded by her trauma and she wanted to do something. There was a moment where she was in such a deep hole within herself, and in such a depression that she didn’t know what to do. She just wanted the pain to stop. So, whether that was going to be used for herself … I think she just sort of didn’t think, and she knew she wanted to kill Cates. So, she went there and just sat in the car and was beside herself. Then, I think something brought her out of it. 

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Moving forward, do you think Kristina is going to be a character to root for, or do you think we’re going to see more of this revenge-filled woman?

KATE: I mean, aren’t those also good to root for? Have you met Ava Jerome? I think that Kristina will always be someone who is of two worlds, right? She was raised by Sonny Corinthos. He has a moral code and all of those things she tells herself. But I think there’s some big things coming that will also be a really big shift in Kristina’s world that will change her perspective a bit.

Can you see her Kristina falling in love again after this?

KATE: Yes, I can. It’s a soap!

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Tell me about what it’s like working with Nancy and Maurice as your on-screen parents?

KATE: I love it. I’m so happy to be working with him. I didn’t know I was going be their daughter. Once Frank told me I was recast. I said, “Don’t tell me who. Just tell me the storyline that you’re bringing on to play.” When I found out it was Maurice and Nancy, it was a gift. I love Nancy. I always say Nancy is a perfect combination of Lucille Ball with physical comedy and timing and a very young Jean Smart with her sort of cynicism. That same sort of cynicism and edge and ballsy demeanor like Katherine Hepburn. We always say our mom is iconic. She’s hysterical. Kristen and I always laugh. The first time I ever saw Nancy cry was when she came to visit Kristina in the hospital. I remember, I looked up and her, I said, “Nancy, you have feelings.” I really feel like this storyline has brought out such beautiful work from Nancy, and the cool thing about her is she’s not someone who’s always leading with her vulnerability. So, when she does have those moments, it’s so powerful.

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When Maurice met you and you started as his on-screen daughter, was he receptive to you as an actor or did he give you a hard time?

KATE: He was great. I think Maurice’s instincts innately is always to be sort of the mentor, the father figure. I love that about him. It’s so sweet. When I first came on to do the first episode I had with him, I think he was expecting that I would be quite nervous. He came over to me and he was like, “Come here.” He gave me a big hug. He looked at me and he went, “Remember, it’s supposed to be fun” as in, don’t get nervous. I was like, “Yeah, of course, It’s supposed to be fun. Let’s go.” So that sort of set the tone for our whole working relationship. He looked at me and laughed and then it was like, okay and I loved it. I think when Lexi Ainsworth played the role, the character was also younger, and he had a different type of fatherly relationship with her. I feel like Mo and I can really go toe to toe on things. He certainly is such an incredible co-star, and he elevates all the scenes that he’s in. Every now and then, he kind of checks on me before we tape a scene. Maurice goes, “I’m going to yell at you.” And I’m like, “Mo, I’m going to yell at you, too. We don’t need to do this.” And he’s goes, “Okay, okay. Good, good, good.” 

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Sam is realizing one way to help her mother is to find the gun and prove her innocence. Do you have more scenes coming up with Kelly Monaco?

KATE: Yes, I do. Lindsay Hartley is not coming back. Kelly is finishing out, and I do have some scenes with Kelly. Working with her has been great. I love Kelly Monaco and she was nothing but warm and welcoming when I got on. I think she’s super-talented and going to go on to do really great things.

You are appearing at the Graceland fan celebration the weekend of October 25th-27th. This is your first time as a part of this major cast event. There is even a Halloween-themed portion and tickets are still available.

KATE: Yes, I have my Halloween costume. I’ve never really been a Halloween person, but this is like the perfect occasion for it. I think it’s going to be so great. I know Frank works really hard on it and everybody creates such a great event for Graceland.

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There is a Q&A with the audience too, where they can ask the stars questions. Are you good with impromptu questions or is that not your kind of thing?

KATE: Are you kidding me? I love doing Q and A’s, because it’s fun to see what other people notice and don’t notice. We’re so stuck in our own world. It’s fun to see what sparks their curiosities. I’m such a naturally curious person myself, so I always find it so interesting when people are curious about what we do.

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Your former on-screen leading man, Billy Flynn, has been celebrating his 10th anniversary this month as Chad DiMera on Days of our Lives and for a longtime you played his leading lady, Abigail Devereaux DiMera. What can you say about Billy’s milestone?

KATE: Billy will always be my leading man. I love Billy. I’m so excited and so proud of him. I think it’s such a terrific milestone. I’m not at all surprised. I think he will be a longstanding piece of history for Days of our lives, for sure.

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If you were going to give a tease to what GH viewers can expect on upcoming episodes for Kristina, what would you say? Is she going to be caught between what to do with her parents and how to save them?

KATE: Yes, and Kristina is very much in the beginning early phases of trying to process her grief. She’s also worried about both of her parents and the outcome. There are some things on the horizon which will also really rattle her and the Davis family to their core, and that will go one of two ways. It will either split them apart and be sort of a scorched earth, that then we don’t know when they’ll sort of come back together, or it will bring them back and unite them in a way that only something like that could.

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Have you taped a showdown scene between Kristina and Ava on what went down when Kristina crashed through the Metro Court hotel room window, and its fallout yet?

KATE: I don’t believe we have shot that yet. I will say that while both our characters are on the canvas, Kristina will always carry this with her. That’s something I really don’t foresee will ever change. The characters do have some scenes that I just shot that will come up soon, that are going to be really, really fun and there’s a new character that sort of comes into this little toxic triangle of Ava and Kristina.

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So, is Kristina done thinking she needs to kill Ava for losing her child?

KATE: No. She heavily wants revenge and thinks Ava should pay for what she has done.

So, how do you think Kristina will navigate this situation with her unspoken understanding that her father killed John “Jagger” Cates, while her mother is in prison for a crime she did not commit? If a love interest is coming Kristina’s way, who could it be? What seismic event will change the Davis girls forever? Is it the departure of Kelly Monaco as Sam McCall? And, what have been your favorite moments from Kate Mansi’s star-turn as Kristina Corinthos- Davis? Share your thoughts and theories via the comment section below.