Emma Samms returns to ‘General Hospital’: A blend of good and bad
A beloved character’s return
Whenever Emma Samms graces the screen as Holly Sutton in the world of Port Charles, fans of General Hospital are left wondering: Will she be a hero or a villain this time? Samms herself offers a tantalizing hint, saying, “Both.”
“It’s the perfect part in that regard,” she explains. “It’s so fun and really interesting. Holly’s character has such depth and so many different colors.” Samms also teases that she will be working with “a brilliant, strong, powerful, interesting villain now,” promising some intriguing twists as Holly makes her return to town.
Keeping the mystery alive
The team behind the long-running ABC show, led by executive producer Frank Valentini, remains tight-lipped about Holly’s latest storyline. They have only revealed that she will be working with Jonathan Jackson, who reprises his role as Lucky Spencer after leaving the show in 2015. Despite their long tenures on the show—Samms joined in 1982 and Jackson in 1993—they have never shared the screen until now.
“It’s such a gift that Frank has given me, working with Jonathan, who is, obviously, a very, very good actor,” Samms says. “That’s undisputed—but he’s also really nice. And we have a very similar way of approaching the work, and we realized that that is because we were both trained by Tony Geary [Luke].”
A legacy of love and drama
Samms initially stepped in as a love interest for Luke Spencer after Laura went missing, while Jackson first appeared as the 11-year-old son of the iconic supercouple. The idea of another woman capturing Luke’s heart could have sparked fan outrage, but instead, Holly and Samms were warmly embraced.
“I didn’t realize when I started that I was the third attempt to find somebody for a new romantic relationship for Luke,” she recalls. “They had tried really amazing people, like Janine Turner and Demi Moore. So I was sort of the last-ditch attempt in that regard. But I had no clue, which is probably extremely valuable and helped me a lot. I just came in sort of innocent, and ‘I’ll do the best I can’ sort of thing. And I just somehow got away with it. I was very fortunate.”
The charm of an English accent
One of the elements that endeared Holly to fans was Samms’ English accent. Interestingly, Holly was originally written to be American, and Samms had to audition with an American accent. “My first auditions were with an American accent, and then [former executive producer] Gloria [Monty] heard me speaking and went, ‘Oh, are you English?’ And I said, yes. And they completely changed the story and the character. More than anything, it was hugely relieving,” she says with a laugh, “because when you are doing that volume of work and dialogue, if I had to do a different accent on top of all of that, it would’ve been very stressful or even more stressful, I should say.”
Battling long COVID
Samms has faced significant health challenges in recent years, struggling with long COVID, which has kept her confined to her hometown of London for extended periods. “I’ve been like this now for four and a half years nearly, and it’s baffling to not just the people who have it, but it’s baffling to the doctors,” she says. “They are some very smart people who are investigating and studying it and doing research, but all they keep finding is more and more damage that COVID has done to people’s bodies.”
“I got some really good scans done and they found that at some point I had had myocarditis, which has scarred my heart,” Samms continues. “The consequences of COVID—I think we still have only just scratched the surface, and it’s terrifying to me that people think we are no longer in a pandemic. Because they so desperately want it to not affect them, they sort of pretend that it is has gone, and it so hasn’t.”
The importance of accommodations
The possibility of anti-masking laws being legislated has Samms very concerned. “The anti-science of it all is baffling because I am the living, walking proof that COVID has been a mass disabling event. If it wasn’t for the fact that people at ‘General Hospital’ are so understanding of it and accommodating, I would not be able to work like I do. When I’m back in the U.K., and anytime I’m not on the set, I have to lie down, I have to put my feet up. I have something called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, so if I stand too long, I keel over. So the only cure, or the only thing that makes you feel a bit better, is to lie down flat.”
She continues: “The powers that be at ‘General Hospital’ accommodate that, but not every production would. They write most of my scenes sitting down. They’ve put me in a dressing room that’s really close to the elevator. Just lots of little things like that that mean I can do the job.”
A resilient spirit
Despite the challenges, Samms remains grateful for the support of her fans and the team at General Hospital. “They’ve been incredibly kind to me. They are an extraordinarily vocal group. That are very caring, for not just the show, but the actors on it.”
As Holly Sutton returns to Port Charles, fans can look forward to a character who embodies both light and dark, much like the actress who portrays her. For those eager to catch a glimpse of Holly’s latest adventures, you can watch the trailer for General Hospital here.