Adam Huss, who pinch-hit for Marcus Coloma as Nikolas several times over the last few months, was called back to play out his most dramatic GH material yet during his most recent stint, which ended with the character’s apparent demise at Ava’s hands.
Prior to his GH appearance, Huss had a brief but memorable 2002 run on B&B as Lance, who was killed when Sheila unleashed a swarm of killer bees upon him. “I had so much fun with that because it was ridiculous in the best way,” he chuckles. “The storyline was so crazy and Kimberlin [Brown, Sheila] was so wonderful. She was very kind and very open and she taught me the art of stuffing the scripts behind the pillows [laughs]. I was like, ‘Oh, I can do that?’ And she was like, ‘Honey, yes, you have to do that.’ She was a blast to work with. You had to embrace the camp in that. I think my first line was, ‘There’s a bees’ nest out there, dude! I’m allergic to bees!’ and Kimberlin was hiding in the closet listening.”
Over the years, Huss had done various auditions at GH for Casting Director Mark Teschner. “I had been called in a bunch of different times for the show,” says the actor. “Mark is amazing and he’s really loyal to people he likes. As an actor, you hear all the time, ‘You did great and we’ll keep you in mind for stuff,’ but Mark really means that. And because of that, before this opportunity as Nikolas came up, I’d already dove into the world of GH and knew who certain people were, what circles they moved in and the different families. Plus, when I was younger, no joke, I totally remember seeing Soap Opera Digest at the supermarket checkout stand and for some reason, what caught my eye was the triangle between Lucky and Elizabeth and Nikolas. Even though I wasn’t even a big soap watcher back then, I knew that storyline, so it was just surreal when I got to step into the shoes of this character.”
In the limited amount of time he had to prepare, Huss watched some key scenes on YouTube, “and Mark and [Associate Casting Director] Lisa Booth said, ‘Whatever questions you have, send them to us, you’re not bugging us. We’ll get you the answers.’ And that invitation was awesome. It was like gold to go in with all that information, even though I had nerves, stepping into the shoes of another person who wasn’t there, but was coming back, I knew I had done all the prep work I could.”
His first GH scene partners were Maura West (Ava) and Kin Shriner (Scott). Declares Huss, “I say this with complete authenticity: They were both amazing. They embraced me and ran the lines with me to make sure I felt comfortable. They helped take my nerves away and because of their generosity, by the time we got to taping, I already felt connected to them. I felt at home right away.”
When Huss read that GH and Coloma were parting ways, he assumed the show wouldn’t require his services as Nikolas again. Then came the fateful call. “They asked if I was available to play out this arc, the close of the storyline,” he recalls. “I went through so many emotions. I was literally about to go on a road trip to go home for Christmas the next day. And, of course, if GH comes knocking, you go, ‘Okay, I’m changing everything and I’ll stay!’ I was immediately thrown from, ‘Woo-hoo, here come the holidays’ to, ‘Boom, back to studying in my bedroom with the door shut.’ And when I read the scripts, I was like, ‘Holy…. Oh, my God!’ I knew the magnitude of these scenes and I got a twinge of fear, but then I got excited. ‘I get to come in and play all this juicy, well-written stuff, the culmination of this character’s journey?’ I just felt like, ‘What a blessing that I get this chance.’ I was just so excited. I just felt very prepared to go in and do it.”
With his dialogue nailed down, Huss says, “When you’re working with people who are so talented, from Maura to Genie [Francis, Laura] to Avery [Pohl, Esme] to Nicholas [Chavez, Spencer] to Rebecca Herbst [Elizabeth], every single person there that I got to work with, that was all I needed. I just needed to be open to this amazing energy coming at me. It just felt like everything in my body came alive. It was so exciting. It was just amazing to get to play with actors of this caliber.”
When the intense, climactic scenes aired, Huss’s performance drew rave reviews on social media. “That meant everything to me, seriously,” the actor smiles. “I was getting so many kind messages. I get emotional about it. It was a difficult position to come into, and as a fan of TV, I get it — you don’t want the new guy, you want who you’re used to! It made me feel so grateful, to be embraced by the fans. I know how passionate they are.”
If the opportunity to do more work on GH presented itself, Huss would jump at it. “I would be so honored to be asked back to that show,” he nods. “I love every ounce of it. I feel like soap operas are sort of the unsung hero [of entertainment]. I love the work that I got to do there. I was in a prime-time TV show, POWER, for three years as a supporting character, and even though I was a series regular, I didn’t really get the kind of scenes I got to do on GH. So, it would be amazing to get to do more. I feel I would just get better and better, and seeing how much everyone who has been there for so long still has that passion, still cares so much and wants it to be the best it can be? I’m like, ‘I get that. I want to be a part of that!’ ”
