ABC
Things Fall Apart: The honeymoon appears to be over for Nina (Cynthia Watros) and Sonny (Maurice Benard).
GH’s Nina is facing an uncertain future now that her role in the SEC learning of Carly and Drew’s insider trading is out, making her persona non grata in Port Charles.
Her portrayer, Cynthia Watros, notes, “That definitely was a hard week of work because whenever you know that the truth is going to come out about your character about whatever it is, you know you’re going to have to convey a number of different emotions. So it can’t help but kind of wear on you, as Cynthia. That day was a lot of apologizing to Sonny and Sonny being upset, but also he wants Nina to go over to Carly’s to apologize because he can’t get to a point where he’s as angry at her [as he feels she deserves] because he still loves her. And he knows that Carly is going to be able to, you know, yell at Nina and do all the things that he thinks that she, I guess, deserves. So when Nina go to Carly’s, Drew’s there and there’s fireworks and we have a heated exchange. And then it gets to a point where Nina gets angry again because there’s no real communicating between Nina and Carly; there’s no real understanding. So it gets very frustrating, I think, for Nina. And that’s when Nina finds out that Bobbie died. And so that just adds on to the feeling of, ‘Oh my God, I came over here to confess something and I’m kind of stabbing her in her heart when her heart is broken’. So, it’s another sort of misstep on Nina’s part. But she didn’t know about Bobbie, and she even says those lines: ‘Well, I didn’t know!’ ”
Playing out all that drama, says Watros, “was satisfying, absolutely. I love what the writers wrote for me and I love that Nina gets to navigate through all of these different relationships and emotions. It’s fun for an actor to do that. I mean, I’ve played good characters, or very pure characters, that never get themselves in trouble and that’s all fine and good, but when you get these complex, really sort of messy characters, that makes it fun to play. So, I feel very fortunate that I get to play Nina and that she’s kind of a mess [laughs]!”
The outing of the SEC secret leaves Nina at a crossroads where her marriage is concerned. “There’s no going back to Sonny right now,” Watros sighs. “He’s so angry. I don’t think that she feels like all hope is lost but she doesn’t know quite how to go forward or if there is a path to getting the relationship back. It really is all in Sonny’s hands. I mean, it’s up to him. They’re both still wearing their wedding rings. So there is a glimmer of hope. But what that path is, um, she doesn’t know. She’s just kind of living day by day right now.”
Another key relationship in Nina’s life that has been severely impacted by the truth being revealed is the one she was forging with her daughter, Willow. “It’s devastating,” Watros declares. “I think losing Willow — and losing Wiley and Amelia — is absolutely devastating. I think right now she’s in sort of a bit of denial and maybe not looking at it 100% because it is so painful, and so and she’s distracting herself with other things.” Moving forward, Watros reveals, “Every time Willow is in the room, or if Wiley and Amelia are in the room, her heart breaks. I made a conscious choice that if Willow is around, Nina’s eyes soften and her heart just melts. No matter where they are in a relationship, that’s her Achilles’ heel. [Being a mother to Willow] is what she wants more than anything and she makes a lot of mistakes and she’s flawed and we could go on and on, but I think Nina would be a great mother. I think that in her heart, she’s very loving and compassionate and wants to do the right thing. But she’s, you know — human!”
All in all, “I like the tiny shift that Nina is in at the moment,” Watros says. “Sort of the whole world — or at least the whole town of Port Charles — is against Nina, except for Ava. And Sasha is still one of Nina’s friends. But really, she is on her own and she’s losing people and things left and right. And so she’s finding a new strength inside of herself that was always there. I think it was kind of hidden in a corner but she’s going to let that show a little bit more, and I’m really enjoying that, because when you lose things, sometimes it can make you weaker — but I think in Nina’s case, it makes her stronger and more resilient.”
