General Hospital Exclusive: Head Writers Preview Tristan, Serena, Scout and More New Characters
General Hospital is introducing a number of new faces in July — and Head Writers Elizabeth Korte and Chris Van Etten gave Soap Opera Digest an exclusive sneak peek at what viewers can expect when they arrive! From the recasts of Serena Baldwin and Scout Cain to the arrivals of Dr. Tristan Roberts and Hudson, read on for the exclusive inside scoop on the latest residents of Port Charles.
Tristan Roberts
Dean Geyer will debut soon as Tristan Roberts, an Australian doctor whose name is an homage to late GH legend Tristan Rogers, who played Robert Scorpio. Korte and Van Etten reveal, “Tristan is an accomplished surgeon, witty and unflappable. He arrives in town seeking a fresh start with a new job at the hospital.”
However, Tristan is going to find that easier said than done. The writers tease that for Dr. Roberts, “a clean break with his past will prove difficult when he discovers his adopted home is host to more than a few connections to a life he left behind.”
While Korte and Van Etten did not say whether the life he left behind was in Australia or somewhere else, there are multiple players already on the show with ties to the land Down Under. Ethan Lovett (Nathan Dean), the son of Luke Spencer (Anthony Geary) and Holly Sutton (Emma Samms), was raised there by an Australian couple. Emma Scorpio-Drake (Braedyn Bruner) is the granddaughter of Aussie Robert Scorpio. And Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy) is the daughter of Jasper “Jax” Jacks (Ingo Rademacher), who is a born and bred Australian.
In the exclusive summer preview that Korte and Van Etten gave to Digest, they also divulged that Britt (Kelly Thiebaud) and Tristan get off “on the wrong foot.” Will this just present a fresh workplace conflict for Britt to navigate — or might it be the start of an enemies-to-lovers arc?
Scout Cain
While GH watchers are very familiar with the character of Scout, the new actress playing her, Kayden Brenna Tokarski, will be ushering in a new era for the character, who is being aged up several years.
Tokarski’s Scout will take after her parents, the late heroine Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco) and the devious Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison), in key ways. “A more mature Scout will hit the canvas bearing her mother’s grit, her father’s cunning, and a mind all her own,” tease Korte and Van Etten.
Scout is in the throes of a challenging family situation given the ongoing tension between her father and Sam’s family — Scout’s grandmother, Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn), her aunt, Molly (Kristen Vaganos) and her brother, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn). “She’s determined to balance her love for Drew with her love for the Davises, but especially her love for her cherished big brother, Danny,” Korte and Van Etten explain.
And her greater family ties will play a huge role in her upcoming storyline, they hint. “She’s the scion of two storied families, the Quatermaines and Davises/Cassadines,” the writers point out. “And that will put her in the middle of a war drawing in characters of all ages from across the canvas.”
Serena Baldwin
Serena Baldwin was born on the show in 1993. The biological daughter of Scott Baldwin (Kin Shriner) and the late Dominique Stanton (Shell Danielson), Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) gave birth to her as a surrogate for Dom, who had been diagnosed with a fatal brain tumor. Alongside Scott and Lucy, she later became a mainstay on the GH spinoff Port Charles, which premiered in 1997. Carly Schroeder played her as a child and reprised the role briefly in 2017, when Serena came home after the passing of her grandfather, Lee Baldwin (Peter Hansen).
Now, almost a decade after her last appearance, Serena is returning to Port Charles and will be played by The Young and the Restless alum Kelly Kruger (ex-Mac). So what prompts her homecoming?
“Trouble at Deception means it’s Lucy’s hour of need — and it is none other than her beloved daughter who heeds the call,” Korte and Van Etten say.
But Serena has reasons of her own for seeking the comfort of home. “Serena has been traveling the world fighting the good fight for animals and the ecosystem, but a personal setback means a reunion with her mother couldn’t come at a better time,” the writers explain. “She comes to Port Charles to help her mother but also to lick her own wounds and regroup.”
Viewers can expect to see streaks of her parents in Serena. The writers report, “Serena is all heart – but when Lucy aims her at the Quartermaines, we’ll see she’s also plenty conniving. When it comes to Coes and Baldwins, the scheming gene doesn’t skip a generation.”
Hudson
In just a few weeks, Troy Lennon Appel will hit the screen in the contract role of businessman Hudson. “A mysterious stranger will hit the town as July comes to a close,” Korte and Van Etten say. “Hudson is hot on the trail of a certain Port Charles resident, and nothing and no one will stop him from getting what he wants.”
Miller & Davis Makes a New Hire
With their law business booming, the partners of Miller & Davis need some support. “Alexis [Nancy Lee Grahn] and Diane [Carolyn Hennesy] are drowning in billable hours and bring on an associate to help manage the workload,” Korte and Van Etten tell Digest. “But their new hire may be the source of many new headaches for some on the canvas…”
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