General Hospital’s Amanda Setton On The Lulu Slap: ‘Go, Brook Lynn!’ (Exclusive)
Since Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) and Gio (Giovanni Mazza) learned that they are mother and son on General Hospital, the vibes haven’t exactly been warm and fuzzy, as Gio has put up an emotional wall where his biological mother is concerned. And while Brook Lynn is furious with her mother, Lois (Rena Sofer), and grandmother Gloria for keeping the truth from her for 22 years, she has a good deal of righteous anger reserved for another player in the saga: Lulu (Alexa Havins), who went digging into Brook Lynn’s past and was inadvertently responsible for Gio finding out about his true parentage during the Nurses’ Ball.
All’s Fair In Love And War?
The tension between the women has only skyrocketed since the ball — so much so that Brook Lynn seems to be adopting an “eye for an eye” strategy and seeking to use the unusual circumstances under which Lulu’s son Rocco was born as ammunition against her enemy. Brook Lynn’s portrayer, Amanda Setton, tells Soap Opera Digest that she couldn’t ask for a better on-screen rival than Alexa Havins. “I love Alexa,” the actress beams. “She is amazing. She has been such an incredible addition to the show and we have a ball together. We just have so much fun playing this feisty conflict!”
In Setton’s view, no one can blame Brook Lynn for taking issue with Lulu’s behavior. “Lulu has been relentless!” the actress proclaims. “And Brook Lynn is pissed. She is at her wit’s end!” If it wasn’t already, that much became pretty clear to viewers during the Monday, June 16 episode, when Brook Lynn slapped Lulu across the face! “She honestly got to a point where she just can’t take it anymore,” Setton explains. “So then she freaked.”
While Brook Lynn’s own moral track record is far from squeaky clean, “I think that the best part of this storyline is that we’ve seen the true growth in Brooklyn over the last almost six years that she’s been back in town,” the actress says. “We’ve seen her evolve from this, like, bitchy, bratty, selfish, self-involved individual into a more well-rounded, compassionate, maternal, empathetic human being. And I think we’ve been able to see that drastic shift even more pronounced with Lulu waking up from her coma.”
Having been unconscious for roughly four years, “Lulu missed this growth,” Setton points out. “And so she is still playing in a world where Brook Lynn is [a jerk], is just this selfish woman. Brook Lynn has tried over and over and over to get through to Lulu and reach her and connect with her — like, ‘It’s all good now, I’ve changed’ — and then detach from her — ‘You do you, I’m gonna do me.’ But she’s been relentless, like I said, and she just won’t [let it go]. So, to have the person to unveil the secret — to go digging in her past and hurt her son and blow up her life the way that it has — be Lulu makes it that much worse because we’ve seen Brook Lynn really, really try with her and it’s just falling on deaf ears over and over again. She’s been like a villain on a crusade, is how it’s felt for Brook Lynn.
“And so here we are,” Setton continues. “And yeah, of course, Lulu cares about the father of her child [Rocco] and she’s still in love with Dante and wants him to know the truth, and she has a son who is Gio’s brother — I can totally, as a viewer, see her perspective. But for Brook Lynn? She is just like, ‘Mind your business!’ And the fact that she didn’t, and blew it up in what turned out to be such a public way… I mean, Maxie gave Lulu and Brook Lynn an opportunity to make up, and Brook Lynn is resistant and Lulu is resistant, and finally Brook Lynn is the bigger person and says, ‘You know what? I understand, and for the sake of the kids, Gio and Rocco, I am willing to move past this all and accept your apology,’ and she refuses to apologize! So,” the actress chuckles, “that’s why [Brook Lynn slapped her]. This isn’t just coming out nowhere! It has to be prefaced with all of that stuff where she has tried and tried and grown and evolved and communicated and begged her, basically on her knees, with tears, ‘Leave me alone, please don’t do this!’ She begged her multiple times and she does it anyway. She gives her an opportunity to apologize and she doesn’t, and then she says something really hurtful and Brook Lynn snaps. And as a viewer, I’m a little bit like, ‘Go, Brook Lynn [laughs]!’ ”
Where the characters’ conflict is concerned, are you Team Brook Lynn or Team Lulu? Let us know in the comments below!
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