General Hospital’s Amanda Setton Reacts to First Daytime Emmy Nomination: ‘I’m Floating!’ (Excl)
General Hospital star Amanda Setton is celebrating her first Daytime Emmy nomination. The actress, who made her Port Charles debut as Brook Lynn Quartermaine in 2019, is up for Outstanding Supporting Actress for the emotional 2025 arc about Brook Lynn discovering that her mother, Lois (Rena Sofer), had lied to her about the identity and fate of the son she gave up for adoption, Rocco (Giovanni Mazza). Setton opened up to Soap Opera Digest about her career milestone.
Amanda Setton Reflects on Daytime Emmy-Nominated Story
Setton got the exciting news from GH Executive Producer Frank Valentini. “It was just the best call ever,” she smiles. “I’m just so grateful to Frank, all the producers and the crew, and especially to the writers of the Gio storyline. It was so impeccable; it was really a chef’s-kiss moment, those scenes I had with Rena, and you can’t play it if it’s not on the page, so they really deserve all the credit.”
That story reached its climax at the Nurses’ Ball and was hailed by fans and critics alike as one of the highlights of 2025. “They wrote such an amazing payoff at the Nurses’ Ball,” notes Setton. “Sometimes, with storylines, it doesn’t pay off — and this one did.”
The actress was hiking with her husband when the call from Valentini came in, and learning of her nomination brought “tremendous peace and fulfillment. It just feels like such palpable and tangible recognition. Whether I win or lose, just to be recognized for such an emotionally bare, vulnerable storyline feels so rewarding. I really left it all on the table with that storyline, and it feels that much more meaningful to know that the performance did what I hoped it would, which was move people.”
Her son on the show, Giovanni Mazza, also earned a nomination for the story, in the Outstanding Emerging Talent category. “Gio called me with Braedyn Bruner [Emma, who was nominated for Outstanding Emerging Talent as well] on FaceTime. They were screaming, they were so excited. I’m so proud of them and so happy for them. They’re two amazing kiddos who have worked so hard and done such a great job and deserve again deserve all the recognition coming to them. And I’m so grateful that Gio and I get to share this moment together for our storyline.”
Setton credits GH Producer Michelle Henry with helping her craft the reel that secured her nomination. “It was really important to her and to Frank that I tell a story on the reel, the story of the whole Gio arc,” she explains. “So I included the scenes with Alexa Havins [Lulu] where Brook Lynn first finds out that she knows Brook Lynn had a baby that she gave up for adoption and that the baby was a boy and Brook Lynn is begging her not to tell Dante [Dominic Zamprogna]. Then it moves into finding out that Gio is her son and Brook Lynn’s scenes with Lois, and it ends with a scene between Brook Lynn and Gio in the kitchen where I’m like, ‘We can work through this,’ and he’s like, ‘No, we can’t,’ and he walks away.”
She felt confident about what she submitted, but awaiting the announcement of the nominations, “I was nervous,” she admits. “I said to my husband the night before, ‘I’m apprehensive!’ Dare I say, I did want it. I mean, who submits and doesn’t want it [laughs]?! But it’s because I loved the storyline so much and I was so humbled to be trusted with playing it. I really did give it my all. I put my heart and soul into it.”
Setton’s heart and soul got many boosts as nomination day continued and congratulatory calls and texts poured in. She heard from producers, directors, editors, and, of course, her co-stars. “One of my first FaceTimes was from Josh [Swickard, Chase, her leading man],” she shares. “Jane Elliot [Tracy], who is one of my besties, and Katelyn MacMullen [Willow] and Cynthia Watros [Nina] and Maura West [Ava] all reached out. Nancy Lee Grahn [Alexis] called me, Steve Burton [Jason] reached out … It was just amazing. It’s such a family at GH and everyone is so supportive and loving. It’s really a beautiful thing.”
All in all, “I feel like I’m floating,” Setton says. “This whole job, in a really positive way, is like two feet on the ground: I go to work, I grind it out, I get to work with an amazing cast and crew, an amazing boss, amazing writers. And now this?! It just feels like a really big hug and a, ‘Great job, Kiddo.’ It just feels like the icing on the cake.”
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