General Hospital’s Kayden Brenna Tokarski Opens Up About Becoming Scout Cain (Exclusive)

The new Scout Cain on General Hospital, Kayden Brenna Tokarski, makes her debut in the July 20th episode. Tokarski chatted with Soap Opera Digest about landing the role, her take on the character and the co-star who got her through her first day.

Kayden Brenna Tokarski’s Path to General Hospital

Tokarski, who is 16, started acting professionally 6 years ago, but she’s known since she was little that it was her passion. “I used to watch TV with my mom and tell her, ‘Please, I really want to do this.’ But it took many years for my parents to cave — which I don’t blame them for, because no one in my family is in the industry and you hear so many stories about child actors. Plus, it’s a lot to sacrifice on their end, too. So it took some convincing.”

Seeing her in a school play “was the turning point,” Tokarski says. “I think that’s when they saw my passion for performing and they realized, ‘Okay, she’s really serious about this, let’s give her a shot.'”

The actress says that being on GH “was always a dream of mine,” and she had auditioned for the show’s casting director, Mark Teschner, several times in the past. When the opportunity to play Scout arose, she submitted a self-taped audition while filming a movie in Arizona. Soon, she got word that she’d landed a session with producers. “I was just blown away,” she recalls. “And it happened to fall on a week where my mom and I were coming back to California from Arizona for a few days, so the stars truly aligned.”

Needless to say, the session went well. “Those scenarios are pretty nerve-wracking, but I just felt something different in that room,” she reflects. “I truly felt alive, and I came out of the room feeling so wonderful. Within the next hour, I found out that I booked the part — and I instantly started bawling my eyes out. I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. I mean, I’m still pinching myself to this moment!”

Becoming Scout Cain

Being on the show meant so much to Tokarski because she grew up in a GH household. “My mom watched it with her mom and I watched it with my mom,” she notes. “It’s such a full-circle moment, going from being a fan of the show to being on it!”

As a GH watcher, she of course understands Scout’s place in the show’s history as the daughter of the beloved Sam McCall (Kelly Monaco). “I know that the fans truly love Scout so much, and I watched the episode of her tragic passing a few years ago… That episode hit really hard.”

Does she see Scout as a mini-me of Sam? “I think Scout is her own person,” she says. “But I do think there are many similarities. I think she’s a strong fighter, and I think she is smart and funny.”

The actress understands that fans may need a period of adjustment to get used to an older Scout. “I know that this age-up and recast was shocking to many,” she acknowledges. “I think many people are concerned that she’s going to be very bratty, but I think just the opposite — I think she’s a lovely teenager who’s navigating a lot of things in life, but she’s a problem-solver and always trying to keep the peace and help others.”

Adds Tokarski, “I truly hope that people enjoy watching Scout’s storyline and seeing some new relationships in her life that are a little more grown-up.”

Finding Her Place at GH

When Tokarski reported to the studio on her first day at GH, “Katelyn MacMullen [Willow] was the first person I met,” she says of her on-screen stepmother. “I was so nervous on day one, so overwhelmed with so many things, and I’m so lucky that Katey is who I was working with. She was so wonderful to me. I asked her a million questions and she said, ‘Please, ask me more!'”

While she’s definitely gotten more comfortable on set since then, Tokarski says MacMullen played a huge role in easing her first-day jitters. “I feel like I owe everything to Katey,” Tokarski muses. “Everyone here is wonderful, but she was my starting point and she really was a breath of fresh air. I don’t know what I would have done that first day if it wasn’t for her!”

She’s also a huge fan of her on-screen dad, Cameron Mathison (Drew). “Cameron is one of the most positive masculine figures I have ever worked with in my entire career,” she praises. “He’s not only such a professional, but he really cares — he’s always checking in on me, always making sure I’m okay, always letting me know, ‘Hey, if you need anything, I’m here. He gives me those really great ‘girl dad’ vibes and I just love working with him.”