GH Exclusive: Colin Cassidy On Becoming Aiden, On-Screen Mom Rebecca Herbst And More

Last October, Colin Cassidy assumed the role of Aiden Spencer on General Hospital, his first-ever role in the fast-paced world of daytime.

To hear him tell it, it came as no surprise to his parents that he chose a career in the arts. “I’ve been acting pretty much my whole life,” says Cassidy, who grew up in Rhode Island. “Since I was, like, 2 years old, my mom just knew that I was going to be an entertainer, so she threw me into my first play, The Music Man, when I was 5 years old. And then from there, I did all the school productions in elementary, middle, high school.”

The Road To Port Charles

He got serious about pursuing acting professionally shortly thereafter. “When I graduated high school, I decided that it was time to kind of step up and take it to the next level. And I figured L A was the place to do that, so then I moved out here.” That was in 2021, and when he headed West, he did so with his parents’ blessing. “My parents have always been very supportive,” he smiles. “Like I said, my mom got me into it at a very early age and I did plays growing up, and then when was time to start looking into colleges and stuff, I was mostly looking in the creative fields. I was never really interested in anything else, and they’ve never showed an ounce of being unsupportive of it. It was always, ‘Whatever. you want, whatever you feel like going after, just go after it.’ And that was really amazing for me, because I just felt like the world was my oyster, and I could go after whatever I wanted.”

His audition for Aiden was Cassidy’s first time trying out for a soap role, “and it’s probably one of the biggest auditions I’ve ever had,” he notes. “I really was starting off very, very small, just trying to get any roles, really, to build up a tape [for casting directors] and kind of establish myself and get some practice. I just got very lucky with this one, and I made sure I was prepared for it. Most first auditions are self-tape nowadays, and I knew this was a big deal, so I wanted to treat it with a special kind of attention.” To that end, he worked with an acting coach on the tape he sent in to Mark Teschner, GH’s casting director.

“I was feeling good about it,” he continues, “and then I didn’t hear anything back for a while.” When he finally heard he had landed a callback, “I wasn’t expecting it at all! I was very excited. I was like, ‘Wow, all right, let’s do this!’ I went into the in-person audition excited, nervous, trying to do my best. Mark Teschner was there for the callback, and Frank [Valentini, executive producer] was there, and it was very daunting at first because I walked in and there were like 10 other kids who looked just like me. I was like, ‘How do I stand out?’ But I just went in, stuck to my training, tried to be as personable as I could and just get the job done.”

Despite this, “I remember getting out of the callback and not feeling good about it. I mean, I always doubt myself, but I remember riding back home and I was like, ‘All right, I’m gonna have to go get my day job back.’ And then I got a call from my manager on my way home and he told me otherwise! That was an incredible moment, because I was literally on my way to my restaurant job to be like, ‘So, can I get back on the schedule?’ ”

He immediately called his folks with the good news. “They knew I had the callback, and we all kind of had a good feeling about it,” he recalls. “We had, I don’t know, an intuition. So when I called them and confirmed that I got [the part], there was just a lot of screaming and happiness and crying. It was a joyous thing, very celebratory.”

On his first day of work on GH, Cassidy had the pleasure of working alongside his on-screen mom, Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth). He says, “The first day I’m coming onto set, obviously I’m nervous, I’m trying to do my best and not mess up. Becky came right up to me and very calmly, very professionally, very lovingly, showed me the ropes of what it means to work on a soap. She guided me through the whole process, from blocking and rehearsals to where to go for hair and makeup. She was just incredibly helpful with all of that, and that’s just huge to a new actor who’s coming in not knowing what to expect, not really having any idea of what’s going on. She really was like a motherly figure guiding me through my first day on set, and I can’t thank her enough for that.”

Cassidy found it easy to connect with Herbst as mother and son on screen. “I had researched a little bit before watching the other actors to see how they played [Aiden and his relationship with Liz]. But obviously, my portrayal is naturally going to be a little different. I felt like it was more just about creating that real relationship with Becky, and then that would come out naturally in our scenes. I feel like what we [shared] in the beginning was very important in building that relationship and I think it’ll only grow stronger and deeper the more we do it. I think every time we share scenes, it just gets better.”

Behind the scenes, the actor has also found support from other cast members. “Gio [Mazza, Gio] is really cool to talk to and hear about his experiences with [the show],” Cassidy enthuses. “He’s very supportive; he told me that he had seen some of my scenes and that I was doing good. I appreciate him saying that and making me feel welcomed and comfortable. Katelyn [MacMullen], who plays Willow, was also just incredible and really helped me. I think she could tell I was kind of stressing out in my [dressing] room one day and she was just reminding me that I can do it and that I was doing a good job. She was very reassuring. It’s really such an amazing cast and crew; everyone there is really incredible.”

While he’s settling in to the role well, there is one aspect he has to fake in his portrayal of Aiden. “I need to step up my baking game,” he admits. “I’m definitely not at the level that Aiden is with baking.” And he has a good excuse as to why. “Right now, my oven is broken. I’ve been wanting to bake, and I do like baking. I usually bake with my mom, so since being in L.A., I haven’t baked much. So I think I gotta get my oven fixed ASAP!”

Party Of Five: Cassidy on the set late last year with (from l.) Jonathan Jackson (Lucky), Indi Star (Gretchen), William Lipton (Cameron) and Rebecca Herbst (Elizabeth).