Courtesy of Scarlett Fernandez/Instagram
Fans were really excited when you returned as Charlotte in July. What did that mean to you? “It was definitely encouraging because I wondered how the fans would feel. I didn’t know if they would be happy that I was back, so it felt good that they were excited to see me.”
Were you nervous at all about coming back to the show? “Before I came back, I was a little worried, wondering if maybe things had changed a lot. But when I got there, it very felt familiar and comfortable right away.”
What was your reunion with James Patrick Stuart (Valentin) like? “We had such a nice reunion. He was always one of my favorite people to work with and it was so great to see him and give him a hug.”
You’ve been doing an incredible job playing Charlotte as her troubled psyche has become a focal point of drama. Do you watch your scenes? “Most of them, yeah.”
Well, what did you think of all the intense stuff surrounding Halloween and Charlotte’s shooting? “I thought they did it was really cool. The music was really cool, and Finola’s [Hughes, Anna] scenes were really good.”
What does it mean to you that the show clearly believes in your abilities as an actress and has trusted you with this challenging material to play? “It’s definitely an honor because when I was little, I was getting storylines, but this is just crazy! I kind of feel like I’m treated like an adult on the show now, almost, and it’s just been great. I’ve been given great stuff and the fact that Frank and all of his co-workers have trusted me has just been an amazing feeling.”
Tell me about like the dynamic between you and Finola when you’re working together and you’re playing the intense emotions your character feels toward her character. Do you joke around to ease the tension? “Definitely when we see each other on set, we keep it light and obviously we don’t hate each other or anything. But when we’re in the scenes, we definitely try to keep it real, but she has multiple times come up to me, like, ‘I would never do that to you!’ Like, ‘Trust me, it, it’s just what I’m saying [as Anna].’ She makes sure to reassure me and let me know that that is just Anna, not Finola!”
Disney/Christine Bartolucci
Icon Status: Fernandez raves that working with GH grandmother Genie Francis (Laura) “has helped me in my acting as well.”
So, we’re entering a point in the story where Laura and Valentin are pretty confident that it’s Victor’s fault that Charlotte believes as strongly as she does that Anna is a threat. Of course, Charlotte doesn’t see it that way. Is Charlotte aware that the people in her orbit don’t necessarily think she’s being truthful? “I think that she definitely realizes that the people around her don’t believe her and don’t trust her and I think that really frustrates her because she completely believes that Anna is out to get her. So that [the adults in her life don’t believe her] is hard for her.”
You have had some adorable on-screen moments with Hudson West (Jake). Do you think Charlotte is using Jake or does she have some real feelings growing? “I think it’s definitely a little bit of both. I think that maybe she and Jake are partners-in-crime, but I also think that Jake has or will have a good influence on her. She just really needs someone to be there for her and for her to be able to confide in and I think that he has been that. I love working with Hudson. We’ve been friends for a long time. We started around the same time and we’re good friends. I love working with all the kids on the show.”
Speaking of which, you were only 7 when you started on the show back in 2016. Do you remember things like all the different dads — Nathan, Griffin — you had on the show in the beginning? “Yes. I was actually watching clips a few nights of when I was little and all the different stories. But when I was little, I got really confused by the storyline in general, and so mom wrote out all of the different characters and dads. Like, there’s a sheet of paper that says, ‘Who is my dad?’ And it was all of the dads, with pictures, too, so I could get it in my head, like, who they were.”
JPI
My How You’ve Grown: Fernandez in a 2017 scene opposite James Patrick Stuart (Valentin).
What was the process for learning your lines back then and how does that differ now that you’re older and obviously have a lot more dialogue? “I think the process has pretty much stayed the same. I would read over it and I kinda got lucky enough where I could just read it the night before and then when I woke up in the morning I pretty much knew them. So I feel like I got really lucky with that, but it’s just changed over time with more of the emotional stuff. Like, before it was like, ‘Papa!’ — just small things that didn’t really need, much emotion. So that has changed. But I feel like figuring out who Charlotte is and what she’s feeling.”
Is it hard juggling work and school? “Well, I live in Idaho, and when I’m there I do school and soccer and spend time with my friends, and when when I’m in L.A. [to shoot GH], I work and do three hours of school a day. So, it’s a lot, but it’s a lot of fun.”
When I interviewed James Patrick Stuart recently, I asked him if he thought it was Valentin’s fault that Charlotte got shot and he said, absolutely. What do you think? “I think definitely he has a part [in it] — obviously not James, but Valentin, definitely. All of the people around her have played a part, you know? She’s honestly just been tossed around ever since she was little. And I think that has just played a big part in how she’s feeling and all the emotions built up. I Valentin is definitely a part of it, but I think all the people around her have not been great.”
