General Hospital Star Cynthia Watros Explains The Tragic Motivation Behind Nina's Impulses
Nina Reeves (Cynthia Watros) was astonished when Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) proposed to her on "General Hospital." At first, she thought he was only doing it to make her feel better because of her endless feud with her daughter, Willow Tait (Katelyn MacMullen). She assumed it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, but when he produced a ring that he had made especially for her, she was floored. Sonny has forgiven Nina for many of her bad decisions, however, he's currently unaware that she made an impulsive choice to inform the SEC that his ex-wife Carly Spencer (Laura Wright), had participated in insider trading. Nina is in a quandary because Sonny may not forgive her this time if the truth comes out.
This wasn't the only impulsive choice she's ever made. After coming out of a 20-year coma in 2014, Nina had a psychotic break, and it took her a while to recover. As Soap Hub analyzes, Nina's skill at constantly making spontaneous decisions that might not always be the best stems from not having been able to grow as a person while in the coma. Shortly after waking, she forced a pregnant Ava Jerome (Maura West) to give birth and stole the baby for a short time, and in 2021 she withheld the truth from Sonny's family that he was alive when they believed him to be dead for months, among a litany of other questionable acts.
Watros recently opened up about how she factors in Nina's history when she's portraying the character.
Playing Nina takes an emotional toll on Cynthia Watros
Soap Hub recently reported on a "General Hospital" fan event where actress Cynthia Watros discussed what makes Nina so impulsive. She stated that she incorporates the fact that Nina had been in a coma for 20 years into her portrayal, describing her development as "stunted." She explained, "She's very intelligent, and she's a businesswoman. She does all these things, but there's a little girl inside. I touch upon that with Nina because she didn't quite develop the way someone who wasn't in a coma would necessarily develop, you know, and her big emotions around kids is because she was pregnant [at the time of her coma]." Nina gave birth while in the coma, and her mother stole her twin daughters and sold them.
Watros further explained that because Nina didn't have her children, it created a hole in her life, and that's her major vulnerability. Nina is very impulsive, as Watros states, because "When she feels like she's trapped or pushed into a corner or feels like she was attacked, she'll lash out as a child would do." Watros admitted that playing emotional scenes on a regular basis affects her in real life. She cited one time when she was crying uncontrollably and nearing a panic attack on set when executive producer Frank Valentini found her and talked her through it.
Despite the emotional toll, Watros enthused, "I'm really happy with what the writers give me. They give me a lot of really interesting things."