In 1979, Melody Thomas Scott made her Young and Restless debut as Nikki Reed, a role she assumed from Erica Hope. In 2019, the actress told Soap Opera Digest, “I actually don’t remember my first day, but I remember the talent test I did a few days before. I remember being very cavalier about the whole thing as I had gotten a regular role on an NBC pilot for a sitcom in the same week. Knowing what a frustrated comedienne I am, I’m sure you can understand my preference of choosing the sitcom over the soap. And not just a soap, but a soap that I had never seen even one episode of in my life.” She was ultimately persuaded by her representation to sign with Y&R. Smiled Thomas Scott, “I was happy that fate and my agent had stepped in to lead me to what proved to be the best decision of my life.”
In 1989, Days of Our Lives‘s Eve Donovan (Charlotte Ross) encountered a masked man, unaware that he was her presumed-dead former pimp/love interest, Nick Corelli (George Jenesky). He had been in a catastrophic car accident that resulted in the vehicle’s explosion and had been hiding out in a deserted mansion and Eve had inherited his estate, leading her to be kidnapped by a louse named Eddie. The masked “stranger” helped rescue her.
In 2003, Greg Vaughan assumed the role of Lucky Spencer on General Hospital. The part had been previously played by Jonathan Jackson and Jacob Young. Vaughan, who had one soap credit under his belt at the time of his hiring (he played Diego Guittierez on Young and Restless), recalled to Soap Opera Digest in 2023, “I was finishing up my arc on [Y&R]. I got a call from my team saying, ‘General Hospital is looking for a new actor for this role. It wasn’t disclosed what the role will be, you’re going to go straight to test.’ So on that Monday, after work, I went to GH for my audition, and then upon completion at Y&R on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I got the call that I got the job! Power of prayer! Never second-guess what’s in store when one door closes and another one opens.”
In 2019, Sydney Mikayla assumed the role of Trina Robinson on General Hospital. Tiana Le had played the role before her, from 2017-18. In 2020, Mikayla recalled to Soap Opera Digest that when she first auditioned for the part, “I just kind of went in and made the character similar to myself. I could tell she was just kind of written as your everyday teen; I was like, ‘I’m just gonna make Trina as much like Sydney as possible because I can see how the writers want her to be just portrayed as just a realistic girl.’ ” Three weeks later, she still hadn’t heard anything, “But then I got a callback and I felt really good about it, and Frank [Valentini, executive producer] was like, ‘Wow, you’re a really amazing actress.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, thank you!’ And later that day they told me I got the role.”
In 2023, Spencer Cassadine (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) and Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali) shared their first kiss on General Hospital. The long-awaited buss took place at the Jerome Gallery, as Spencer attempted to console Trina, who was reeling from the realization that she might be the biological daughter of her new stepfather, Curtis Ashford, and not Marcus Taggert, who had raised her. She glumly told Spencer that she didn’t know who she was anymore, and he corrected her: “I know who you are … You’re blunt. Good god, you’re blunt…. But you’re big-hearted. You’re fair and you’re forgiving.” Then, to the joy of “Sprina” fans everywhere, their lips finally met.
