GH’s Kate Mansi Says Kristina ‘Knows That She’s Gone Too Far’ (Exclusive)

Disney/Ricky Middlesworth

Last month, an unhinged Kristina attempted to cut the brakes on Ava’s car on General Hospital, but accidentally sabotaged Ric’s vehicle instead, leading the father of her half sister Molly to crash his car with Elizabeth in the passenger seat. While everyone survived, Ava and Ric are now blackmailing Kristina’s mother, Alexis, with knowledge of her crime; Lucky is concealing the truth about Liz’s accident from his on-again lady love; and a guilt-ridden Kristina is trying to keep her secret under wraps. Soap Opera Digest checked in with Kristina’s portrayer, Kate Mansi, for her take on the multilayered storyline.

Them’s The Brakes

While Mansi was not given a heads-up by the powers-that-be at GH that Kristina was going to snap in this particular fashion, she says that it didn’t entirely surprise her. “I did not know in advance that this is the direction she was going in, but intuitively, all signs were kind of pointing there,” she acknowledges. “I could see the dark hole they were writing for her, with the loss of the baby [Irene, the child Kristina was carrying as a surrogate for Molly and TJ] being more than just PTSD and postpartum [depression].”

It’s been nearly a year since Kristina and Ava’s heated confrontation led to Kristina plunging out of Ava’s room at the Metro Court, which led to the baby’s demise — and Kristina is still holding Ava responsible, even though she was acquitted in a court of law. While the vendetta hasn’t been a positive development in Kristina’s life, for Mansi, it has a silver lining: the opportunity to continue to share scenes with Maura West (Ava). “I think Maura and I both love working together,” she smiles. “We love each other as people, and I always joke with her that I have to get out all my friendship moments with her before she goes through hair and makeup, because then she sort of transforms — and once she’s Ava, all bets are off!”

Kristina’s botched attempt on Ava’s life has also given Mansi the chance to work more with Rick Hearst (Ric) and Jonathan Jackson (Lucky). Of Hearst, she enthuses, “Rick is so great. I love working with him because he’s always so prepared. He’s always down to run lines and treats it like theater. He loves to rehearse, so that’s always really fun.”

As for the uptick in Lucky/Kristina interaction, Mansi exclaims, “That was such a nice surprise! It’s so funny; I was at a fan event recently and everyone kept being like, ‘Are they gonna hook up? What’s happening with their chemistry?’ I didn’t know that that was how [viewers] were perceiving things. But I do think that as people, we do have a good chemistry. [Jackson and I] are very good friends. That aspect of the story did sort of surprise us, but we both really enjoy each other and welcomed it. It’s been really nice to work with Jonathan. He’s very talented.”

Lucky taking steps to protect Kristina makes sense to Mansi, given the interconnections in the characters’ families. “His character feels so indebted, because of what [Kristina’s late sister] Sam has done for the family,” she points out, referencing Sam donating her liver to Lucky’s sister, Lulu. “And so that sort of allows him this protective loyalty over Sam’s sister. That is why he has this investment in Kristina’s well-being.”

Still, Lucky is risking an awful lot — namely, the trust he’s been rebuilding with Elizabeth — by keeping Kristina’s role in the accident a secret. Has Kristina given any thought to that? “Yes and no,” Mansi assesses. “I think that she is in such an impulsive spiral that she doesn’t quite like grasp things until the last second. But of course, she thinks of how incredible and gracious he has been to help her, and that’s followed by, ‘How lucky am I that he has been willing to help?’ ”

Lucky isn’t the only one going out on a limb to protect Kristina, of course — but at this point, Kristina has no idea just how much Alexis has been doing to keep her out of jail. Unaware that her mom not only knows what she did, but that Ric and Ava are using that information to blackmail Alexis, Kristina is outraged by Alexis’s recent attempt to institutionalize her. “She feels betrayed and disappointed,” Mansi sums up. “She’s really feeling very alone and abandoned and like she has to be, even more so, self-protective [around her mother].”

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Paper Trail: Kristina and Molly (Kristen Vaganos, r.) confronted Alexis with proof that their mom tried to have Kristina committed.

Last week, Kristina walked in on Ava and Ric putting the screws to Alexis, but the trio was successfully able to play it all off and not raise Kristina’s suspicions. Had she figured out what was really going on, Mansi says, “Kristina would have been blown away. She doesn’t know at this point that Ava has any power to blackmail Alexis, so I think that would have been an earth-shattering revelation.” One that Kristina would have appreciated, of course. “I think it would have meant something to her that Alexis had the foresight to protect Kristina’s relationship with her sister,” Mansi offers.

During her encounter with Ric and Ava at her mom’s house, Kristina told them that she wanted to make peace with them. “At that point, she is quite sincere about it,” the actress claims. “On some level, it is very self-serving, but she knows that she’s gone too far and at this point, [calling a truce] is something that she’s willing to do in order to save the more important relationship to her, which is the relationship with her sister and her family. That’s what Lucky has told her [to focus on], so that’s sort of what she’s hanging on to.”

But that’s easier said than done — as is Kristina keeping her story straight about her whereabouts on the night of Ric and Liz’s crash! As viewers saw on the Wednesday, May 14 episode, Kristina let a little too much slip while conversing with her big brother Dante. “She’s always sort of doing this dance of, ‘Uh-oh, I said that, I didn’t mean to!’ ” chuckles Mansi.

The actress feels that if Kristina had her druthers — and if somehow, confessing to what she did wouldn’t come with the potential loss not only of her freedom, but her relationship with Molly — she would just come clean, and likely to Dante, were it not for the fact that he’s a cop. “She would totally tell him and confide in him. They’re so close, and I think she would never tell her father [Sonny] because it’s too tricky with them, but for her, Dante would be the next best person.”

So, for now, Kristina is locked into the uncomfortable position of trying to move forward while carrying the weight of her secret. “I definitely think it’s a burden for her,” Mansi says. “She’s just feeling buried by all of this, you know? And the more buried she gets and the closer she is to being found out, the closer we get to this all blowing up somehow….”

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Explanation Necessary: Will Kristina’s slip of the tongue lead Dante (Dominic Zamprogna) to discover her role in Ric and Elizabeth’s accident?