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Fans of General Hospital’s Rick Hearst were ecstatic to hear he was making another daytime comeback and now that his character has reconnected with some of the people from his past, you never know how things may go for Ric from here. However, did you know that back in the day, that the actor almost “married” Cynthia Watros (Nina)?
Well, not exactly the actor but another one of his daytime personas. Hearst recently chatted with Soap Opera Digest and recalled his time spent on Guiding Light where he played Alan-Michael Spaulding and Watros portrayed Annie Dutton, to which she won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress. And though Alan-Michael and Annie were never involved romantically, Watros initially screen-tested for the role of Lucy, who ended up marrying Hearst’s character.
“Here’s how I remember Cynthia. I think I have to remind her of this, as well, but she actually screen-tested for the part of Lucy,” Hearst stated. “When Cynthia came in for that audition, I just marveled at her because there was such an incredible depth to her performance. You know, she’s a very trained actor, and it was like she took it on as a Shakespearean role and was so involved. I loved what she did.”
However, the actor explained that it “was not the direction that they wanted to go in with Lucy,” who ended up being played by Sonia Satra. When Watros did land the role of Annie the following year, Hearst couldn’t have been happier because he knew she was “going to be a freaking powerhouse!”
Now, years later, the stars have crossed paths again on General Hospital and though Watros hadn’t been playing the character when Ric forced Nina (then played by Michelle Stafford, Young & Restless’ Phyllis) into a quickie marriage, to con her out of her fortune, the stars get to work together now and play off their past as exes.
“I absolutely love working with her… This is genuinely the first time I’ve had that opportunity to work with Cynthia and she is phenomenal,” he expressed and talked about how she’s an “incredible listener and goes with the moment of a scene while, at the same time, having a completely full point of view from her character’s standpoint.”
And we’ve absolutely loved watching them interact and can’t wait to see if maybe, just maybe, something more will come from their sordid past.
