General Hospital Star Sofia Mattsson Talks Sasha’s Emotional Journey

Sofia Mattsson and Johnny Wactor, General Hospital’s Sasha Gilmore and Brando Corbin, were thrown an incredibly poignant and emotional storyline late last year when horrific complications ensued following the birth of their son, Liam Michael. The actress spoke with Soap Hub about the challenging story.

Sofia Mattsson Talks Sasha’s Storyline

After Liam’s passing, Johnny Wactor (Brando) expressed his thoughts on the storyline in a series of tweets. Read on to learn about the highs, lows, challenges, and concerns Mattsson had. Will Sasha and Brando stay together? She also weighs in on that topic!

Soap Hub: How far ahead did you know the outcome where baby Liam would be taken off life support? Did you prefer to know the ending ahead of time or take it day by day or script by script?
Sofia Mattsson: The writers and producers were very respectful and sensitive to the fact that I was pregnant in real life, and gave me plenty of advance notice about where the storyline was heading. I knew that the baby wouldn’t survive for months, pretty much from the moment Sasha became pregnant. I did not however know the details of how or why it would happen until a week or so in advance. I also prefer it that way, to keep all the feelings as fresh as possible. It was so heartbreaking to read each script around that time and hit me way harder than I could’ve imagined.

GH Fan Support Supreme

Soap Hub: The outpouring of support on social media was substantial; how did that make you feel?
Sofia Mattsson: I feel so overwhelmed with gratitude and so happy for all the wonderful support. I really poured my soul into this storyline and it was a really tough one to live through. And I’m glad to know that we were able to tell Liam’s story to the world and make it heard. Even though he’s a fictional character, he (or what he represents) has become very real to me, and I wanted to do his story justice.

Soap Hub: Some posters were genuinely concerned about what it was like for you having to play out Liam’s story while being a brand new mom yourself (congratulations!); how did their concern make you feel? And how did you handle it?
Sofia Mattsson: Thank you! I’m very appreciative of all the concern. And honestly, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I’m always one to embrace challenges and was determined to not let the story impact my personal life. It’s important to separate work from real life. But at the end of the day, with a son at home very close in age to what Liam would’ve been, it hit me harder than I could prevent. Some days I would cry the whole car ride home until I got to come home and hug my son! But even then, my heart was still breaking for all the people who go through events like that in real life.

Soap Hub: Sasha and Brando were prepared to move in together and raise their child; both of them so wanted to be parents — how do you like working with Johnny Wactor?
Sofia Mattsson: [Johnny’s] amazing and I absolutely love working with him. He’s always prepared and takes his work very seriously. And he’s so supportive and fun to be around. I’m very lucky!

Sofia Mattsson Addresses the Timing of Liam’s Death

Soap Hub: Some viewers were especially upset that this story took place at Christmas time; but had it happened at any time it would have had the same impact. Thoughts?
Sofia Mattsson: I completely understand that. Christmas is for many a time that should be relaxing and joyful. But at the same time, this storyline really reminded me of the importance of holding your loved ones close and not taking a day together for granted, which could be a good reminder during Christmas as it’s often a good opportunity to connect. Plus, I think it can be good to acknowledge the sad reality that the people who go through heartbreaks like this in real life can’t pick the time it happens, Christmas included.

Soap Hub: Fans have really fallen for Sasha and Brando as a result of this storyline; they were there for each other. Without giving anything away, do you hope that they’ll have a future together?
Sofia Mattsson: I couldn’t give anything away because I’m on the ride as much as the viewers! With scripts a week or so in advance, I don’t know what the future holds for Brando and Sasha. But I loved how much they supported each other and how close Liam brought them. I feel like they bring out the best in each other and are perfect for each other in so many ways. One would certainly hope that a love like that would be eternal, but in the soap world, I’m afraid nothing is ever for sure.

General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Port Charles, check out all the latest that’s been posted on GH spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.