Michelle Stafford on Nina’s New Life, New Emmy rules, and Swearing

Nina has been paired with Silas, Ric, and Franco on General Hospital, but now she’s got a new man in her life — Valentin Cassadine.

She’s entered a quickie marriage with Charlotte’s dad and will likely support her new hubby in whatever plans he has to remain in his daughter’s life.

The always outspoken Michelle Stafford recently chatted with Soap Hub at a winter TV Critics press tour party hosted by ABC. Read on to hear what the two-time Emmy winner has to say about Nina’s new man, her Web show for single moms, and changes to the Daytime Emmy process.

Did you know James Patrick Stuart (Valentin) before GH?

No, I didn’t. But he’s lovely and lovely to work with. He’s amazing, spectacular!

So now that Nina and Valentin are married, Nina is helping him fight for his rights with Charlotte?

I really don’t know where it’s going.

We know Nina’s always wanted to be a mother.

Right. She’s barren. That’s very unfortunate for her. I think she genuinely does care for Charlotte. It’s not just “I want a baby.” She loves Valentin. I think they do love each other. We’ll see what happens.

We hear you’re working more substantially with Finola Hughes (Anna) now.

Yes. Finally! Thank God. We worked together on Pacific Palisades [an Aaron Spelling nighttime sudser from 1997]. We’ve been friends for 20 years.

We played best friends on Pacific Palisades. We work very similarly. That’s always great. The way that we approach a scene is similar. James, too. The three of us have a great time together.

Is there part of Nina that knows Valentin is a bad guy; shouldn’t she stay away?

My joke is that she loves killers! [Nina] seems to really be attracted to murderers. We all like the bad boys, don’t we?

What’s up with your new Web show Single Mom A Go Go?

I’m having a lot of fun with that. I’m still figuring it out. It’s going to go through a lot of changes over the next few months. My last one with Vinessa Antoine (Jordan) is completely what the show is.

She’s a single mom of two. It’s talking to moms and single dads in a funny way. Other parents watch it and go, “Oh, I’m not alone.” We’ve done 15 episodes. I get a lot of response from people on my social media.

Who’s your dream guest?

Sarah Colanna, she’s a comedian. I like to have a lot of comedians on the show. I started following her on Twitter and she followed me back and I went out of my mind. I need to DM [direct message] her and get her on the show! But I just want it to be funny.

I say [the “f-word”] a lot because I say [the “f-word”] a lot. But I think that this coming year, I’m not going to say [that word] anymore.

Really?

Yeah, I think I’m not going to. [Beat.] If it like pops out accidentally, okay. But I think I’m not going to.

Did you submit yourself for the Emmys this year?

Yes, I submitted myself because the rules are…continue reading on the next page —>

Continue reading on the next page…

Did you submit yourself for the Emmys this year?

Yes, I submitted myself because the rules are different. Do you know the rules are different?

How so?

You get to pick from four shows. And you don’t have to submit the entire show.

Aren’t you going to miss submitting that group scene at the end of a show in which you only have one line?

Exactly. Everybody has to do four. You can’t do just one. So you see everybody’s body of work. I think a few actors went in there and said we have to be able to do this; it’s not really fair to do it off one show.

I’ve judged (reels) and you can be written for. Sometimes, someone wins off having a better written show. I think it’s a more fair fight this way.

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