Eva LaRue, who plays Blaze’s mother Natalia, gets to dig deeper into her protective mother character on General Hospital today in scenes with Maurice Benard, who plays Sonny. The actress sat down with Soap Hub to chat about her new role, why Natalia is so protective, and why she loves being back on an ABC soap opera.
Mother’s Daze
LaRue tells Soap Hub that she mistakenly thought that GH wanted her to reprise her Daytime Emmy-nominated role as Dr. Maria Santos Grey from All My Children given the show’s medical theme. Then, casting director Mark Teschner explained the character the show had in mind for her. “I thought, ‘This is great!'” the actress says.
Is GH’s Natalia a nod to LaRue’s role as Natalia Boa Vista on Seasons 4 to 10 of CSI: Miami? “I’m wondering that, too,” she says. “No one has said anything.” What LaRue does know is that GH’s Natalia is very protective of her daughter — she’s not upset that Blaze (Jacqueline Grace Lopez)is with Kristina (Kate Mansi) but she has been anxious to know if there’s more to the story.
Natalia’s protectiveness towards Blaze is parallel to Erica Kane’s (Susan Lucci) towards Bianca (Eden McCoy) daughter after she came out as lesbian. “Natalia wants to protect Blaze from the outside world,” LaRue says. “She doesn’t want her to be hurt.”
Natalia has also expressed concern that Blaze didn’t confide her orientation to her. “Right or wrong, our kids end up being an extension of ourselves,” the actress puts forth. “You can be judged on who your kids are. Natalia wants to make sure that Blaze is protected — especially given her career as a singer.”
LaRue says that Natalia has had a “it’s you and me against the world” feeling about her relationship with Blaze. “She didn’t trust enough in her mom,” the actress says, “with good reason! Natalia’s not handling it well.”
When Natalia Met Sonny
Perhaps chatting with Sonny (Maurice Benard) will give Natalia some insights. Sonny, too, went through a period of coming to terms with things when Kristina came out. “I’ve known Maurice for years but we’d never worked together,” LaRue says. (He had vacated his role as Nico on AMC prior to her arrival in Pine Valley as Maria.)
“Maurice was just amazing,” LaRue raves. The actress says that even though Sonny is focused on Dante’s (Dominic Zamprogna) recovery, the show’s writers may have been testing LaRue and Benard’s chemistry. “It’s really a nice bunch of scenes that we have. There’s so much depth and heart in them. [Sonny] is sharing how Kristina came out to him. Natalia shares how she’s struggling with her feelings. It’s lovely stuff.”
LaRue feels that this is an important story to tell — just as it was over two decades ago with Erica and Bianca. “People are wading through these emotions,” she says. “They’re trying to protect their children. They love their kid no matter what but they’re [figuring out] their own feelings about what they believe…it’s such a mushroom cloud of emotion.”
While LaRue isn’t playing Maria, she’s been thrilled to run into some former AMC pals who are now on GH including Finola Hughes (Anna; ex-Alex) and Cameron Mathison (Drew; ex-Ryan). “I haven’t seen Michael Knight [Martin; ex-Tad) yet,” she says, “but hopefully, I will soon. It’s [been] Pine Valley old home week.”
LaRue Praises GH’s Top Boss
LaRue has nothing but raves about working for Valentini, GH’s executive producer. “He has just been amazing,” the actress says. “What’s really fun about working with Frank is that he’s down on set a lot, helping to direct scenes. He loves the show. He loves the actors and is a great director. He’s a fantastic creative. His notes are incredible and spot-on. I love having him on the floor and him as a guide. He’s got a really great energy. I love it!”
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