GH Star Maura West Sticks Up For Avery Kristen Pohl and Esme Prince

This past weekend, there was an incredible opportunity for General Hospital fans to get some time with Maura West, who was there with former As The World Turns onscreen love Michael Park, who played Jack to her Carly. While many in attendance were CarJack fans, GH viewers also got a turn to ask questions — and top of mind was Ava Jerome Cassadine facing Esme Prince.

Maura West Talks Ava and Esme

It was during the General Hospital Fantasy Events Zoom that a viewer named Ellen asked West, “How is it acting with Esme, the character, and the actress who plays her?”

The actress was excited to talk about this matchup for her character. “Avery Pohl is her name,” she began, giving the young actress her due before she stood up for her, knowing on fans feel about the young villainess. “I understand it, and I love it, first of all, Esme, in a different time and a place, that’s a young Ava.

“She’s burdened with this situation, with Ryan [Chamberlain, Jon Lindstrom]. She’s a little tweaked, and so I love it. It’s an interesting character. There’s nothing more boring to me than somebody who’s happy and sweet. I’m not interested — as an actor, it doesn’t interest me so much,” she quickly clarified. “In real life, I want nice,” she laughed.

“And then I also really understand Avery’s task because I have been tasked with that myself, and it’s hard. It’s hard to be the person who carries the weight of being the bad guy that’s moving the story forward. Bad guys move story forward,” she repeated, bringing the point home for all in attendance. “It’s their actions that create all of this stuff that goes on. If there’s no Avery — if there’s no Esme — if there’s no Ava Jerome, there’s no show.

“So I’m very supportive of Avery as a young actress, and I get it, and I’m in it, and I’m 100% in those scenes. And I love that there’s somebody that can truly get under Ava’s skin. There’s not a lot of people that can do that. And the character of Esme really gets under her skin. That’s another side to Ava that I like to see — the other side of the coin from Trina [Tabyana Ali], is that somebody really gets her. She’s kind of cool as a cucumber typically, and so for all of those reasons, I love the character, and I love working with Avery. She’s a talented young actress, and I’m very supportive of her. I enjoy it. It’s like Ava looking into some magic mirror and seeing herself 25 years ago,” she laughed. “It’s pretty cool.”

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.