GH’s Finola Hughes Describes Her First Encounter With Tristan Rogers

Anna Devane’s and Robert Scorpio’s great General Hospital love story began off-camera in 1977. The couple fell in love while working as partners for the WSB and were married in a small ceremony in Italy. Their bosses, Sean Donely and Cesar Faison drove a wedge between the two love birds, leading to their divorce. Anna didn’t tell Scorpio that she was pregnant with his child. Finola Hughes recalled what transpired when the actors first met in 1985. 

Finola Hughes: First Meeting Tristan Rogers

Daytime Emmy award-winning actress Hughes doled out a juicy morsel of behind-the-scenes anecdotes to fans at a recent Zoom event hosted by Coastal Entertainment. She detailed her audition for the role of Anna Devane and her first meeting with actor Tristan Rogers. 

Hughes surprised fans with the stunning admission about her audition for the role. “You know…I didn’t screen test with any actor,” she shared. “Yeah, I didn’t. I don’t even remember if there was an actor in the scene with me or if somebody was just reading the lines, but I was definitely on the set because I went to the set to screen test.”

It wasn’t long after she was hired that she would meet the man who would be Anna’s longtime love interest and great friend. “I didn’t meet Tristan until I was in my dressing room, and I’ve been hired, and he came into the dressing room — I’ve told this story before — looking like Steve McQueen because all his hair was short and his blue eyes.”

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The actress described the scene as Rogers made himself comfortable and readied himself for their first scenes together. “His leg went up on the sink, and we rehearsed. And then later, when we walked off the set, he goes, ‘We’re gonna have fun, kid.’”

Fun indeed. The two stars have engaged, enthralled, and breathlessly dazzled fans for nearly four decades with their love, friendship, and adventures. Whether they were taking down the evil Cassadines, finding the Aztec treasure, ridding Port Charles of the likes of Mr. Wu (Aki Aleong), Cesar Faison (Anders Hove), and Peter August (Wes Ramsey), or co-parenting their daughter, Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough), together or apart, Hughes and Rogers have kept fans spellbound.

Although Anna has moved on to a romance with Valentin (James Patrick Stuart) and Robert finds himself drawn to fellow attorney Diane Miller (Carolyn Hennesy), Hughes and Rogers still captivate the audience. Hughes admitted, “He’s the best. I love him. He’s really gifted.”