her legendary role as Abby Cunningham on Knots Landing had joined the cast of General Hospital in a mystery role. Mills first airdate was slated for late February 2014. Mills later revealed that Valentini had asked her to keep the details of her character private. On February 25, Mills announced her first airdate on Twitter. Valentini told Soaps In Depth that the show's head writer Ron Carlivati suggested Mills specifically. "I am thrilled out of my mind" Carlivati said of the casting decision. The writer admitted that it was just wishful thinking on his part and Valentini told him he'd look into it. Valentini and Carlivati contacted Mills' agent and offered her the role. Though she was flattered to have been handpicked for the role, Mills was hesitant to take the job. She revealed that she had been approached by CBS Daytime drama The Young and the Restless years earlier but turned down the role because she felt the timing was off. Mills wanted to speak with them directly about the character. "And if Donna Mills says, 'Let's get on the phone,' you get on the phone" Valentini said." Thanks to the phone conversation, Mills agreed to the role. She said "they really did a sell job on me!" Mills explained, "They got on the phone and they did their magic. It sounded like it would be fun." Valentini stressed that only Mills could play the part so she agreed despite not knowing much about the character. Mills spoke with her former Knots Landing co-stars Ted Shackelford and Joan Van Ark about their experiences in daytime. Mills also admitted "I could do GH now because my daughter is in college." The actress later said "I'm missing my daughter terribly, so it really helps to have GH to keep my mind busy." The job brought Mills back to her roots. Mills started out acting in the 1960s in the daytime soaps, The Secret Storm and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing. Mills was also reunited with her former Splendored Thing co-star Leslie Charleson who joined the soap in 1977 as Monica Quartermaine. Ironically, legendary GH producer Gloria Monty had cast Mills in the role of "Rocket" on The Secret Storm. In an interview featured in Nelson Branco's Soap Opera Uncensored, Mills explained that she was initially contracted to do 12 episodes but she was definitely open to the possibility of doing