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"My mom may cringe at me admitting this, but I started watching soap operas when I was five. I would sneak a peek to see what was happening on her favorite daytime dramas, even if I had no clue what was happening. In fact, there might (and by might, I mean absolutely) have been a time when I wanted to be a soap star when I grew up. So needless to say, when ABC asked me to come visit the set of General Hospital, its longest-running daytime drama, for a behind-the-scenes piece and a walk-on role with lines? Well, my five-year-old self (and 15-year-old self) was freaking out. Here&amp;#x27;s how it all went down&amp;amp;#8212;and by the way, my episode airs today! I was so excited to be there that I arrived well before my 7:30 A.M. call time. The show tapes at Prospect Studios in Silverlake, which is also home to a little show called Grey&amp;#x27;s Anatomy. Some of the signage that greets you on each level of the GH building. It looks easy, but I ended up riding the elevator up and down three times before I figured out which floor I needed to check in at. See, being early is good! Apparently Anna Devane is still missing. That&amp;#x27;s vintage stuff there, people! What up, Tyler Christopher (Nikolas Cassadine)?! The cast signs hundreds of scripts each year to auction off for charity. I know you want to know what&amp;#x27;s inside those pages, but all I can tell you is that some really juicy stuff is about to unfold! Immediately after checking in, I headed over to the wardrobe department. I play Mrs. Nelson, a patient of Dr. Britt Westbourne&amp;#x27;s&amp;amp;#8212;but I was already discharged by the time you see me on camera, so no scrubs for me. Darn! In case I ever want to dress as a cop on Halloween, I now know where to do my shopping. Extras hang out in the green room until they&amp;#x27;re called to set. For the record, it&amp;#x27;s the biggest green room I&amp;#x27;ve ever seen (which I guess is important when you&amp;#x27;re staffing an entire hospital of nurses and doctors). I arrived in my dressing room, which actually belongs to Kristina Wagner (Felicia Jones Scorpio). It kind of had the feel of being back in my old college dorm (including the mini TV and desserts, thanks to ABC Publicity)! Things you find in someone else&amp;#x27;s dressing room...shhh! Michael Easton&amp;#x27;s (Silas Clay) dressing room was next door to mine, and I got the biggest kick out of all his fan mail that takes up half the room. We also devised a signal&amp;amp;#8212;if I needed help with my lines, I would knock on the wall three times. (I think I drove him nuts). Things you find while dry-blocking. This is like my little cousin&amp;#x27;s pacifier collection, except in the form of stethoscopes. Sean Kanan&amp;#x27;s AJ Quartermaine is in the hospital, and that&amp;#x27;s all I can tell you (producers orders!). Now this is where the magic happens! My favorite room in the building: makeup central! All you need is great hair. And John Stamos (look closely). Really, that&amp;#x27;s it. Because my character is married, I had to get fitted for engagement and wedding rings! That was the biggest trip of the day because I&amp;#x27;m single in real life. Is this like catching the bouquet at a wedding? Am I next? William deVry (Julian Jerome) just chilling out in his dressing room. Get to work, bud, and stop bugging me for acting tips! (I can kid him like that since we&amp;#x27;re friends.) I caught daytime vets Maura West (Ava Jerome) and Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos) in the middle of rehearsal. These pros nail every scene they&amp;#x27;re in. The pressure&amp;#x27;s on for me! I spied Kathleen Gati (Dr. Liesl Obrecht) memorizing her lines on another set while Benard and West taped theirs. Love her dedication! You should see her scripts&amp;amp;#8212;that&amp;#x27;s a master class in being prepared in and of itself. I remember when Michael Easton was first cast on Days of Our Lives and Kristen Alderson (Kiki Jerome) was merely a tyke on One Life to Live. Told you I was a longtime fan! Time to film my scene with Kelly Thiebaud! We did one rehearsal and one take, and I was just so relieved I didn&amp;#x27;t mess up and take down a 50-year-old show. All my die-hard GH friends would have broken up with me. With Kathleen Gati and her on-screen daughter, Kelly. I absolutely loved these two ladies! They could not have been more welcoming. After my character takes the elevator down to the lobby of General Hospital, Dr. Obrecht gives Dr. Westbourne quite the lecture&amp;amp;#8212;but you&amp;#x27;ll have to tune in to see why! Once I finished my scene, I went upstairs to the GH production offices, where I sat down with executive producer Frank Valentini (who could easily pass for a fellow soap star; they&amp;#x27;re all so good-looking on this show!). It&amp;#x27;s clear the entire cast just adores Frank, who moved from NYC (where he helmed One Life to Live) to steer the iconic ship that is GH. (By the way, this is not his desk.) I had a blast learning all about the daytime casting process from Emmy-winning casting director Mark Teschner. I sure don&amp;#x27;t envy his job, but boy, he is brilliant when it comes to finding a diamond in the rough. The amount of head shots he receives on a daily basis is dizzying! I could not have asked for a better experience and hope to come back again soon. General Hospital, it&amp;#x27;s easy to see why you&amp;#x27;ve been on top for 50 years, and you&amp;#x27;ve never looked better. Now, drumroll, please! Here is my General Hospital debut! What would be your dream soap opera role? *This post has been updated. Special Thanks: Nicole Marostica, Marsha Smith, and Frank Valentini at ABC"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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