Finola Hughes has proven that when it comes to acting, there's nothing she can't do. The Emmy Award-winning actress has been playing Anna Devane for 34 years, both on General Hospital and on All My Children, and those three and a half decades have been filled with a treasure trove of action-packed, amusing, and emotional moments. But there's one major storyline twist that gives her extreme anxiety, despite having been asked to play it several times: dual roles.
Much to Hughes's chagrin, Anna has a twin sister named Alex Devane -- whom she's had to play on both AMC and GH a few times over the years. And the actress confesses that playing those scenes is her number one daytime nightmare.
"Other people can do dual roles really well. People like Jon Lindstrom [Kevin Collins/Ryan Chamberlain, GH] and David Canary [Adam/Stuart Chandler, AMC] and the amazing Martha Byrne [Lily Snyder/Rose D'Angelo, As the World Turns], who killed it. I used to watch her and think, 'Thank God, I don't have to do that!' And then, one day, I had to!" Hughes recently shared with Soap Opera Digest.
She continues: "Normally, I just get on with stuff; I get up to set and I am ready to play, but this just throws me into this tailspin of uncontrollable terror. Jon Lindstrom just breezes through, Genie Francis [Laura Spencer] comes up, does her scenes with both of them, everybody's happy, they come down and have lunch. Me, I'm in the corner agonizing!"
Fortunately, Hughes shares that there was one thing that helped calm her nerves the last time GH asked her to step back into Alex's shoes.
"Thank goodness for Michael Easton [Hamilton Finn]!" the actress enthuses. "Normally, when we work, we are joking, having fun. But he went very silent. He just allowed me my neurosis and supported as best he could and said calming things like, 'Can I get you a cup of tea?' He also issued statements as you would when coaching a Little League team like, 'You're doing great!' Michael is very patient. He was wonderful."
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