Interviewing actress Kathleen Gati (General Hospital)

 

1. How does it feel to be in a series with 50 years of history?

 It is an honor to be part of such a legacy! General Hospital will celebrate its 60th anniversary on April 1st! Unbelievable, no? And it is also an honor to be on a show that incredible actors have graced like Elizabeth Taylor. To me the best part is that there is a “General Hospital family” that I am a part of that consists of our show and the audience. We are very fortunate to meet many fans during the year at different events or just through social media, and to know that they have grown up watching our show with their mothers and grandmothers or friends, and to know how big a part of their lives we are is fantastic! And sometimes we hear that a viewer who has been watching for many years is sick or lost a loved one, and for one hour while they’re watching our show, it helped them forget about their troubles a little. That is worth more than an Emmy or an Oscar!

2. What is your day-to-day like on the set of General Hospital?

My day-to-day on the set is arrive early (so I’m not stressed from rushing!). Either go to hair and makeup or straight to the stage to start morning blocking. Get into wardrobe after hair and makeup, then wait in my dressing room until I am called to the set. Then we do a quick dress rehearsal for cameras and director, then we shoot right away. Usually one take per scene unless there is a technical problem or one of us actors makes a major mistake. It all happens very, very fast!!!!! A soap opera is not like a normal 23-26 episodes a year series. We shoot 250 episodes a year because we are in the audience’s televisions 5 days a week. Almost 10 times as many episodes, so you could say that we are in many ways, a factory. On prime time shows they take about 10-14 days to film per episode. We film 3-10 episodes a DAY!! And there isn’t time for “Lovely work, congratulations, nice job, etc.” On a soap opera, what you will most likely hear after a very emotional scene that you have spent good time preparing is “Moving on!” If your ego needs a lot of feeding, this is not a good job for you!

3. Do you get along with your filming partners?

I get along well with almost everyone, but it’s chemistry, right? Like a family, or choosing friends. Not everyone will love you or vice versa in any avenue of life, but fortunately I get along with everyone, some actors I have extra special chemistry with. That’s when you can create “magic”!

 4. Tell us a little about your character that you play in the series.

My initial 2 day role was to portray an evil Swiss German doctor, head of a psychiatric hospital, who is hiding a kidnapped young woman and moving her from one room to the next! And I went home and moved on to my next job which was my recurring role on Arrow. Then a few months later I received a call from General Hospital to come back and play the mother of one of the newer characters on the show. The role has since developed! Ten years later, with over 500 episodes I have filmed, I have played every aspect of a human being…and much more! Singing, dancing, killing, more children, kidnapping, being a loving mother, snarky mother, comedy, torture…the entire gamut an actor lives for!

5. Do you think that one day the series will end or will it continue to be eternal?

It’s a miracle that this show, or any show has been on as long as they have. The possibility is always there for any show to end at any time. But we have a strong viewership and fan base and as long as that continues the show will probably stay on the air.

6. Have you ever really cried in a scene?

 I always really cry in a scene. No faking, but I don’t always have lots of big tears.

7. Finally, how long are you going to continue in the series? I'm telling you because your character is very nice hahahaha.

  I will stay with this show as long as I am invited back and I don’t have other work to keep me away. It’s a special experience and I am very grateful and fortunate to have been a part of this show for the past ten years.