Greek-American actress Kristen Vaganos chatted about starring in the ABC soap opera “General Hospital,” where she plays Molly Lansing-Davis.
Helen Keller once said: “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched — they must be felt with the heart.” A person who embodies this quote is Kristen Vaganos.
Playing Molly Lansing-Davis
On playing Molly in the ABC daytime drama “General Hospital,” Vaganos said, “It’s a really lovely character arc that I have going on, and I am really enjoying it right now.”
“Honestly, these days I appreciate how much comedy I get away with. Josh Kelly, who plays Cody, and I are really embracing that and I think that our relationship is a breath of fresh air amongst a lot of heavy drama, obviously,” she elaborated.
“I’m sure we will have our own drama coming our way. Nobody can ever be happy for too long in Port Charles, but I think it’s a fun different tone that they let us play with, and Molly’s neuroses can be funny,” she explained.
“That’s definitely how I cope with my own neuroses in my life. So I, I love that aspect of her,” she added.
Working with Nancy Lee Grahn
On working opposite three-time Emmy winner Nancy Lee Grahn as her on-screen mother, Vaganos said, “Nancy is the best! I feel like I just got so lucky with my family. I love all the Davis women. I love Rick Hearst, who plays my dad. We just all fell right into place.”
“Nancy is such an iconic woman,” Vaganos admitted. “You definitely have to wrangle her to run lines and make sure she knows that it’s time to do our scenes together, but once you you get her, she’s just magic.”
“I think Nancy is hilarious and she will make us laugh right before a scene starts and it’s the most annoying thing, but in the best way. It’s like really dealing with family,” she noted.
“So, we are really lucky. We’ve all fallen into place. In a way, the Davis women really does feel like family,” she added.
Dialogue-heavy
When asked how she handles being dialogue-heavy (where she has to memorize many pages of scripts each day), Vaganos said, “I’m pretty lucky. I’ve always had a really good memory, which is almost photographic.”
“These days, the brain is a muscle and it is as strong as it’s ever going to be with just how much we are always learning,” she noted. “I like to say my lines with my co-stars and I would record the lines. I really want to embody what I’m saying.”
“I can’t just memorize random words,” she noted. “I have to care about what I’m saying, and have the thoughts in between the lines and get myself from one line to the next. Only then, would it feel natural for me.”
The digital age
On being an actress in the digital age, Vaganos said, “Well, you know, there’s a lot going on there. I’m not that active on social media. I have Instagram but I don’t even use TikTok really.”
“So, these are things that definitely overwhelm me. I don’t know, I just choose to keep doing what I’m doing. The whole emergence of TikTok stars really goes over my head,” she elaborated.
Advice for young and emerging actors
For young and aspiring actors, she said, “Honestly, the advice these days would be to start creating, start filming content, discovering your voice, finding friends that share that comedic or dramatic style, and just start doing it.”
“I feel like I’ve been in acting classes my whole life and I love them, and I’m still in them to this day, because I just feel it’s where the artistic soul is fed the best,” she acknowledged.
“So, I definitely recommend that. I recommend being in classes and really truly training because while you’re creating and while you’re doing all the rest, it’s not the same as formal training and theater work. So, get yourself to be as best as you can be,” she explained.
“Then, get out there and get people familiar with your work,” she added.
Vaganos on her Greek-American heritage
On her Greek-American heritage, she said, “I am so proud to be Greek American. All four of my grandparents were born in Greece, and they immigrated here.”
“My dad actually just got his Greek citizenship and my mom is in the process of doing it now. I plan to try to do it after them,” she said. “I’ve been to Greece several times.”
“I am going to be back there this year in September for a wedding, and I will be bringing my boyfriend who hasn’t been before. So, that’s going to be really exciting,” she said.
“I will show him all our crazy family, but he’s Italian so he gets it. My great-great uncle is the only modernly ordained Greek saint. So, that’s a really awesome lineage thing that I have going on too.”
“His name is Saint Anthimos (of Chios) and it’s a long, long story about everything that he did to get there but it’s pretty cool,” she said. “He had a monastery that he started on the island of Chios that we visit. There is a little museum of him with pictures of my grandfather. We have a lot of family in the island of Chios.”
“So, I really am proud of my Greek heritage. It’s cool to actually be a Cassidine on ‘General Hospital’ so I am little bit Greek there too,” she said.
“My mother has family from Corinth and we have family in Athens and all over Greece, but a lot of my family now resides in Athens, but they spend a lot of time in Chios,” she elaborated.
In Sherman Oaks, California, she shared her love for The Great Greek restaurant. “I do love that restaurant because it has such authentic Greek food,” she exclaimed.
Vaganos on the late Johnny Wactor
While she never got the chance to work with the late “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor, she paid homage in his honor and memory.
“I have heard really amazing things about Johnny,” she said. “I’m sad I never got to meet him, especially since his character Brando and my character Molly had a relationship on the show.”
“It’s just so tragic what happened to him and I heard only the best,” she added.
Plan for the future
On her future plans, Vaganos shared, “I do a lot in addition to being on the show. I also produce films. So I actually have a film that I co-wrote that is in development right now.”
“So, hopefully that will be announced in some more official capacity soon. It’s a sports comedy. So I’ve got some fun things in the works,” she said.
“I have a film that I produced that is out already that is called ‘Ramona at Midlife.’ It’s a really lovely, female-driven film,” she said.
“I might have something new in the works with the same writer and director. We’re exploring a couple of things. So, there are always films in development, which is exciting,” she added.
Stage of her life
On the title of the current chapter of her life, she revealed, “Letting Loose and Trusting.”
“I’m trying to just trust that it’s all going to work out and I’m trying loosen my grip on everything,” she noted.
Superpower
If she were to have any superpower, it would be to “read minds.” “I don’t think everybody can do it because it’s going to mess with them, but I think I could handle that superpower, ” she said.
Success
Regarding her definition of the word success, Vaganos said, “Success, to me, means comfort. Living a comfortable life and having the respect of my peers. I don’t need fame and I don’t need glory.”
“I do want the respect of my peers, and some ease in life. Also, I want work that inspires me because I am really passionate about the work,” she added.
Message for her fans and supporters
For her fans and supporters, Vaganos expressed, “I’m always extremely grateful for the way the fans have accepted me into the role of Molly, and have let me take her in new directions where I’ve made her my own. So, I just want to say thanks to the fans for watching.”
“Thanks for enjoying my wacky little take on this character, and stay tuned for more because I hope to show even more colors of Molly soon,” she concluded.
To learn more about Greek-American actress Kristen Vaganos, follow her on Instagram.
