It was standing room only for the Queen of General Hospital, Finola Hughes! The audience at the GH Fantasy Weekend in West Palm Beach went wild for her! Finola has been playing the strong and long-suffering Anna Devane on and off since 1985. To be fair, all seven GH actors received a standing ovation at the fan event this past Saturday, but it was Hughes that drew the loudest claps and cheers!
It was an honor for me to meet Finola Hughes in person! I have been watching her since she first started the show in 1985! She is so gracious and warm in person. I can see why Tony Geary, (Luke Spencer), called her”slim” on the show. Finola is also “slim” in real life! I was lucky to get a photo with her wonderful smile and one with her “smizing” eyes during a photo sessions with the fans!
Devane Loved by All!
Why is Finola popular with the fans and her fellow GH actors?! It’s all about the acting, or as Finola put it “reacting,” in the moment! She talked about listening to the other person and the emotions freely flowing from the scene.
Jeffrey Vincent Parise (Carlos Rivera) said looking deep into Finola’s eyes was like “riding inside a symphony.” They had intense scenes when Anna “murdered” him after she discovered he killed Duke Lavery (played by Ian Buchanan).
Laura Wright (Carly Corinthos) “loves acting” with Finola. Will DeVry (Julian Jerome) said Finola provided “amazing insight” with her acting.
DeVry also asked Finola if Anna was repulsed by Valentin Cassadine, (played by James Patrick Stuart) during their scenes where Valentin said he was hurt by her character. Finola said Anna was not repulsed by him; Anna was being emotional because she realized she had hurt him in the past. Anna was no longer the person she thought she was before.
When asked who else she would like to play on the show, without hesitation Finola said, “Sonny!” Conversely, it was fellow actor Hayley Erin (Kiki Jerome) who said she would love to play “Anna!” You also might be surprised to know that Finola also watched GH before she was cast as Anna!
Finola’s Memorable Moments!
Finola’s favorite Valentine Days episode: when she tied up Robert Scorpio in bed. I saw that episode years ago; I would have to agree with Finola!
Finola shared a funny story about that episode. Anna had a to deliver a long monologue. Then Executive Producer, Gloria Monty, asked Finola to re-shoot it from the hip, so to speak. Monty was known for her spontaneity. When she originally shot the episode, she had red nail polish, but had taken the polish off by the time of the retake. So when the episode aired, Anna switched from having red nail polish to no polish in the middle of the scene! Finola recounted she had never received so much mail about that faux pas!
One of her most memorable scenes: the intense fight she had with Dr. Liesl Olbrecht (Kathleen Gati) at the prison in Switzerland. Olbrecht was pretending to be “Anna” in disguise. Finola had to fight herself and shoot both scenes twice using intricate choreography!
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Discussion1 Comment
Finola embodies and transcends the terms “professional” and “gifted”, imbuing the character of Anna with a uniquely dimensional identity. It is a joy to watch her seamless on-screen self artistry.