INTERVIEW: Finola Hughes on General Hospital's Mob War, Robin's Exit and Why Anna Needs a Home
It’s going to be a rough month for General Hospital’s Anna Devane. As Port Charles’s police commissioner, she’s got to stop a mob war. Her daughter will soon be leaving town and her boyfriend went behind her back to bring down his mob rival.
At the ABC TCA party, Finola Hughes shared her thoughts on the departure of Kimberly Mcullough, the futility of being a police officer in Port Charles and her surprisingly domestic wish for Anna.
Daytime Confidential: What was it like filming the scenes where Anna learned Robin was alive?
Finola Hughes: It’s amazing to work with her. I love working with her. She is my heart. I just love being in the same room with her.
DC: Since you have worked together for so long, do you feel like Kimberly actually is related to you?
FH: Definitely. I’ve known her for 28 years.
DC: How is Anna going to support Robin when she inevitably figures out that Sabrina really is pregnant with Patrick’s child?
FH: Sabrina’s not going to be in the picture. I guess she’s going to be with Carlos for a while.
DC: What did Anna and Robert do to Faison?
FH: What do you think?
DC: I think they did something to put him out of commission, but didn’t actually kill him, because they are just too good to kill anyone unless it’s self-defense.
FH: I don’t know. It’s going to be very hard not to have him around. But I believe that Anna believes that she did shoot him. They talk about it, she and Robert, and they say don’t tell anyone, so who knows?
DC: Is Anna actually going to be able to stop the mob war?
FH: I want us to be able to be that strong. We could come down on the mob. We should be able to. But here’s the way I look at it, the problem is they’re so good to watch. There has to be times that they slip through your hands, so they can continue to play. If you get rid of one set of villains then you’re going to have to bring in another set, so they always have conflict. But I worry about the mob war.
DC: Anna and Julian are such great adversaries, with such a long history. So is she going to go above and beyond normal police procedure to get him?
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FH: I don’t know, because that’s what Duke wants to do, he and Sonny. It would be good to work with William DeVry. That would be great to go up against each other, the two of us.
DC: Ryan Paevey, who plays Detective Nathan West, has been the rare soap newcomer who the GH fandom has embraced from day one.
FH: It’s just so interesting. They’re all over him.
DC: Will Nathan and Anna be interacting more?
FH: Oh, yeah. We’re working together now on the show. It’s the three of us: Dominic [Zamprogna], me and Ryan. He’s quite good. I think Anna’s still a little bit concerned as to why this guy’s come from New York, and I think more stuff is going to roll out about why he’s really there, about Silas Clay and all that. I think there’s more to it.
DC: How is that going to unfold? It’s a very cold case that he’s trying to investigate. Will Silas end up putting Anna behind bars?
FH: Maybe. Yeah. If I can get past Scotty Baldwin though. He’s such a pedantic D.A.
DC: Is Anna going to have luck at finally taking Heather Webber out of circulation?
FH: Yeah. That’s the other one.
DC: Is she really the biggest menace to Port Charles because she’s absolutely crazy? Maybe Anna needs to crack down on that mental hospital that keeps letting her out.
FH: She is crazy. Miscavage. It’s ridiculous. I actually had a line the other day about that place. Everybody escapes from there. It’s ridiculous. Everyone escapes from everywhere.
DC: Anna’s had a lot more to do lately, both at the police station and with her romance with Duke, which has been very fun to watch. Can you preview anything that is coming up for her?
FH: It’s going to be more heavy in the police department, because there’s so much going on. Robin is going to be going soon, so that’s going to be hard. I don’t know how they’re tackling that. I really don’t. I hope that she spends a little more time with Emma. I’d like [Anna] to get somewhere to live. She’s living at the Metro Court hotel. She doesn’t have much money. She’s the police commissioner.
DC: Was there a celebration on set when GH had the most watched episode in seven years?
FH: No. But it’s so good. I love that.
DC: You’ve been through so many ups and down with GH. Why do you think all four soaps are suddenly doing better?
FH: I think the stories are really strong and people are loving them. I don’t know. I think everyone’s pulling out the stops.
