Photo:ABC/Christine Bartolucci
ABC/Christine Bartolucci
Emmy Award-winning actor Chavez, 23, believes viewers of the soap are devoted to the couple’s rollercoaster journey because their characters are soulmates.
ABC/Ricky Middlesworth (2)
“When Spencer is with Trina, it’s the closest thing to home he’s ever felt. He didn’t have a mom, his dad has mostly been absent. He’s never felt home or family any other time in his life,” Chavez says. “With Trina, it’s peace and happiness. It’s tough love when it needs to be, but it’s also balance, safety, and freedom of expression. It’s truth. It’s all those things and there’s no other place Spencer has that.”
It’s that type of all-or-nothing love connection, despite the melodramatic high relationship odds, that has earned the pair comparisons to the original super-couple of daytime,Luke and Laura. But Ali confesses she still can’t believe Chavez and herself are regularly talked about alongside the iconic soap opera characters.
“It’s hard to wrap my head around that. Anywhere you go, you say ‘General Hospital’ and people say ‘Luke and Laura.’ Generations of people still think and talk about Luke and Laura,” Ali says. “For it to be Nick and I, where people are telling us, ‘I’m watching the show because of you.’ Or that, ‘I left the show but now I’ve come back [because of you],’ I’m like, ‘What … what?’ It’s a lot, it’s a lot. But I’m grateful. I’m very thankful.”
“We understand why [the couples are compared] and it seems the show is trying to paint them in that light as well with the Ice Princess storyline in Greenland,” he says.
“They are drawing a pretty direct comparison and they’re not being super subtle about it. But we love it, and we think that it’s super smart,” he adds. “It’s the greatest compliment we could ever get.”
Francis, who’s played GH matriarch Laura (toAnthony Geary’s Luke) since 1977, has extended her maternal gaze onto the young pair whom she often works with in ongoing storylines. “Genie is a special person, and she likes to check in. When she wants to connect it’s, ‘How are you doing? You feeling, okay? How’s life?’ Chavez tells PEOPLE. Genie has been nothing but an amazing friend and teacher since I came on the show.” Ali agrees. “I’m honored to be able to know Ms. Genie, understand her and her life. She’s a great teacher and a good person to watch and learn from.”Being two stars of television’s longest-running drama has completely transformed the lives of Chavez and Ali.General Hospitalis Chavez’s first professional acting job and has reset everything in his worldview from his independence to his aspirations.
“It’s changed everything about me. Before the show, I was selling cars in Florida. I live across the country now. I was driving my dad’s old Jeep and now, I’m sitting in a car that I paid for,” he says. “This show has given me the opportunity to become my own guy. It’s also given me the gift few people get in life — the privilege to earn an income doing what I love to do every single day. If I’m not the luckiest guy in the world, I’ve got to be damned close.”
For Ali, a former child actress with acting credits that includeNew Girl,General Hospitalis responsible for a reawakening of her own creativity.
“[The show] has me wanting to do more of the things I love to do, like singing and dancing, which I got to do during [scenes for]The Nurses Ball,” she says. “I love doing those things. It’s freeing to me.General Hospitalmakes me want to work harder and be a better person.”
The version of the coupling fans now see today comes after the role of Trina was recast twice. Ali took over when the second actress to play the character, Sydney Mikala, left tofocus on college. Before that, Tiana Le played the part in three episodes airing between 2017 and 2018.
Even though the version of Sprina with Mikala was already very popular with viewers, Chavez had no fear about continuing the magic with Ali.
For Chavez, Ali’s casting was a perfect find. “What amazes me is that we went two for two in creating something beautiful and connecting with people,” he says. “It’s getting everyone excited and it’s a testament to how good [General Hospitalexecutive producer] Frank Valentini and [casting director] Mark Teschner are at their jobs.”
Fans, followers and even the actors themselves admit Chavez and Ali’s onscreen chemistry is a huge driver in the Spencer and Trina phenomenon.
“I think now our chemistry is so much stronger because of the connection we have outside of work,” says Ali. “Our dynamic is really special because we understand each other on a very deep level.”
Chavez takes a more technical approach to maintain Sprina’s allure. It consists of “homework” on scripts that include “imagination exercises.” But he admits that the pair having that ‘it factor’ also makes it feel real for viewers.
“No matter how much work you do, if you don’t have that chemistry, that little something that exists between people. I don’t know if it’s going to read as good,” he adds.
Their first kiss occurred after a two-year wait of star-crossed longing, passionate entranced stares and plenty of almost-kiss interruptions. “I knew everybody was going to fall for the first kiss. When we finally saw it we were like, ‘They are going to go crazy,’” says Ali.
Chavez says the incident revived the former athlete in him. “I used to play football. And she was coming at me with a lot of velocity, and it didn’t look like she was slowing down,” he recalls. “So, I knew I had to make an athletic movement to pull it off. It was more like trying to catch a football than it was being in a scene.”But even he admits getting caught up in the magic when he finally saw it. “When I watched it back, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, that had to be one of the coolest moments I’ve ever seen onGeneral Hospital,’” Chavez tells PEOPLE. “Peter Reckell who plays BoonDays of Our Livesretweeted it,” says Chavez. “James Patrick Stuart[ofSeinfeldwho plays Chavez’s uncle Valentin Cassadine on GH] gave us some love online. It got a lot of attention and people loved it. It was an exciting, cool and fun moment.”
“Every time Spencer and Trina come together, it’s magnetic and powerful. You feel the tension and it’s thick,” says Ali. “It’s difficult for them to be happy. But they are willing to work through it together and fight [to be] together. It’s like, ‘Y’all ain’t separating us. We are a duo. We’re tied at the hip. We’re glued.'”
Agreeing with his costar, Chavez adds: “That’s what makes themthesuper-couple.”
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General Hospitalairs weekdays on ABC (checklocal listings).
source: people.com
