Exclusive: General Hospital's Brook Kerr On Portia's Alliance With Ava

Disney/Bahareh Ritter

Two Heads Are Better Than One: At least for now, GH's Portia (Brook Kerr) is glad to have Ava (Maura West) in her corner.

General Hospital co-Chief of Staff Portia Robinson did a bad thing — tampering with Heather Webber's test results — for a very good reason: trying to ensure that the incarcerated serial killer that targeted her daughter, Trina, doesn't get a get out of jail free card due to her cobalt poisoning. Before long, Ava deduced what she'd done, and now the two women, who would both do anything to keep Trina safe, are in a surprise alliance.

Two Against One

Brook Kerr, who plays Portia, says she enjoyed playing out the scenes where Ava called her out. "That was interesting because even before Ava knocked on Portia's door, she knew," Kerr chuckles. "She knew what was going on! But Portia, she's not necessarily good at this kind of thing, so I was just trying to focus on Portia thinking, 'I was just trying to change some numbers! I wasn't trying to do all this!' She's thinking, 'How would I even think that Ava would end up being a part of this? She doesn't even work at the hospital!' Portia is just getting through the day and when Ava started coming at her, I don't think that Portia wanted to face that this little thing she did in the quiet of a laboratory could be found out!"

The actress continues, "Ava was trying to make it easy for Portia to go ahead and confess, but Portia was still like, 'Oh, no, no, I don't know what you're talking about.' She was holding up her wall as long as she could until finally she [caves], just out of pure, 'I don't know what else to do!' "

It came as a welcome relief to Portia to discover that she and Ava were on the same page. "Her confidence is so refreshing to Portia," Kerr observes. "She was saying exactly what Portia was feeling: 'Yeah, I would do the same thing for my daughter,' and, 'Heather is insane.' She's saying all the things that Portia has been saying, and she breaks Portia down [to come clean], and now she feels like she has an ally in this."

While Portia hasn't always been in favor of the close bond between Ava and Trina, she has come around to respecting and even appreciating that Ava is so willing to go to the mat for Trina — to a point. Explains Kerr, "I always feel like when two women have a strong personality, a strong inner compass, either you respect each other, or you view them as a threat. I feel like with Ava, we've had a borderline foundational respect for each other because ever since Trina started working at Ava's gallery, we've been coming into each other's lives. Ultimately, though, we're different people. We go about things a little bit differently. And Portia feels like she needs to kind of keep her eye on her, you know? Just a little side-eye every once in a while [l aughs ]. I mean, we've all got history, right? And there's some [wild] stuff in hers! But I love it. We're such different people, I think it's great that they have this relationship."

Adds Kerr, "I think what gets Portia the most is the common ground that they both have as mothers. We both have a certain understanding, whether we're saying it to each other or not." And Portia could certainly use some help, given the situation she's created for herself. "In the end, Portia is hoping they can build on that understanding they have, because she's like, 'I don't know what to do! Help me!' So, Ava offering her help and [being] an ally is big. And we're both kind of grimy fighters, you know what I mean? We'll get down in there! And though they go through a little bit of feeling each other out in those scenes, in the end, we are kind of on the same page and Portia is like, 'I finally have one person that knows what's happened and maybe can help me through this.' "

Kerr hopes that as the storyline continues, she'll have many, many more scenes opposite Ava's portrayer, Maura West. "She's the best," Kerr declares. "She is the absolute best, because her subtext is just as loud as her verbal dialogue. I love working with her."

Meanwhile, Portia has also brought Curtis into the loop. According to Kerr, "I don't see it necessarily as having to be a challenge in their marriage, but it's interesting that he's like, 'Well, I've got to be on board with this because you're my wife and I want to protect you, even if this is not what I wanted you to do.' "

Kerr is excited to see where the plot will lead her character. "It feels like this story is moving in a way that's really exciting," she enthuses. "I'm enjoying it a lot, and they've really built it out to where I think it's challenging Portia to look at how she's handled life. Maybe she needs to go about things a little bit differently, you know? I feel like it's giving her some cynicism, like she's taking off her rose-colored glasses a bit because sometimes, you have to be able to fight."