ABC
Parted By Death? Molly's (Kristen Vaganos) relationship with domestic partner TJ (Tajh Bellow) is tested by the loss of their daughter.
When Kristen Vaganos assumed the role of GH's Molly last year, Molly and TJ's first surrogate delivered the sad news that she had miscarried. Now, Molly is grieving for the daughter Kristina lost late in her surrogacy. Soap Opera Digest checked in with the actress about Molly's heartbreak, its impact on her relationships with TJ and Kristina and more.
Soap Opera Digest: You've had pretty heavy scenes with Tajh Bellow (TJ) as this couple is processing their loss in different ways. The death of a child can bring a couple closer together, but it can also drive them further apart. What is your take on how you see TJ and Molly navigating this?
Vaganos: I think that's very true, that this sort of stuff can bring people closer together because it's the only other person that knows exactly what you're going through and someone you can lean on and you don't feel bad taking up space talking about it and grieving because they're in it with you. But I think what's happening to TJ and Molly is that they're grieving in different ways and they need different things from each other. Molly, to be honest, copes with drama and struggles and grief quite similarly to me, which is that she buries herself in work. She keeps herself distracted and busy so that she doesn't have to feel it and so she can pretend, "Everything is fine and life goes on. And if I'm accomplishing things and staying efficient and staying on top of things, then I must be okay." I definitely operate similarly. But TJ needs his partner and feels abandoned by the way that she's being and doesn't feel like she's really feeling the loss and helping him cope with it and deal with it and the logistics of planning a funeral and a burial. And all that is just way too much for her. I feel like they're unfortunately on a path of their needs not lining up, or the way that they're processing this moment is not lining up with each other. The scenes that aired this week were quite heartbreaking, because it's like everything has caught up with Molly, and there are things that need to be done and she's not up for it, and he's left to do it all alone. She tries to be there for him and to apologize, but it's tough. I mean, these are moments that can break people and pull them apart because they just have different responses, and it's heartbreaking because it's really nobody's fault.
Digest: Talk to me about working with Tajh Bellow (TJ) on this storyline.
Vaganos: It's fun because characters have such history; they've been together forever. SoI think when they apologize or when they make up or when they fight, there's so much beneath it that they don't have to say. They just know each other so well, they know each other's responses and impulses and they know there's love under everything. But it has been tough, and Tahj and I have definitely bonded over the fact that day after day, for weeks now, we've had to come in and just bring grief back to the table, you know? You go home, you cool down, and then you come back and you've got to go to a dark place again that the next day. We've had to live in that for a long time and it's hard to shake off sometimes and we try to be there for each other and really be present. I'm grateful to have someone to go through it with because they know what it's like.
Digest: Molly isn't just grieving; she's also grappling with the notion that Kristina may not be entirely innocent in the circumstances that led to the baby's death.
Vaganos: I think what makes this so complicated for Molly is that she barely has any time between wondering if her sister will die, grieving the baby that just died, wondering if her sister will never be able to have kids again finding out that she's gonna be okay, and then there isn't even time to feel that relief that she's gonna be okay because a) we're mourning the baby and then b) I very quickly learn that she might in fact be to blame for this accident. It broke my heart, those scenes we did where I'm in the hospital with her and I'm so happy that she's okay, but then I'm also learning all these details about Kristina going to see Ava and maybe being the aggressor.... I think when something this tragic happens, you need somebody to blame. Molly has spent the entire pregnancy telling TJ, "We can trust Kristina, you've got to just let her be," and now she's humiliating me and making feel crazy and wrong for ever having trusted her. I think what's really hard for Molly is that she's so smart and she's such a planner and she's so in control and she makes the right decisions, and so to feel like, "I should have known better and the person I wanted to trust with everything let me down" is a horribly disappointing feeling.
Digest: How is Molly sitting with these difficult feelings as they relate to Kristina?
Vaganos: It's horrible because it's not only losing a baby, it's losing a sister. I don't know if they can come back from this. This is the ultimate betrayal. It's kind of like we said about Molly and TJ — when you go through something like this, sometimes that person who's involved in it with you forever represents that loss and you sort of can't look at them the same way and you can't love them the same way. I think that's definitely what's happening with Kristina and Molly. Now, I look at her and I just see blame and I just see fault and I see betrayal and I can't feel love and trust and gratitude toward her for having carried the baby. All I can see is that she's at fault for losing it and it's heartbreaking and it fills me with anger and sorrow. I think it's impossible to repair that relationship — at least right now.
ABC
Family Feud: The tension is thick between Molly and Kristina (Kate Mansi).
Digest: I saw a lot of praise online from fans who've been really impressed by what you've been bringing to the table as all of this drama has unfolded around the loss of the baby. What does that affirmation mean to you?
Vaganos: It's so sweet and it really warms my heart, the way the fans have reacted positively to me from the very beginning. I know [recasts] happen on soaps all the time but still, the way I came to this role was such a cumbersome thing for audiences who've loved this character and loved this show forever, the fact that after a bunch of new faces all in a row, I came and I stayed. So the fact that they've accepted me — and beyond that, are actually really enjoying me in the role — is really validating. The compliments mean so much and the fact that they have accepted me means the world.
Digest: You're not only heavy in story on GH, you're also doing a play simultaneously.
Vaganos: Yes, I'm in a play right in Los Angeles at the Rogue Machine Theater Company in West Hollywood, the West Coast premiere of a play called Human Error by Eric Effinger. I star in it along with Kapil Talwalkar, who is Avery Pohl's [ex-Esme] boyfriend, funny enough. Two of the other three actors in our show are Groundlings company members; they're huge successful comedians is basically what that means! This is a really funny play and you will not believe how close my character's plot in the play is to Molly's current storyline. I think it would be really fun for General Hospital audiences because, wildly, I'm going through something so similar on the show. The basic premise is that I play the wife in a liberal biracial couple whose embryo accidentally gets implanted in another woman during an IVF mix-up and that family is a Republican conservative couple. So as we try to come together and figure out what to do about this situation, obviously, chaos ensues and we bond, we come together, we are pulled apart. It's a ton of fun and it's a tremendous cast. It's a lot of work right now, but it's so much fun! We run for four weeks through all of August into September. So if anyone's in the L.A. area, please come, come visit us, come laugh with us!
For information about Human Error , click here ; and to purchase tickets, click here .
Most Popular
Comments / 0