General Hospital Katelyn MacMullen Talks About Playing Willow Tait on GH

Katelyn MacMullen grew up working on Disney, but she had never tried a soap opera until “General Hospital.” MacMullen now portrays the daytime soap’s Willow Tait, and she shared about the preparations she made from auditioning to finally play Port Charles’ school teacher.

In an interview with Soap Opera Digest, MacMullen said that she heard about the opportunity to audition to GH, and she worked with her coach, Holly Gagnier, who played Jennifer Smith on the soap and portrayed Cassie on “One Life to Live.” Gagnier, with her experience in soaps, was able to guide MacMullen on what is needed for soap auditions.

“I locked myself in my room for like a week working on the audition,” Katelyn confessed. “It was a ton of fun, actually! That’s the fun of being an actor sometimes, getting to just get lost in a character.”

Katelyn was called back and she had a screen test with Chad Duell who plays Michael Corinthos, and she’s all praises for him. “He gave me a choice I could go within a scene that he knew would probably be best, and I still thank him for that. He didn’t have to do that, you know?”

MacMullen got the role, and Chad and Josh Swickard (Harrison Chase) actually felt she was perfect for the role. “We tested together with her [at her second screen test] and as we walked away, we were like, ‘She was great!’ She’s awesome,” Swickard said.

She described her first day as “surreal and nerve-wracking.” But although she was nervous, she felt more in her character as a teacher because of the amazing set up for Willow’s classroom.

To understand more about her role, Katelyn even sought help from her friends who are teachers. “They have experience with these things, so I asked them how they would handle a parent/teacher conference like this, the language they would use and their strategies.”

She also always consults Gagnier and works with Josh on how they would act out their scenes and create real connections.

Katelyn said she’s having so much fun playing Willow, and there’s more to come for her. “General Hospital” spoilers teased exciting things ahead for Willow, now that it has been revealed that she has a connection with the cult Shiloh is leading.

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