As Willow continues to stand by her shady new fiancé, Drew Cain/Quartermaine, and Michael celebrates the christening of his newest child on General Hospital, portrayer Katelyn MacMullen talks to Woman’s World about the huge shifts her and leading man Cameron Mathison’s characters have gone through and what it’s been like to welcome Chad Duell’s recast Rory Gibson to the love triangle.
Plus, with Willow unraveling, isolated, and determined to get her kids back, the soap actress considers fan theories about what’s really going on with Drew and shares how she decompresses after shooting one of her character’s epic breakdowns.
Why ‘GH’ beauty Katelyn MacMullen isn’t sorry Willow’s world has fallen apart
Not long ago, General Hospital’s Willow and Drew were two of Port Charles’ most upstanding citizens. Some fans even argued that, at times, they seemed almost TOO wholesome and earnest. Heroic Drew, however, took a mysteriously dark turn somewhere along the way and then, after saving Willow’s life, started pulling her down with him.
“It’s been such an adventure and so crazy,” Katelyn MacMullen says of the rollercoaster that’s seen her character survive cancer thanks to her husband’s uncle, fall for said uncle, and ultimately, blow up just about every relationship she’d built since showing up in Port Charles back in 2018.
“I’ve loved getting to experience a totally different dynamic with people I’m working with and explore new terrain, emotionally and literally,” she says. “On a daily basis, I’m getting to disappear into another world, where I do and say things that I wouldn’t normally—and that’s the great joy of it. I’ve been feeling very grateful… and also, yeah, a little tired! But in a good way, because we’ve been having so much fun.”
How ‘GH’ beauty Katelyn MacMullen’s recovers from Willow’s epic breakdowns
Having once escaped a cult to save the baby she was carrying, Willow is one serious mama bear. She’s also the type of nurse who springs to action without a second thought—even when that meant delivering Sasha and Michael’s baby in the middle of her own divorce from him.
Every once in a while, however, life hits Willow so hard it brings this damsel to her knees, as it did when the judge gave Michael full custody of their kids.
“That was great writing and when we shot it, everyone was so communicative, supportive, lovely, and very mission minded,” recounts MacMullen, who won’t let the fact that she’s not a mom stop her from relating to her character’s pain. “If it’s not something I directly understand or have experienced, I work with other people, have conversations about the scenario, and try to break it down and understand it. I just prepare, prepare, prepare… and then I see what happens on the day.”
When it’s time to come down from one of Willow’s emotional explosions or out of her latest catatonic breakdown, the actress turns to a tip she picked up from Carly’s portrayer.
“Laura Wright always says, ‘Just jump in the bath and listen to bird chirping,’ so I started doing that,” MacMullen shares. “The bath relaxes your muscles and then the bird chirping apparently helps your nervous system regulate. If I do some relaxing activities like that at night and just take care of myself, I’m usually good to go.”
‘GH’ beauty Katelyn MacMullen considers theories about Drew
That’s good news, considering Willow’s still ready to believe anything Drew says—and while everyone in Port Charles now seems to be gunning for her man and fans cannot believe how creepy he’s gotten, her mother isn’t exactly helping the situation
“There’s so much Willow’s unaware of, so she believes Nina and Drew have had her back,” MacMullen says. “That’s how I’ve been making sense of it! I love both versions of Willow, but this version has been challenging in the best way. Because when your character is coming from a starkly different place and they’re changing, your job then changes into, ‘How do I justify this?’ It’s like this puzzle!”
