Casting Bombshell: Paige Herschell Reveals She Auditioned for a Totally Different Role md13

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Paige Herschell said what began as a small role evolved into a more layered character over time.

On paper, General Hospital’s Jacinda and Michael shouldn’t work as well as they do. Yet their chemistry is undeniable. There’s an ease to them now, something softer than where Jacinda started, that feels completely genuine. It makes you forget how quickly she entered Michael’s orbit in the first place, in a story similar to Pretty Woman. But the path that got Paige Herschell there wasn’t as straightforward as it looks on screen. In a recent interview, she pulled back just enough of the curtain to show how close she came to being someone entirely different in Port Charles.

The Role That Almost Was

Herschell appeared on the That’s Awesome! podcast with Steve Burton (Jason) and Bradford Anderson (Spinelli), and dropped the kind of detail that changes everything. “I actually read for the role of Blaze,” she shockingly explained.

And then the change. Instead of Blaze, she ended up reading for Jacinda, a character she admitted she didn’t expect. She leaned into it anyway, describing the moment as something that just clicked. While she hadn’t targeted the role as one she wanted, it ultimately opened the door for her.

What makes it work is how temporary it all seemed at first. Herschell said the job was only supposed to last a few episodes. “I thought, okay, we’re done. Next. Moving on,” she said, treating it like any other short-term booking.

Then the show called her back. Not immediately or with fanfare, just enough time in between to make it feel like the start of something special. That gap turned a small part into a character that kept growing, almost by accident.

Now Jacinda sits in a very different place. The edge is still there, but it’s tempered. As Herschell’s confidence has grown, she’s less over-the-top now, and more like a real person. And knowing she nearly walked in as Blaze instead adds a strange layer to it all. Same actress, different path, completely different story. (Was Olivia (Lisa LoCicero) too hard on Michael and Jacinda?)

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