General Hospital fans really love the plucky, resilient, and tenacious Maxie Jones, who has overcome the odds many times over the years. Before playing Maxie, Kirsten Storms became a soap star when she played Belle Black on Days of Our Lives from 1999 to 2004. She’s also been in quite a few projects geared toward a younger audience, and recently opened up about how she got the part in a major, young adult sci-fi film series.
A Soap Space Opera
In 1999, Storms starred in the Disney TV movie Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century. The film’s IMDb page describes the plot as, “An inquisitive teenager pries into suspected dodgy dealings on her space station home – and ends up being sent down to Earth.” She would go on to reprise the role in two sequels, Zenon: The Zequel, and Zenon: Z3.
The actress spoke with TV Insider and explained that getting the part was no easy task. The producer and director couldn’t agree on who they wanted for the lead in the film, and Storms was called back to audition a whopping seven times. “The other person was Allison Mack [who went on to play Chloe Sullivan in Smallville, then spent time in prison for her involvement in the cult-like NXIVM organization],” she revealed, adding, “The director wanted Allison Mack, and the producers wanted me.”
The Highlight of Her Career
Ultimately, the role of Zenon went to Storms, who approached the project fully aware that she wasn’t the one the director wanted in the lead. But she wasn’t going to let that get her down, explaining, “It’s just in my personality to want to prove him wrong about his thoughts on if I could do it or not. That’s a great motivator for me always, and I just worked really hard.”
Storms noted that most of the fans who reach out to her about Zenon are thirtysomethings who often tell her that they’ve watched it with their kids, which she’s so happy about. Her voluminous fan mail for the film series is, “Maybe even more than General Hospital, I get Zenon conversations going.” Explaining that she’s very grateful for the fan love, she confidently stated, “That franchise has been the highlight of my acting career.”
