User:Livelikemusic/sandbox/Nina Reeves

Nina Reeves (introduced as Nina Clay) is a fictional character from the ABC soap opera General Hospital. The comatose wife of Silas Clay (Michael Easton), Nina is introduced in May 2014, played by two-time Daytime Emmy Award winning actress Michelle Stafford. Stafford quit the role in 2019, and Cynthia Watros was subsequently cast in the role.

Nina was introduced in 2014 as the presumed dead wife of Silas Clay (Michael Easton), and believed rival of Silas' mistress, Ava Jerome (Maura West). Upon her awakening from a twenty year coma in May 2014, Nina arrives in Port Charles, New York to reclaim her life. Soon after, Nina begins to assert her life by entering into a relationship with Franco (Roger Howarth), and becomes the editor-in-chief of Crimson magazine. In 2022, Nina becomes half-owner of the Metro Court Hotel, a position she shares with Olivia Quartermaine (Lisa LoCicero).

Storylines
In late 2013, Detective Nathan West (Ryan Paevey) arrives in Port Charles, New York to investigate Ava Jerome (Maura West) and Dr. Silas Clay (Michael Easton) for the attempted homocide on Silas' wife, Nina twenty years prior. Silas confesses to Detective West and girlfriend, Sam Morgan (Kelly Monaco) that after Nina had discovered his affair with Ava, she attempted suicide and was left in a coma. When Sam and Silas attempt to visit Nina, they are turned away by request of Nina's mother, Madeline Reeves (Donna Mills), who later turns up in Port Charles in 2014. When Nathan is revealed to be Nina's younger brother, James, Madeline confesses to him that Nina had previously passed away. Driven by anger, Nathan accuses Silas of killing his sister, a claim that Silas denies. To prove his innocence, Silas teams up with Sam and Nathan to discover who did attempt to end Nina's life, leading to the discovery of Madeline's betrayal. Madeline confessed that her intentions were not to hurt Nina, but to help her mis-carry the child she and Silas had conceived. As Madeline faces conviction, she confessed to Nathan that Nina was in fact alive and not dead as she previously told him., as Nina (Michelle Stafford) awakens from her coma in an undisclosed location. In June 2014, Nina arrives in Port Charles with the intention to reconnect with her husband and brother. Though believed to be wheelchair bound, it is revealed that Nina has been awake longer than she lead on, and was the one who trashed Silas' apartment, not her mother. She confides in her nursing aid, Rosalie Martinez (Linda Elena Tovar), that she intends to seek revenge against Silas and those involved with losing twenty years of her life. Succeeding in breaking up Silas and Sam, Nina sets out on her next mission to become pregnant with Silas' baby, to ultimately replace the child that was taken from them. However, her niece Dr. Britt Westbourne (Kelly Thiebaud) informs her that her dreams of becoming pregnant once again are unlikely, due to her experiencing the beginning the stages of menopause. Driven mad with the hopes of becoming a mother, she enlists the help of her mother to steal Ava's unborn child, a feat she succeeds in achieving in the fall months of 2014. On the run with Ava's newborn daughter, Nina teams up with Franco (Roger Howarth) and they escape into Canada; later, they are caught by the PCPD, and Nina is taken to Ferncliff Asylum.

On New Year's Eve, Nina proposes to Valentin, as a suggestion for having a strong pull in Charlotte's custody case against Lulu.

Casting
In May 2013, Michelle Stafford announced her decision to leave her role as Phyllis Summers on CBS' The Young and the Restless after an off and on 19-year run in the role. Following her announcement, Stafford was photographed at the after-party for the ABC Daytime and General Hospital team at the 40th Daytime Emmy Awards, sparking speculation of Stafford's potential of joining the series.

Stafford made her surprise debut as Nina Reeves on May 1, 2014. On her casting, Stafford recalled both executives at General Hospital and ABC made it "almost impossible to say no" to, and that it was the timing and character which also lead to her accepting the offer to play Nina. Stafford began making regular appearances on June 3 of the same year.

In March 2019, Daytime Confidential broke news of Stafford's decision to leave the role, in order to return to The Young and the Restless. Daytime Confidential reporter Jillian Bowe reported Stafford's exit came after discussions to renew her deal had gone "down to the wire" and "they couldn't make a deal." Following the news break, Valentini took to social media to compliment Stafford for her work, sharing: "It’s a bittersweet day. I love [Michelle] and wish her all the best." She filmed her final scenes in May 2019, and last appeared on June 13.

In April 2019, People announced Daytime Emmy Award winner Cynthia Watros was recast in the role; sheassumed the role on June 17 of the same year.

Backstory and introduction
Prior to Nina's arrival, the writers began to plant seeds of the character's arrival—with the introduction of Nina's younger brother, Nathan West (Ryan Paevey)—who arrives in Port Charles determined to figure out whether Silas Clay (Michael Easton) or Ava Jerome (Maura West) drugged Nina, resulting in her decades-long coma.

Psychopathy
Following the revelation that a wheelchair bound Nina was not as bound as she led everyone to believe, the character began to showcase some psychopathic tendencies, wishing vengeance on her husband and those connected to him. At the 41st Daytime Emmy Awards, portrayer Michelle Stafford praised head-writer Ron Carlivarti's writing, calling him a "fucking good writer" and that he "knows how to peel the onion". When questioned about the on-screen revelations of Nina, Stafford described, "You know what? She was completely screwed by everybody. So her agenda is that they feel the pain that she feels. Like, when a man breaks up with you, you want him to feel pain. You don’t want him to move on, like 'Oh I’m just happy he’s happy.' You want him to fell pain." Stafford also made the connection between Nina and her The Young and the Restless alter ego Phyllis, stating, "She’s going to remind a lot of people of Phyllis circa 1995. I’m like, 'Wow this is really bizarre.' Ron doesn’t know Y&R, but there are a lot of similarities. But the person is completely different. Nina is completely bonkers. Phyllis was more villainous, while Nina is just really disturbed."

Regime change
In a January 2016 interview with Michael Fairman of Michael Fairman TV—formerly On-Air On-Soaps—Stafford spoke on the evolution of Nina, especially following the switch of head-writers from Carlivati to Jean Passanante and Shelly Altman. She remarked, "We definitely had a changing of the guard. But I do remember my very first conversation with Ron. I said, 'I want to play someone crazy. I want to play someone off. I want to play someone who is seemingly amazing and the perfect woman, but behind closed doors, she’s insane.' I said, 'That's what I want to play.'" She went on to remark she was unsure how General Hospital intended to have happen to Nina, but she had hoped to not mirror her portrayal of Phyllis on The Young and the Restless, stating, "I don’t know what GH originally had in their minds for Nina, but it could have been very much like another character that I played in daytime, and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t playing essentially the same character." She went on to compare the change in Nina to that of Carly Corinthos and Ava Jerome, stating, "I think that is what Jean and Shelly are doing. They are now looking at the character through a microscope, and figuring out what her back-story is along with her essence."

Franco Baldwin
In January 2016, Stafford remarked that she felt that Franco "saves her" and that Nina "looks at him as if he saved her, which is why I liked the line in the scene where she says, 'I was broken.'".

Valentin Cassadine
In a January 2017 interview with Fairman, Stafford spoke on the relationship between Nina and Valentin, and was asked if she felt the pairing had "legs." She responded: "We will see. I think it's up to the writers, and if it's a story that the audience wants."

Watros' arrival (2019)
In June 2019, Watros gave her first interview to Fairman; she discussed her casting and perception on the role of Nina, stating: "It's going to be challenging. It's the first time I've ever taken over a role that someone else has played. I don't want to totally go off, so people go, 'Wow.  Nina's totally different,' but of course, I want to make it my own. Again, I'’m an actor who likes to use all of the tools. I like it all [...] the funny, the not so funny, the playful, and the crazy."

Stafford
In January 2014, online blogging website Celeb Dirty Laundry noted that with the potential of Stafford's arrival in a storyline swap between General Hospital and The Young and the Restless, noting the similarities of Stafford's Y&R alter-ego (Phyllis) being written out by being put into a coma, and with GH gearing up to introduce Nina, who would be waking up for a 20-year coma. With Stafford's surprise debut on May 1, 2015, online websites applauded General Hospital's ability to keep her arrival on the soap the "casting coup of the decade"., as noted by Luke Kerr and Jamey Giddens of Daytime Confidential. Dan J. Kroll of Soapcentral called Stafford's debut a "dramatic cliffhanger" to the end of the May 1 episode. Errol Lewis, Editor-In-Chief of online website, –Soap Opera Network, called Stafford's coma-switch from Y&R to GH an "ironic character choice". Michael Fairman of On-Air On-Soaps praised Stafford's work as Nina Clay, citing her portrayal as "must-see TV!" Stafford was listed at number four on Daytime Confidential's list of "10 Female Soap Opera Entertainers of 2014". The website praised Stafford's ability as "an old pro at making fans feel for bat shit crazy soap characters".

In February 2015, Stafford received a pre-nomination for the 42nd Daytime Emmy Awards in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Nina.

Watros
On October 12, 2019, Fairman noted Watros' performance his "Power Performance of the Week," stating: "Watros, who made Annie Dutton of Springfield and Guiding Light one of the most memorable soap roles of all-time, showed GH viewers why she is just THAT good! We have always said that Cynthia can play: drama, romance, torture, cray-cray, heartbreak all rolled-into-one; especially when given the material." In July 2020, Soaps.com listed Watros' casting as number 19 of their top 20 all-time best recasts on a soap opera.