‘General Hospital’ Is 62: Kristina Wagner Looks Back at Four Decades of Felicia (Exclusive)

GENERAL HOSPITAL, Kristina Malandro Wagner, 1963 - , — © ABC/courtesy Everett Collection

Before joining General Hospital as Felicia Cummings in 1984, Kristina Wagner was vaguely aware of the popular soap. “When I was in college, I was a theater major, and I also worked in a flower shop,” the actress tells ReMIND. “I remember the Luke [Spencer, Tony Geary] and Laura [Baldwin, Genie Francis] wedding [in 1981], and all of the women that worked [at the flower shop] were quite a bit older than me. They were really big soap fans, and they kept running to the loading dock in the back to sneak in peeks of the wedding. I was left up front, so I didn’t really get to see it, but I remember the buzz and the excitement that they were having. It was pretty cute.”

When Wagner moved out to California to join the show a mere three years later, it had recently marked its 23rd anniversary; today, it turns 62 and Wagner marvels that she’s an active part of the cast. “I didn’t know if I was going to be here that long — I thought it was going to be six weeks — because it was a trial,” she recalls of the early days. “They put me up in this hotel down the street from the studio, but it seemed to be working out, and then after that, there was a contract offered. It was my first three-year contract that I signed, and I wasn’t expecting it. But Gloria Monty [then-executive producer] liked me, and we just kept going and going and going and going, like the Eveready bunny.”

Felicia and Frisco

GENERAL HOSPITAL, (from left): Kristina Malandro (aka Kristina Malandro Wagner), Jack Wagner, (ca. mid-late 1980s), 1963-.

Felicia was an instant hit with the audience, and Wagner’s popularity grew exponentially once Felicia was paired with Frisco Jones, played by Jack Wagner, who became her real-life husband from 1993-2006. “It was a very different world, [going from] where there was no attention on me at all, to having a lot of attention on me, and eyes on me, and being trendsetters and having to be accountable and show up and be somebody every day,” she explains. “I was so young, and I was working with someone and just kind of falling in love, and that had a lot of emotional highs and lows. That’s part of my journey.”

As she looks back on that journey, she can see the changes that have taken place, on-screen and off. “I like that both Felicia and I have found resilience and reinvention, which was hard earned,” she reflects. “And that is my favorite part, the lessons that have been learned over the years, not just for me, but for Felicia. And I’m grateful that GH has allowed me to continue Felicia’s life. I think the most important thing for me has been the reinvention and transformation of my own life and of Felicia’s life. I mean, think about where she started and where she is today. She’s like the voice of reason today. In the past, she was an out-of-control type of character that was always getting into trouble and looking to please her own needs, and now it’s kind of very different than that.”

Four decades into her run, Wagner appreciates the many facets of Felicia. “I like that she’s driven,” she lists. “I like that she doesn’t let people tell her what to do. She owns her mistakes, and I like that she’s a good person. I know this is a soap opera, and you get more attention when you’re a bad person, and that’s more fun, but she’s a grounding force on some level. And maybe that’s why Frank [Valentini, executive producer] works me more because it helps keep the show a little more in balance with all the other dysfunctions. I asked him, ‘How come Mac [Scorpio, John J. York] and Felicia never have any problems?’ And he said, ‘Well, we need one couple to be happy.’ ”

Felicia today

Maarten de Boer

These days, Felicia works at General Hospital, which means she gets to interact with a good portion of the cast. “I think the best part about being a patient advocate is working with a variety of the actors on the show, people I’ve never worked with that have been on the show for a while,” she relays. “It’s so nice to be able to just get down and get really personal with those characters. I enjoy that. It’s not been easy, and it is a real challenge for me, especially in the beginning, when we were talking about all these different grief issues. Every time I’d get a script, I’d be like, ‘Oh, my God. Another grief issue.’ But it also allowed me the opportunity to self-reflect a little bit, too, and how I wanted to deliver those scenes with those various actors and actresses that I worked with.”

One of her constant costars is Kirsten Storms, who has played Felicia’s daughter, Maxie Jones, for the past 20 years. “I really adore her, and I appreciate her personal journey, as well,” praises Wagner. “I love her very much. I love doing the scenes with her. I love when they write for us; I wish they’d do more. I’ve noticed there’s a lot of other actors that I have scenes with, like Sasha [Gilmore, Sofia Mattsson], where it’s almost like I’m a motherly figure to them and give them motherly type of advice. So, I feel like I’ve been pretty spread out with being a mother to various people.”

General Hospital - Kristina Wagner, Kirsten Storms, John J. York, Brooklyn Rae Silzer, Kimberly McCullough

ABC/Michael Yada

Wagner’s own mother, Carolyn Crump, who passed away in 2023, was her fan club president until Wagner left the soap to attend college in 2006. Wagner had an important realization when she and her brothers cleaned out their family home. “She left behind archives, videotapes, and newsletters and pictures,” Wagner shares. “I looked at all those things and I thought, ‘Somebody else has been writing my life, and it’s been a life that’s been all consumed by my work.’ That changed, though, and going to college after my divorce was the best thing that I think I ever did for myself. I felt empowered and stronger and ready to take on my life. College is great for that. Everyone thinks they are so smart from scrolling, which just isn’t true. We all need an education.”

With a new sense of self, the actress returned to the soap in 2012 and appreciates that she still calls GH home. “That’s a super incredible honor and extremely rare,” she notes. “How many people can say that? I’m very grateful. I’m especially grateful for the friends; it’s nice to enjoy the folks around you and in your workplace. But I’m glad to be there. I’m glad to be still working at this stage in my life, too, as an actor. I mean, that’s unheard of. “