Susan Batten, who played half of memorable One Life to Live couple Luna and Max (James DePaiva [ex-Dr. David Bensch, GH]), will appear on General Hospital this week.
Hot on the heels of the news that TV icon Morgan Fairchild is heading to General Hospital this week comes news that One Life to Live alum Susan Batten (Luna Moody) will also be showing up in Port Charles.
Soap Opera Digest reports that Batten will play the role of home shopping star Flora Gardens and will appear in scenes with Sasha Gilmore (Sofia Mattsson) and a few others.
The actress, popular with daytime fans for starring opposite James DePaiva (ex-Dr. David Bensch, GH) as Llanview couple Luna and Max, missed "that whole energy of being part of a collaboration of actors," so, she reached out to GH executive producer Frank Valentini. "[I said,] 'If anything comes up that you think might be fun for me to do, just let me know and I'll do it!'" she shares.
Her wish came true when Valentini called with the role of Flora Gardens, but the first thing Batten wanted to know was, "Does she have teeth?" After a little laugh, she immediately agreed to take the role. However, she admits that she was incredibly nervous before taping, especially because it has been ten years since she last appeared on OLTL.
"I think because I've been writing so much, I hold a lot of words in my head, so, the brain had not turned to jelly. But I was still very nervous," she shares, adding that after a little rehearsal with her husband, "it all kind of fell into place."
Batten ended up having "a blast" during the week she spent on the West Coast, where she enjoyed working with the cast of GH as well as her former OLTL colleagues, including Valentini, director Gary Tomlin, and senior producer Mary-Kelly Weir.
"Being surrounded by those familiar faces really just made me so happy," she says. "I kind of grew up on One Life to Live and everyone there became my second family."
Batten got her start as an actress in the late 80s with the roles of Lolly and Deborah on All My Children. She went on to land the role of OLTL's Luna in 1991, which she followed with the short-lived role of Connor Walsh on As the World Turns in 1997. She now primarily focuses on writing, having penned the 2018 TV movie Love, Once and Always and the 2016 Lifetime film Showing Roots.
What do you think about OLTL alum Susan Batten guest-starring on GH? What are your thoughts on the character of Flora Gardens and how she's being written into the ABC soap? What are your favorite memories of Batten as OLTL's Luna? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
