How General Hospital's Tabyana Ali hand-picked Trina's latest love

General Hospital's Trina Robinson is finally starting to realize she misjudged Port Charles University football star Kai Taylor. He came through on their art project in a way she never expected, making her worry that she had been way too hard on him since they met.

Is Trina ready to try again?

Trina letting a new young man into her life is a big step for the heartbroken college student who lost Spencer Cassadine (Nicholas Alexander Chavez) nearly a year ago. He was the first boy Trina truly loved. Losing him caused Trina to put her life on hold. She took a break from school and wondered if college was even for her anymore.

When she finally decided to get back into life and re-enter the college scene, she was paired with Kai for an art project. Trina was sure that an athlete taking art for an easy grade would not take the subject seriously, but she was wrong. Trina even marveled that Kai's half of the project was better than hers.

Tabyana Ali has her pick

When Tabyana Ali learned that Trina would be getting a new love interest, she was definitely intrigued. She was also grateful that GH allowed her to be a part of the casting process.

"Mr. Frank [Valentini, executive producer] let me know that long before [Astrup was cast], that there was going to be a process to find a new love interest," Ali explained to Soap Opera Digest. "I was like, 'Oh, great, fantastic.' And they brought in a group of guys; there were about 11 of them, and I got to audition with all of them and then I got to pick the ones that I felt very connected with and then we narrowed it down to five and then they were able to do the screen-testing, and I worked with them on that."

While Jens Austin Astrup ended up landing the role, Ali was pleased that her second choice still got to appear on the soap.

"We picked our one, and it ended up being Jens," she said. "I’m actually really happy that it was him! It was between him and another guy, and fortunately, the other guy [Jequan Jackson, who appeared as Kai’s friend Quinn] got to be on the show as well! I thought that was so cool, that they brought him back."

Will General Hospital's Trina open her heart?

Ali is ready for Trina to dip back into the dating pool after her character's tragic loss, but she also understands Trina's hesitancy with Kai. She was hard on him when they first met, but then she saw a whole new side of Kai that made her rethink things.

"I think there were multiple layers to what Trina was feeling," Ali said. "Yes, Kai was not being a good student or a good partner to Trina, but I also think Trina was protecting herself in some ways, trying not to get hurt again...She doesn’t want to make a bond with someone new yet. And I think Kai doing this little bit to show her that he’s willing to put in some effort, I think it opens her mind a little bit to different possibilities, regardless if it’s a relationship or a friendship."

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With Josslyn (Eden McCoy) all for Trina getting to know Kai, Trina is still a little gun-shy. However, if Kai keeps impressing her, Trina just might let her guard down and open herself up to possibilities.

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.

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