The Young and the Restless' Valarie Pettiford dishes about working with General Hospital alum Jack Wagner

In 1984, Jack Wagner joined the cast of General Hospital as Frisco Jones and would go on to be part of the super couple of Frisco and Felicia (Kristina Wagner). Not only was he super popular on the soap that, at the time, was riding on the coattails of Luke and Laura Spencer (Anthony Geary and Genie Francis) saving the world in 1981, but he also had a fantastic singing career that launched him into stardom with his hit song All I Need. In his early career, he also branched out into theater, where he met a future Young and the Restless star who recently praised working with him.

His talent surprised her

Actress Valarie Pettiford wasn’t necessarily known as a soap opera actress. She appeared in a few episodes of Another World from 1988 to 1990 and One Life to Live from 1990 to 1994 and has been in quite a few TV shows and films throughout the years. In 2024, she took on the role of Amy Lewis on The Young and the Restless and recently recalled working with Jack Wagner at the height of his Frisco popularity on General Hospital before she delved deeply into the soap opera world.

In 1987, she appeared in a production of West Side Story as Anita, who was played in the eponymous 1961 classic film by Rita Moreno. At the time, Wagner was tapped to play the lead of Tony, who had been portrayed originally by Richard Beymer in the film.

At the time, there were stigmas associated with soap actors, and Pettiford revealed she had similar preconceived notions, telling Soap Opera Digest, “All I knew him as was [as] a huge soap fan. And so you didn’t know what you were gonna get, I didn’t know his background — this TV person coming into this theater.”

She was taken by surprise at Wagner’s acting prowess, calling him “brilliant” in the role of Tony, and further explaining that the audience went nuts “because they were all soap fans; we had a lot of soap fans coming [to see the show].”

While Pettiford loved the original film, she had actually seen actress Debbie Allen (Grey’s Anatomy) play Anita on stage, which was an amazing experience for her. She further explained that acting alongside Wagner was a “joy” for her, and she praised the entire cast, noting that the show traveled around and the cast had fun together both during performances as well as their time off-stage.

She wrapped her interview up by once again explaining how extraordinary it was to work with Wagner, a massive talent. Wagner would later go on to be a star on other soaps, including The Bold and the Beautiful, but will always be fondly remembered as General Hospital’s Frisco Jones.

You can watch new episodes of General Hospital on ABC and Hulu.

The Bold and the Beautiful and The Young and the Restless can be found on CBS and Paramount Plus.