As many General Hospital fans suspected, the Christmas surprise that Anna (Finola Hughes) has been anxiously anticipating is indeed her beloved granddaughter Emma. But when the door opens, fans are in for a surprise — it’s Texas native Braedyn Bruner standing on the stoop in place of the role’s previous helmer, Brooklyn Rae Silzer.
Braedyn Bruner Is In As Emma Drake
“When my mom found out that I was screen-testing with Finola [Hughes, Anna Devane, Emma’s grandmother], she was just beside herself,” cracked Bruner to TVInsider’s Stephanie Sloane.
The young actress granted that she’s “been really lucky” in her career. “I had two films come out kind of one after the other. I did a coming-of-age drama movie that I was a lead in called Break. It’s a really lovely story. And then on the flip side of that, the other film that I did was a horror film directed by Justin Long and [brother] Christian Long….So that was really different, challenging, and fun as well. But this is my first time on a soap, which is a completely different beast.”
In preperation for her audition, Bruner emersed herself in all things Emma. “I started with her birth scene and then as she’s grown up to understand her relationships with everyone in Port Charles. Pulling from that has been really important for me.” Thank goodness for YouTube!
On working with her play grandmother: “I think we operate on the same level, approaching scenes with a lot of play, which is really exciting and fun. But she is obviously incredibly versed and experienced in this universe, so she has shown me the ropes for sure. And any time I have a question, she answers me. After she found out I got the job, she called me and kind of gave me the lowdown on everything, which was really nice. And she’ll text me and call me and she’s just been incredible; such a joy to work with.:
On her offscreen contemporaries: “I’m lucky to be in the young adult category with some really incredible people. As soon as I found out I booked it, Gio [Mazza, Gio Palmieri] and I went and got lunch and kind of got to know each other on a more personal level. We’ve become really great friends and we have really similar senses of humor, which is fun and makes work fun.
“I’ve gotten to meet Eden [McCoy] who plays Josslyn [Jacks]. She’s incredible. She’s been on the show for a really long time and she has been nothing but helpful and complimentary and great.
“I got to do my first scene with Taby [Tabyana Ali, Trina Robinson] the other day and she’s just such a joy, such a nice person. She’s also from Texas, which I didn’t know until recently, so we kind of bonded over that.”
As for her alter-ego: “Emma is confident. She’s bold, she’s unruly, you could call her rebellious. But I think underneath all that tough exterior, she’s really quite compassionate. As we’ve been filming, we’re kind of peeling back those layers and getting to see more and more of the vulnerable side of her. But externally, she’s a lot.
“She is so much fun to play. This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing a character because she is incredibly nuanced and I’m finding more and more of her every day. I hope everyone loves her as much as I do.”
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