General Hospital’s Bluesy Burke On James Patrick Stuart: ‘I Aspire To Be Like Him’ (Excl)

On General Hospital, Charlotte Cassadine’s strong bond with her papa, Valentin, has been a throughline since her introduction to the canvas in 2016. And now that James Patrick Stuart is back on the canvas in the role, Bluesy Burke, the actress who began playing Charlotte in September, is hoping that there will be a lot more interaction between father and daughter in the near future.

Family Valued

“I’ve only done those Steinmauer prison scenes so far with him,” notes Burke, referring to Charlotte’s visit to her father, who, at the time, was incarcerated in a maximum security facility overseas. The ever crafty Valentin had put Jack Brennan up to arranging the visit in exchange for telling the WSB bureau chief what he knows about Cesar Faison’s final project. And while their time together on screen was brief, it made a huge impression on Burke, who says, “The second I met him, he was just an absolute sweetheart. He’s also so giving and he’s just very talented.”

That much was clear to Burke when they were running the scenes before the cameras were rolling. “He just went for it, even in the rehearsal,” Burke recalls. “Like, during the reunion [between the characters], I saw him shed a tear! I was like, ‘Oh, my God, wow.’ He’s just such a professional! I aspire to be like him, honestly.”

With Brennan leading up the manhunt for a now-fugitive Valentin, Burke is also hoping to get to show off Charlotte’s backbone and sass in scenes with Chris McKenna, who plays her father’s nemesis. “I love it whenever I get to be sassy,” the actress grins. “One of the first things I ever shot [at GH] was this one moment in Bobbie’s where I had to go up to him and say something that was not very nice. I was a little nervous for that one! But now I’ve given him sass a few times, and it’s fun!”

Valentin’s presence in Port Charles is also likely to test Charlotte’s bond with her mother, Lulu, who has only recently begun serving as Charlotte’s primary caretaker. Observes Burke, “They’re still obviously learning how to be mother and daughter. I know that Lulu really wants nothing more than to just have her daughter with her pretty much at all times! She loves Charlotte, and I know how deeply Charlotte loves Lulu, too. It’s just that Charlotte is so dedicated to her dad that it complicates things a bit.”

And should Lulu need to call in the big guns — that would be her mom, Laura, who is not only fiercely protective but is also the mayor of Port Charles, well, that would be music to Burke’s ears, too. “Anytime I get to work with Genie Francis [Laura] is so exciting,” she smiles. “She’s such a sweetheart! I love her.”

The actress came into the show well aware of Francis’s stature in GH history. “Most of the people that I talked to when I got cast on General Hospital were like, ‘Oh, I used to watch that during the Luke and Laura times,'” she reports. “And when I told my dad,” actor Billy Burke, “that Laura is my [character’s] grandma, he was like, ‘Oh, my God, Laura, like the Luke and Laura?!’ I’ve heard so much about how, back in the day, everyone would rush home from school to watch Luke and Laura’s wedding, how it was one of the most-viewed soap opera events ever. So it’s really cool getting to work with such an icon. She’s so giving, she’s super-professional … Honestly, she’s everything! I’m looking forward to getting to learn a lot from her in the days to come.”