'A little bit out of her mind' — General Hospital's Katelyn MacMullen unpacks Willow's Drew-shooting secret

Did she or didn't she? That has been the question on General Hospital fans' minds for months as Port Charles has tried to figure out just who shot that smarmy (and a little bit unhinged) politician, Drew Cain. Willow was arrested for the crime last fall, but everyone has wondered, "Did she really do it?" Soap Central has said it was Willow all along, and now the audience — and Kai and Trina —know.

Mystery on the General Hospital set

Willow lost it the night she shot Drew | Image: ABC

According to Soap Opera Digest, GH actors were playing their own guessing game, trying to figure out who shot Drew (Cameron Mathison). When the initial scenes were taped last summer, the show used a decoy as the shadowy figure who pumped two bullets into the congressman's back. That was meant to preserve secrecy on the set, and it worked.

Katelyn MacMullen didn't even know that her character was the culprit until just before the trial scenes were shot.

"I kind of suspected — I mean, I always knew that it was a strong possibility — but I didn’t know for sure until a little birdie, [Executive Producer] Frank Valentini, whispered in my ear," MacMullen told Digest. "He said, 'You know you shot him, right? I was like, 'No!' There was a brief moment of surprise, because we’d all been wondering for so long, and then I thought, Okay, great! This is gonna be crazy — but really fun."

Getting into Willow's head

General Hospital's Willow did the deed | Image: ABC

It's been clear since last summer that there is something very wrong with Willow. After all, she stalked an infant and ran baby and mama out of town. Then, she shot the man she threw it all away for in the back. While MacMullen can't relate, she can try to find her character's motivations.

"I can’t justify what she did, but I can at least try to sympathize with where the character was at that point," the actress said. "And that’s been a cool challenge — to try to get into the mind of someone who might be a little bit out of their mind!"

When it came time for Willow to take the stand in her own defense, MacMullen worked with acting coach and former soap star Holly Gagnier (Ivy Salejko, Days of our Lives; Jennifer Smith, General Hospital) to decide how to play it. In the end, they decided that Willow could have been remembering what happened as she gave her testimony. If so, Willow put on quite the cool and collected performance for the jury.

MacMullen looks forward to where this story will go next, telling Digest, "It will be interesting to see where the story goes in terms of how much she truly remembers and if she was out of her mind that night."

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