Why Kate Mansi 'freaked out' when she learned she'd be directing General Hospital

Tuesday, November 18, 2025, marked the directorial debut of General Hospital star Kate Mansi. The actress stepped into the soap opera director's chair for the very first time after spending the last year learning the behind-the-scenes ropes. However, when she got the call that it was her time to direct, the nerves set in for a very good reason.

Kate Mansi's fears about directing General Hospital

Kate Mansi directs Nancy Lee Grahn's Alexis | Image: Kate Mansi/Instagram

When Mansi first landed the role of a recast Kristina Corinthos-Davis in 2023, she told GH Executive Producer Frank Valentini that she had been interested in directing, so he allowed her to sit in the booth and shadow the show's directors for the past year.

Finally, Valentini gave her a birthday present in September and told her that he had the perfect episode for her to direct. Mansi was excited, of course, but told the producer she didn't want to direct Laura Wright (Carly Spencer), but as fans know, Carly was indeed in Tuesday's episode.

"I was scared sh**less, but I said to him, 'OK, I think I’m ready, too, but please, the only person I don’t want to direct is Laura Wright.' He was like, 'Why? She’s amazing,'" Mansi told TV Insider. "And yes, she’s amazing as a human and friend and actor, but I was really intimidated to direct her."

Then, Mansi learned who else she'd be directing, including Genie Francis (Laura Collins), Maurice Benard (Sonny Corinthos), and Steve Burton (Jason Morgan). Then, the reality of the situation really hit her.

"I took a minute to sort of freak out, and then I just got right to work," Mansi recalled.

How Mansi caught the directing bug

General Hospital fans can thank Days of our Lives star Alison Sweeney (Sami Brady) for Mansi's behind-the-scenes work in Port Charles. When the actress played Abigail Deveraux on the Peacock soap, Sweeney was first starting to direct, including episodes of DAYS. That's when Mansi realized she could possibly do both.

"We became good friends, and she started to observe the directors," Mansi relayed. "I watched her go through that process, and then she directed her first episode that I was actually in. She was Ali Sweeney, the director, but also seeing how she transferred the attention to detail that she has as an actor to when she was directing was so inspiring to me. I remember I called my dad afterwards, and I was like, 'Ali Sweeney directed today, and I want to do that someday.'"

Mansi finally got her wish in an episode that featured her on-screen mom, Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn), doing her best to keep her on-screen teenage nephew, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn), out of jail. You can catch Mansi hard at work in the video she posted below.