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Interview with Brytni Sarpy (Valerie) By Suzanne

Here is the audio of our interview. I hope you enjoy it!

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Here's the transcript!

Suzanne: It's great to talk to you!

Brytni: Yeah, of course. Good morning!

Suzanne: Yeah, good morning. It's 6:30 here.

Brytni: [She laughs]

Suzanne: Great to talk to you. Valerie sure came in with a bang!

Brytni: Yeah, she did. She came in and kind of caught the ruckus in the town, didn't she?

Suzanne: That's right, and she just took off running there.

Brytni: Yeah, yeah.

Suzanne: First off, are you nervous about the live episodes?

Brytni: Um...I think it's gonna be really exciting. I have a theater background, so I think it's going to be much like performing live, being able to improv, keeping on your toes, knowing that everyone's watching... [Laughs] I think it's going to be exciting.

Suzanne: Yeah, you may have the advantage, coming from theater more recently than a lot of your co-workers there.

Brytni: Yeah, it's true, it's true, I do have a theater background, so performing live for me is almost a little more interesting.

Suzanne: Well, I know that everyone's really looking forward to it. Other than being a Spencer and meeting your mom, they really haven't told us too much yet about your character. Obviously I'm not asking for secrets here, but have they given you some more background about her than they've put yet on the page?

Brytni: As far as her background, it's pretty much what you guys know. Her father figure really isn't in the picture, they haven't really explored what that means. Valerie goes along the lines of her Spencer family. She's strong, courageous, conscientious, passionate about everything and wears her heart on her sleeve. Those are kind of the main things that I know about her. Everything else after this, I think the focus is going to be about finding her life in Port Charles, what it's going to involved, what friends she's gonna have, what form will it take...her living situation and everything like that.

Suzanne: I understand. I know that fans are desperate to know who her father is and why she goes by Spencer as her last name.

Brytni: Yes, since Patricia's her mother, and she was raised by her mom. I have a few lines where I reference it by saying that she never got to meet her father. So, yeah, I'm as interested as you guys are.

Suzanne: Yeah, I think that whenever they bring on a new character, they play it close to the vest, until they figure out what they want to do, and let a little bit of information leak out here and there....makes the fans keep tuning in.

Brytni: Yes, exactly.

Suzanne: Well, since you're multi-racial, I guess fans are trying to figure out if you're related to Shawn, or Jordan, or Epiphany or Felix. That would be my guess, but you never know with soaps.

Brytni: Yeah, it could happen. You never know. I don't know. We'll see.

Suzanne: Do you have a guess?

Brytni: I don't have a guess, but I think it'll be a little while before we learn anything like that. I think we'll be waiting a bit. I think there's just a lot on Val's plate as far as, again, living in a new place, and knowing absolutely no one. Her whole structure has been with her mother. That's all she knew and that's all she's done with her life... trying to take care of her mother, and they've been a team. This is entirely different for her. So I think coming into her own, finding her nuances and character in Port Charles will be her main focus for awhile.

Suzanne: Right, and you never know. It took them years to figure out who Sam's father was. Many years.

Brytni: Exactly.

Suzanne: She seems to be hitting it off well with Dante. Have they told you yet whether or not you're just being a friend or whether you might be scheming and plotting (and we just haven't seen it yet)? Or do you have any guesses?

Brytni: I can't say much. I will say that Dante and Val's relationship is very nurturing. He stood up for her in a way that her cousin hasn't been able to be there for her. She has no other family or friends, so she's going to take that care and concern. I think he understands that, coming from a background where he grew up with only his mother, as well. I think he has a sort of soft spot for Valerie. She takes that, and she needs it, you know? I think that the way Lulu is getting jealous is natural and the way anyone would feel if their husband were hanging out with another female. That's going to evolve how it will...I can't let you know exactly how it's going to evolve, but I would say that Valerie's intentions are good.

Suzanne: Oh, okay. You never know because so many Spencers have come to town and they're up to no good at first.

Brytni: [Laughs]

Suzanne: Even Lulu had her moment there where she stole her friend's boyfriend (a long time ago).  So, how was it filming your first Nurses' Ball?

Brytni: It was fun! It was so fun. It was a lot of long days. I enjoyed it most because I got to dance, and that's incorporating another art that I love... And it was also a fun time for me because the entire cast was there. Typically, the way we shoot is that you film your vignette or your scene, with whomever you're shooting with, so you don't always get to see everyone throughout the day. So for me, and being new, I got to kind of meet and hang out with everyone, and everyone was there.

Suzanne: It was great! I love that song you did. They did a good job with it.

Brytni: Yeah. Thanks!

Suzanne: I assume the music was pre-recorded, but were you guys all singing your own parts in that?

Brytni: Um, yes, a few of us actually went and pre-recorded. I was one of them.

(I explained that although I've been watching the show since 1984, I'm always behind, but I did go watch many of her scenes on YouTube, as well as the Nurses' Ball).

Brytni: It's pretty easy to catch up.

Suzanne: It is, but it takes a while.

Brytni: [Laughs]

Suzanne: That question was from Lisa on Facebook.

Brytni: Okay!

Suzanne: Anything you can tell us about what's coming up for Valerie?

Brytni: Valerie has a lot of things that she has to figure out about Port Charles. I think Valerie might want to figure out where she's going to work. We'll see what happens with that.

Suzanne: So we're going to be seeing a lot more of you.

Brytni: I hope so! [Laughs]

Suzanne: Caren from Twitter asks if you're going to be on the show a lot more soon because she really likes you as Valerie and wants to see you in a storyline with Dante.

Brytni: Yeah, I think I'll be on the show in a couple of different storylines coming up, so, yes, you'll see some Valerie pretty soon.

Suzanne: Good, good! Will you be attending the GH Fan Weekend in August?

Brytni: I think I will be, actually. I just got that news a couple of days ago. I'll have details later, but I think I will be there.

Suzanne: Great. I went to that a few times and I think you'll enjoy it. It's a lot of fun.

Brytni: I heard that. I heard it was a lot of fun.

Suzanne: Yeah, it is. (I talked a bit about the GH weekend) Vicki on Facebook asks if there's a particular guy on the show that you would like Valerie to be paired with. (Others suggested Nikolas or Morgan)

Brytni: I'll say that I feel like because Nikolas and I are under the same roof at this point, and he's kind of a womanizer, so I don't want Nikolas for Valerie, but you never know. As far as someone else... I think she's open for storyline. Anything could be interesting.

Suzanne: Yeah, usually when they bring on a new person, they throw them together with all of the other single people to see who they have chemistry with.

Brytni: Exactly.

Suzanne: Did you watch any soaps before booking the role on GH?

Brytni: I grew up watching "All My Children" and "General Hospital" with my mother. So I'm pretty familiar with the world of soaps.

Suzanne: I'd read that you were up for the role of Jordan but were too young. Did you start watching the show again after that?

Brytni: Yeah, I started watching the show again when I was up for Jordan, which was about a year ago, so I've been keeping up with it, and I'm very familiar with it.

Suzanne: Do you feel now that you know where everything is and that you're comfortable there on the set, not quite the newbie any more? Does it feel more like home?

Brytni: Yeah, I think so. I think I'm kind of getting over that hump of being nervous when I get on set, trying to find my way. I feel a little more grounded and this is my new home.

Suzanne: That's cool. Anything else you'd like to tell the fans this morning?

Brytni: Tune in. There's some fun stuff happening with Valerie, especially in the next 2-3 months. I'll say that. You don't want to miss it.

Suzanne: We're looking forward to it.

A native of Southern California, Brytni Sarpy became interested in acting after playing a witch in a high school performance. A decade later, she has officially made her mark and is working the screen as Valerie Spencer on General Hospital.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/_Brytni

Instagram: https://instagram.com/brytni/

IMDBL http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3556021/?ref_=nmbio_bio_nm

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Page updated 5/16/15