NIKOLAS AND EMILY
TYLER | NATALIA

Is Mary Really Falling In Love With Nikolas?
Soap Opera Digest
May 11, 2004

Thus far, widow Mary has been one lucky recluse, considering Nikolas still doesn't have a clue that he's not her husband. But this week on GENERAL HOSPITAL, his attempt at a romantice overture touches her so deeply that even she has a hard time not spilling the beans. Will guilt overtake her before her passion for Nikolas does?

Mary is torn between her broken heart and he rhead, looking for a quick fix. "Essentially, she is a very good person," says her portrayer, Catherine Wadkins. "If you asked her any other dfday in her life if she would ever steal a man from antoher woman, the answer would be no. The choice to lie is difficult for her, but it's almost a survial instinct. She's desperate.

"There's a lot of guilt for what she's doing," Wadkins adds. "But ultimately, she is just so desparately lonely. Her husband was really the only thing she had in the world. There's also a part of her that things, "This guy shows up on my doorstep, totally mine, and then can't remember who he is. Maybe he is a miracle. Maybe he is a gift from God."

As headwriter Charles Pratt Jr. sees it, the trick will be getting fans to embrace this woman who is actively lying to win a man who is already spoken for. "That is a real challenge," admits Pratt. "The truth is, we are really going to show this woman's guilt and her desire to do the right thing, but it's weighed against her enormous pain of losing a husband. We're trying to make it as relatable as we can and not make her sedem crazy. We don't want people to think she's nuts. She knows what she's doing is wrong, and she tries to find ways to fight it.