Eva Larue leaving 'General Hospital': 'They just hated my character so much'

USA Today

11 hours ago

Eva LaRue is doing the soap star shuffle.
After joining "General Hospital" over a year ago as domineering and intolerant mother figure Natalia Rogers-Ramirez, LaRue's character is getting the boot.
"I was originally only supposed to be on the show for a couple of months," LaRue told Soap Opera Digest, in an interview published Monday, June 30, announcing her exit. "And it ended up being a much longer run, which was great — and really fun because there are so many 'All My Children' actors there and so it felt like home."
LaRue cut her teeth as a soap star on "All My Children," appearing as Maria Santos Grey on the series for stints in the mid '90s and 2000s.
She told Soap Opera Digest that months before her exit, she began to see the writing on the wall.
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"I started to feel it in January," she said. "They tried to rehabilitate my character."
"People just weren't buying it, because they just hated my character so much," she explained. "I was so vilified that no matter what (the writers) did, it just wasn't a solid enough rehabilitation," especially in relation to her character's onscreen romance with Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard), one of "General Hospital's" central characters.
"When they finally let that idea go, I realized, 'OK, I'm probably not much longer for this world,'" she explained, citing the writer's decision to abandon the relationship.
While LaRue's exit may feel like a welcome reprieve for the show's dogged fanbase, who often derided her character's bad mothering, those who work on the soap are sad to see her go.
"Eva's been a dear friend for years, and I am so pleased we found an opportunity to work together," Frank Valentini, the show's executive producer, said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly.
"What originally was meant as a guest star arc turned into a longer and more satisfying arc, in thanks to Eva's terrific work and chemistry with our cast," he added. "I was thrilled Eva was available to us in this extended role. I wish her all the best in her upcoming projects."
As for LaRue, while she enjoyed her time on the show, she's glad to leave the villainess arc behind.
She said it was a "hard" role "for me as a person."
"In daytime, when you play a character like Maria Santos (her 'All My Children' role), love her or hate her, she was not ever meant to be a vilified character. And so it was hard from being that character, being a fan favorite, to being, like, literally hated," she told Soap Opera Digest.
"The GH fans couldn't stand (Natalia)!" La Rue said. "So that was tough, because especially if you are accustomed to being rooted for, to be rooted against is not as comfortable."