Less than a year since taking over the role of Molly Lansing-Davis on “General Hospital,” actress Kristen Vaganos has been upped to contract status at the ABC daytime drama series.
Making her debut on the September 27, 2023 episode, Vaganos is the fourth adult actress to play the daughter of Alexis Davis and Ric Lansing (Nancy Lee Grahn and Rick Hearst), who, like her parents, is also a lawyer.
Vaganos, a Philadelphia native, is the first actress to portray Molly on a contract basis since the character’s introduction in 2006. Initially, the character was born onscreen and was portrayed by two different sets of twin babies until 2008. By 2009, the show opted to age up the character with the hiring of Haley Pullos, who went on to receive a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for her portrayal in 2015 in the Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series category.
In May 2023, it was announced that Pullos had been involved in a car accident caused by DUI. She last appeared in the role on May 24, 2023. Two actresses, Holiday Mia Kriegel and Brooke Anne Smith, later filled as the show assessed Pullos’ health and legal situation. By late September, Vaganos had taken over the role.
During recent episodes, Vaganos has been praised for her powerful portrayal of a grieving mother who recently found out that her half-sister, Kristina Corinthos-Davis (Kate Mansi), had been planning to seek sole custody of the baby she was carrying as a surrogate for Molly and Molly’s domestic partner T.J. Ashford (Tajh Bellow).
Although Molly and T.J. had agreed to name their deceased daughter Irene Marie Davis-Ashford leading up to the child’s funeral service, Kristina later revealed that she would refer to the child as Adela, which is the name of Molly and Kristina’s deceased paternal grandmother, who Kristina herself was named after, albeit her middle name – Adela Corinthos was the mother of Kristina’s father, Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Molly’s father, Ric.
Before joining “General Hospital,” Vaganos appeared in several film and television projects, most notably the TV movie “Obsessed with the Babysitter” and the mini-series “Dating After College.”
According to the end credits shown during Friday, August 30 episode of “General Hospital,” Vaganos’ name appears ahead of Jonathan Jackson in the contract cast list. Jackson reprised his role as Lucky Spencer on the Friday, August 23 episode.