Jophielle Love plays the role of Violet Barnes on General Hospital. She’s been seen on Grey’s Anatomy, and worked on a Citi Bank commercial with her dad and brother.

1. How did you react when you heard you booked Grey’s Anatomy?
I was happy, but to be honest, I didn’t have much time to realize what was happening because it was very last minute. I had to self tape in the middle of a very busy day between two auditions, just a few days before they started filming! It all went very fast. I am too young to watch Grey’s Anatomy, so I didn’t know the actors in it… but now, I want to go say “hi” every time I get off my new job on General Hospital which shoots right next door on Prospect Studios, because I always want to see if Jesse (Williams) is there! I really liked him the most. Everybody tells me I am not the only one…

2. What went into getting you in character before you could go on set?
Not much because I was pretty much in a hospital gown the whole time … actually I was in bed the whole time too! And as far as my big head… obviously, you know that was not my real head … but it wasn’t a prostectic either! I was just wearing a swim cap with lines and marks on it, and they added my big head after, in post! Every time we shot, we had to hold a big shiny ball in front of my face at the beginning to help them do the special effect later. So … the first time I saw myself on tv with that big bald head, it made me smile… it wasn’t scary. I thought it was very cool to see how they fixed my head! But no worries, it wasn’t really me in there during the surgery.

3. Do you do anything special to learn your lines?
Actually, on Grey’s, the part had no lines, until they decided they wanted to give me a few lines which were all added in post! Watch again! You actually never see my lips moving! How funny is that?
At first this part was going to be cast as an extra… but then they decided it had to be cast as there was a lot of interactions and emotions with the parents and doctors. That’s how I got cast!
Now on General Hospital, I sometimes have a lot of lines. My parents help me learn my lines the day before and when I get to set, my “mom and dad” make sure I run my lines with them before we shoot. It usually goes well. It is still pretty new for me, but I have a very memory for long lines… I think it is because all the time that we spend in the car going to auditions with my brothers, we spend singing the songs on the radio, and I love learning all the words.

4. How did you enjoy filming a Citi Bank commercial with your family?
This was my first big commercial, and I was very lucky to be able to do it with my dad and my brother Gabriel. If my dad had three legs, we could have done it with my brother Raphael too! ; )
It was just one day of shoot, but those few hours of hanging on my dad’s leg, looking up and laughing were pretty tiring! Not as tiring as for my dad who had no voice for a whole day after that. The commercial ended up on TV for a whole year! We also saw it a few times on the front page of the New York Times! (My dad thought that was pretty cool). I wish we could do more jobs together. It was fun and made want to do more.

5. What was your time on set like filming Rose?
My parents’ friend, Nicolas Bosc, a French stuntman, made this short movie. It is a movie that has a lot of stunt scenes and fights in it, … I know I won’t be allowed to watch it until I am a grown up. There was actually two of us acting the part of Rose that day. I was actually just coming for support and they decided I should do it too, to give them more choices. Auriana was 6 and I was 4 at the time.
At the end of that long day, I was really tired and fell asleep, so my dad decided I wasn’t going to do the last scene … but I woke up and watched Auriana work and it looked fun to me, so, when we went up to the director and 1st A.D to say good bye, I asked “Is it my turn now?”
They looked at each other, looked around, (they had packed all their equipment already) and they said “ wellll… yes!!!! It is !!!” Everyone got their cameras back out and we shot that last scene which was a bit emotional and apparently everyone on set was very impressed… and here it was! Had I not woken up for that last scene, the movie wouldn’t have been with me in it at all! I didn’t realized that only one of us could be in the movie at the end. That’s too bad, because she did a good job too and actually showed me the way!
The movie won 16 awards, one of which was for me in the “best young actress” category.
So thankful for this first movie experience!

6. How did you feel when you found out you had booked General Hospital?
Now, that, was really cool because it happened right after I worked on Grey’s Anatomy which shoots next door to General Hospital, so I was happy that I could visit my Grey’s friends more often.
I thought it was funny that it was another hospital kind of show and that my first few episodes were going to be, again, just laying in bed! I went to the callback with 3 other little girls. I felt very confident that day and before we got back to our car we got a call from my agent to tell us we got the job. A good day indeed.

7. What is the best part about working with your stage parents Rebecca Budig and Michael Easton?
Both Rebecca (Budig) and Michael (Easton) are the best. I fell in love with both of them right away. I feel very comfortable with them, I just want to give them hugs and kisses all the time. And they both have kids my age so I get to have more playdates with new friends!
I like to fix Michael’s hair on set before we shoot. They help me with my lines before each scene, they cheer me up when I am feeling a little nervous… I really am lucky to have them. I can’t say anything about the future in the story but I hope we get a lot of fun scenes together! ; ) Finola Hugues who plays my step mom is very nice too. I really feel at home in the General Hospital family … I have a lot of new cousins there; some of them I call them “my brothers”!
I love going to work!

9. Is there anyone at the show you would like to have scenes with soon?
I would love to have scenes with my “cousin”, William Lipton (Cameron) … he is always very nice to me … I feel like he could protect me. And really, any of the other kids … I like Scarlet and Porter too.

10. Do you have a favorite scene you have filmed so far?
I have two: the TEA PARTY because I had my mom and my dad together and it felt like we were a real family.
My other favorite one is the one I did with my brother Gabriel (Sky) who was hired for the Christmas episode and ended up doing a scene with me… he really was a big support to me that day and I was so thankful he was there. He is a great big brother. I hope we often get to work together. Maybe next time, my brother Raphael gets to work with us too! ; )

Is there anything else you would like to add?
Yes
I want to be a director someday!
The other day I visited my parents on set.They were shooting a Virtual Reality project at the Intel Studios and I told the director I wanted to be the director and … he let me! For the next four takes, I sat in the director’s chair with the mic in hands and I directed my parents and others on set! It was very fun! I called “Action!” and … “3,2,1…fall!” … and “Cut!”. It felt really great! Sometimes, if you tell your dreams to people around you … they might help you make it happen! So… don’t be shy!

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Image by: Shandon Youngclaus