Kate Mansi (Kristina) made her directorial debut this week with an episode of General Hospital.

It was a dream come true for the soap star, who began her directorial journey during her time on Days of Our Lives. Years later, on her birthday, Mansi learned that all her hard work had paid off, and she was going to be a director.

Days of Our Lives’ Alison Sweeney Inspired Kate Mansi to Direct

Speaking with TV Insider, Mansi revealed that she caught the directing bug after watching her former Days of Our Lives co-star, Alison Sweeney (Sami). Mansi played Abigail on the Peacock soap for years and watched Sweeney learn the directing ropes.

“I watched her go through that process, and then she directed her first episode that I was actually in. She was Ali Sweeney, the director, but also seeing how she transferred the attention to detail that she has as an actor to when she was directing was so inspiring to me. I remember I called my dad afterwards, and I was like, ‘Ali Sweeney directed today, and I want to do that someday,’” Mansi expressed.

Sweeney has become even more of an inspiration to Mansi as the actress continues to write, produce, and direct on Hallmark. Mansi began shadowing directors while she was on Days of Our Lives and was fortunate enough to continue pursuing her directorial dream when she joined General Hospital in 2023.

Kate Mansi Reveals General Hospital Co-Star She Was Intimidated to Direct

On her birthday in September, General Hospital executive producer Frank Valentini called her to announce she was getting her shot at directing. Mansi was thrilled to be given the opportunity to direct her co-stars on the ABC soap, but she was also intimidated, especially by one of them.

“Frank called me and said he had the perfect episode for me to direct and that I was ready and I was scared sh**less, but I said to him, ‘OK, I think I’m ready, too, but please, the only person I don’t want to direct is Laura Wright [Carly Spencer].’ He was like, ‘Why? She’s amazing.’ And yes, she’s amazing as a human and friend and actor, but I was really intimidated to direct her,” the actress shared with the outlet.

It turned out that Mansi did have to direct Laura Wright (Carly), and she could tell that Mansi was nervous. However, Wright simply allowed Mansi to do her thing and make bold choices. In the end, Wright gave Mansi a compliment that meant the world to her.

“When I finished those scenes, she called me and said, ‘I’ve been an actor for 34 years, and I’ve never played something that way. I could tell that you had some throwbacks of the old soap classics in that scene, but with a fresh take.’ That meant so much to me, and I really cried,” Mansi expressed.

The soap star also gave credit to Sweeney, whom she called for assistance because she wanted to blow Wright’s mind when directing her. Sweeny helped walk her through the scenes and bounced around ideas with Mansi.

Mansi’s episode also featured soap vets Maurice Benard (Sonny), Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis), Rick Hearst (Ric), Steve Burton (Jason), and Genie Francis (Laura). She felt fully supported by all of them and everyone else in her General Hospital family.

Now that she has her first episode down, Mansi admitted she’s ready for more and hopes she gets the chance to direct her co-stars again.

General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC.