Kate Mansi and Maurice Benard talk their immediate bond and acting careers on State of Mind! Read more here >>
Kate Mansi joined Maurice Benard this week on State of Mind.
Maurice opened this episode this week remembering his struggles early on with his Bipolar depression and acting career. He explained how he could use it with his performances to create the characters he loves playing.
Maurice credits All My Children as a turning point in not only his career but his life as well. Yet with that success, Benard still wondered why God would want him to suffer so much.
Benard realized that he went through these proverbial flames in order to help people avoid their fire pits entirely. It is why he wrote Nothing General About It and hosts State of Mind every week.
Benard introduces his guest for the week, Kate Mansi who plays Kristina Corinthos-Davis, Benard’s character’s daughter, on General Hospital.
Maurice welcomes Kate to the show by showering her with compliments about her talent on the soundstage and reads a very flowery review of her he found.
Maurice spoke fondly of Lexi Ainsworth who held the role of Kristina until this year. Mansi said that she understands how awkward and complicated it is to be a recast and even hesitated for a little before accepting the role. It wasn’t until she knew she would be working with Maurice that she decided to take the offer.
Benard and Mansi discussed their first day working together and immediately forming a bond and respect for one another. They took to one another’s energy and recognized the confidence in each other in their performances.
They discussed how using someone’s own darkness can fuel great performances, but living in that headspace constantly is damaging to someone’s mental health long term. It isn’t until someone is able to achieve the confidence in themselves to channel these emotions through the artistic lens to finally relax.
Kate Mansi speaks of feeling selfish when she realized her tendency to try to make others comfortable around her was so she could be comfortable herself. When she was able to shed that responsibility for other’s feelings, she was able to relax in the way Maurice spoke of and have more authentic experiences on set and with others.
When Mansi took the role of Abigail Devereaux on Days of our Lives, Mansi’s life changed overnight. Her boyfriend had broken up with her the night before her final callback. As much as Mansi tried to hide it, she was distraught and it didn’t go totally unnoticed.
She ultimately booked the role and worked on Days for five years. She bonded immediately with Missy Reeves who played her mother Jennifer Horton in the make-up chair on her first day as Kate came to the realization that they vacationed in neighboring houses very recently and Reeves had met Kate’s father.
At the end of five years with Days, with four being on contract and a bonus fifth year to honor the legacy of Days of Our Lives in their 50th Anniversary year, Kate bid farewell to Salem for good.
Finally, the conversation moved to what State of Mind is all about. They brought up depression, anxiety, and living with bipolar depression. While Kate herself isn’t diagnosed as bipolar, her father was, and growing up in the same house as him was a first-hand education.
Mansi has fought anxiety and depression her entire life and can relate to Maurice in using that to benefit her performances.
With a background in dance, she came to an early understanding that in the entertainment business, you don’t talk about your supposed weaknesses. Whether it be a sprained ankle or mental illness, it had been seen as best kept quiet in order to not lose opportunities.
Kate remembers developing a shorthand with her father, even if just through a look or the way they spoke that would signal each other to a particularly challenging day or experience. This way they could have each other’s backs and keep them elevated as much as possible.
The pandemic was challenging for both Maurice and Kate, but for very different reasons.
While Maurice Benard consistently relied on the friendship of a police officer who had been on a tour in Vietnam to keep his mind right, Kate was navigating the challenges of a deteriorating marriage.
Mansi had planned to wed her boyfriend just before the initial shutdown in 2020. Not assuming a worldwide shutdown of civilization, they signed the marriage paperwork before the ceremony. A ceremony that was postponed ultimately five times before the venue was able to host.
By that time, Mansi’s husband had what she described as a “crisis of conscience” and didn’t want to talk down the aisle with her.
This was intensely confusing for Kate as her current husband was hesitant about having a wedding. At the time, she was very distraught and angry. She thought he had lost his way. Reflecting back, she now realizes he was on a personal journey of discovery.
After a year of navigating the difficult relationship, ultimately Kate and her husband filed for divorce. This was another huge blow to Mansi who sunk into a state of deep depression. Divorce had been a triggering word for her and now living through it she felt at the “bottom of the well.”
Mansi realized that nobody was going to save her and it was up to her to get herself back up off the ground and move forward in life.
Kate Mansi believes firmly in talking openly about the challenges people from all walks of life face. She specifically mentions taking Zoloft and having anxiety. She thinks that talking openly about these things is how we can destigmatize them as a society.
Maurice Benard thanks Kate Mansi for joining him as there are many people who aren’t interested in being on State of Mind because of the fear of talking openly about this topic. Watch the full interview below!
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