ABC
With Kristina officially pregnant with the baby she is carrying for Molly and T.J. using her own donor egg, Digest checked in with Kate Mansi about the surrogacy story, Kristina’s burgeoning relationship with Blaze and more.
It seems like Kristina is going into this pregnancy/surrogacy journey thinking it’s going to be smooth sailing and not particularly complicated emotionally. Is that a fair assessment? “Yeah, I mean, it’s a very Kristina approach. She’s kind of like, ‘It’s cool. I got this, all good.’ She just really sees the desire in her sister [to be a mother] and she has the vision of a way to make this a reality for her sister. And I think she very much just sort of has the mindset of, ‘Great, let’s just do it! We’ll figure it out as we go.’ Which is why, in turn, knowing that about her behavior and her character, her mom tends to be a little bit on high alert or hyper-vigilant, because Kristina does tend to be like, ‘It’s cool, I’ve got this,’ and Alexis is just like, ‘Okay, but have you really thought this through?’ I think this has also been a very special bonding and alliance between the two girls [Kristina and Molly] because their sistership, if you will, is volatile and up and down, but it’s an incredible commitment to your sister, to make that decision, and it really goes a long way. I can’t say enough good things about Kristen [Vaganos, Molly] or sing her praises enough, so that makes it extra-special [to play].”
Disney/Christine Bartolucci
Bond Girls: Mansi loves playing the sisterly relationship between Kristina and Molly (Kristen Vaganos).
Back to Alexis and your observation about her acting like she’s waiting for the other shoe to drop — does Kristina understand that energy coming from her mom? Does she resent it? “She understands where it comes from but she resents it. Our parents know us best, but Kristina is trying to go a new way and she doesn’t want to be reminded of the pitfalls and all the ways that it could go wrong. But yes, she’s very aware that this sort of her history and this is how it’s been and I think that’s human nature, right? We tend to double down to prove to people around us that we’re different now, and we’re really not!”
Kristina has had a bit of a rocky dynamic with T.J. over the course of this storyline. How is Kristina feeling about where they stand now? “I think she feels they’re a team and united and ready for this and that T.J. and Molly are going to be great parents.”
It seems like Kristina’s dad, Sonny, has a generally positive reaction to the pregnancy news. “Yes, he does, and I think for Kristina, it’s really special for her to have her dad’s support.”
Is she picking up on any sort of vibe from him that he shares some of Alexis’s concerns? “The thing about their relationship is that he doesn’t have to say it. Just like Kristina kind of idealizes her dad, she sees in her dad the way that her dad sees her, which is different from how Kristina viewers herself. It’s something that she would want to live up to. Sonny is not overtly saying it, but of course, they both know that she has a tendency to react to things and jump into things. But his belief in her is so strong, there are no defenses when they’re together, really.”
On another Sonny front, Kristina was unabashedly Team Nina in the build to Sonny and Nina’s wedding. We haven’t seen Kristina with her stepmother since their marriage has been on the rocks. Are you hoping to get more scenes with Cynthia Watros (Nina)? “Yes! I love Cynthia. She’s so present. The first time I really worked with her — and then the second time and the third time — I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?!’ She has such amazing comedic timing. She is one of the funniest people I know and we giggle like little kids at a sleepover. She is just really funny, which is always such a lovely surprise when you work with someone and they have that capability, and also the capacity to go to the depths of her soul like Cynthia does. I really, really love working with her.”
So, opposite getting the news that she is pregnant, Kristina is also navigating this new relationship with Blaze. How is she feeling about this new romance? “I think she, of course, has a lot of nerves about the timing of everything. And then on top of that, the fact that Blaze isn’t out yet is like an added layer of complication. I think she’s very much balancing the line of, ‘Am I okay with the fact that my girlfriend’s not out yet? How do I feel about that? Where that does that leave me and how do I feel about that right now?’ At Christmas, Blaze dropped Kristina’s hand in public when Brook Lynn walked up to her. So Kristina is a bit more guarded than usual, at first, [about sharing her pregnancy]. But then she kind of presents it to blaze like, ‘Look, this is what I’m gonna be going through. You didn’t sign up for this. Let’s kind of pump the brakes.’ But when Blaze meets that with open arms and really welcomes that, she feels really hopeful and encouraged and she wants to see what happens between them.”
CHRISTINE BARTOLUCCI/ABC
Blaze Of Glory: After a long hiatus from the dating scene, Kristina is taking a chance on love with Blaze (Jacqueline Grace Lopez).
Of course, even if Kristina is okay with keeping their relationship on the down-low for right now, it might not feel so okay down the line. “Yeah, I don’t think she’s thinking about that. Kristina is very much someone that thinks about what’s right in front of her. When she puts her mind to something, she just does it. She’s sort of an action-based person in that way, which strangely gives her the ability to be more present. But she doesn’t really think too far down the road, you know? It’s sort of like, ‘A to B is good. B to C is good. I’ll think about the rest later; I’ll think about D through Z when it comes up.’ ”
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Kristina open her heart to someone. What do you think draws her to Blaze and makes her feel safe to at least invest enough to be willing to see where things might go? “I think that there’s definitely a charm to Blaze and a mystique, certainly, with what she does [professionally]. But also, I think the thing that intrigues her most is that there’s something underneath the person that everyone knows her as — and that’s actually who she shows more than anything else to Kristina. Kristina kind of met her in the bar without the whole pop star thing happening. And so because of that, I think she finds it really endearing that Blaze can be a little goofy and that she’s a really hard worker and all those things, you know? She’s very innocent and sweet and has a certain naivete to her that I think makes Kristina want to be protective of her.”
Mara Levinsky
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