Nazneen Contractor’s journey to General Hospital is a true Hollywood surprise. In an interview with TV Insider, the actress shared that she never expected to land a role on the long-running soap when she visited the set with her mother to watch her husband, Carlo Rota, film his scenes as Jenz Sidwell.
Nazneen Contractor Talks General Hospital
“When I met [Executive Producer] Frank Valentini, the rest was history!” Contractor recalls. “He said, ‘Do you want to come be on the show?’ I was just thinking that he’s being polite. As an actor, you hear that, and rarely anything comes of it.”
Rota, however, had an inside scoop. “Carlo came home and he said, ‘Frank said they need this big prosecuting lawyer for a courtroom scene, and I think he’s gonna write you into the show.’” Sure enough, a week later, Contractor got a call from her agents with an offer for a four-episode arc as lawyer Justine Turner.
Contractor, who launched her career in Canada with roles in The Border and 24, and appeared in films such as Star Trek Into Darkness and Séance: The Summoning, quickly learned that working on a soap is an entirely different experience.
“Little did I know that it was going to be such a huge challenge,” she admits. “Carlos explained the dynamic of the way soap operas run, and it’s just so fast and so furious. My first day, I had 71 pages of dialogue, and it was so intense. I have been doing this for over 20 years, and I have never been more nervous than when I stepped onto that sound stage.”
Thankfully, the GH cast helped ease her transition. “I got to work with so many of the core cast members in the Kristina Davis [Kate Mansi]/Ava Jerome [Maura West] trial,” Contractor says. “I got to question them on the witness stand, and I was not only blown away by their talent and their commitment and how I got wrapped up in their stories, but they were so kind, and they were so supportive of my big monologues. I came away feeling so lucky to have had that experience and thought that was the end of that.”
But her run as Assistant District Attorney Justine Turner didn’t stop there. “Every month of 2025, I’ve been back on that show, prosecuting someone, investigating someone, and now I’ve become the acting district attorney, which is just amazing,” Contractor shares. “It’s been a thrill to see how they’ve allowed this character to progress and really get into other people’s storylines and now become a part of Port Charles. I pinch myself, like, ‘How did this happen? This is great.’”
While some fans have mixed feelings about Turner, Contractor says viewers should keep an open mind. “There’s a lot more to Turner than meets the eye,” she teases. “Give her a chance. She’s a lot softer than we think.”
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