Meet ‘General Hospital’s New Emma Drake: Braedyn Bruner on Joining as Patrick & Robin’s Daughter

The Doctor Is In

For exclusive news and updates, subscribe to our General Hospital Newsletter:

Braedyn Bruner will make her General Hospital debut as Emma Drake on December 23.

The newcomer was no stranger to the soap when she auditioned for the role of Robin Scorpio (originated by Kimberly McCullough) and Patrick Drake’s (last portrayed by Jason Thompson in 2016) daughter. “Both of my parents grew up watching General Hospital in the ’80s and the ’90s,” explains the Texas native. So when Bruner booked the job, “Oh, goodness, they were over the moon,” she reports. “When my mom found out that I was screen-testing with Finola [Hughes, Anna Devane, Emma’s grandmother], she was just beside herself. They have just been so supportive throughout my entire career and they both cried.”

Bruner’s path to Port Charles began when she was five and filmed her first commercial. “I always loved movies,” she explains. “I get that from my grandparents. My grandpa is really big into old Westerns and things of that nature and anytime I would spend the night with them, it was always a movie night. I think that’s where my love for storytelling began, and then I really started taking it more seriously and decided that this is what I wanted to do when I was about 17. I’d always been in classes and lived in the print world and then the commercial space, but then I thought, ‘I want to do film and television and I really want to discipline myself and commit myself and do it full time.”

Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

Related

Evan Hofer Share First Reaction to 'General Hospital' Exit: 'Is It Cool?'

She commuted between Dallas and Los Angeles before making the West Coast her home in 2023, landing a few projects before joining the soap. “I’ve been really lucky,” Bruner reflects. “I had two films come out kind of one after the other. I did a coming-of-age drama movie that I was a lead in called Break. It’s a really lovely story. And then on the flip side of that, the other film that I did was a horror film directed by Justin Long and [brother] Christian Long. It’s an anthology series and I got to do full prosthetics and deal with some really dark material. So that was really different, challenging, and fun as well. But this is my first time on a soap, which is a completely different beast.”

To help her get a grasp of who Emma, formerly played by Brooklyn Rae Silzer, is, Bruner did her research before reporting to work. “Part of the audition process for me was going back and watching old episodes and YouTube videos of what I could find of Robin and Patrick and what their relationship was like with Emma and also what Emma’s relationship was like with Anna,” she relays. “I started with her birth scene and then as she’s grown up to understand her relationships with everyone in Port Charles. Pulling from that has been really important for me.”

She had “all the emotions” on her first day of filming. “Nervous, excited, thrilled, and just feeling incredibly lucky to be a part of it,” Bruner recalls. “But I’m really lucky because, even after the first audition that I had with Mark [Teschner, casting director] and meeting Frank [Valentini, executive producer], it felt like home. The moment I walk through the door, every single person there is such a joy to work with and has welcomed me with open arms. I couldn’t ask for a more comfortable and safe environment and I’ve just been having a lot of fun since day one.”

Disney/Christine Bartolucci

Bruner says she bonded with Hughes from the start. “I think we operate on the same level, approaching scenes with a lot of play, which is really exciting and fun,” she shares. “But she is obviously incredibly versed and experienced in this universe, so she has shown me the ropes for sure. And any time I have a question, she answers me. After she found out I got the job, she called me and kind of gave me the lowdown on everything, which was really nice. And she’ll text me and call me and she’s just been incredible; such a joy to work with.”

She’s gotten close to her other co-stars, too. “I’m lucky to be in the young adult category with some really incredible people,” Bruner raves. “As soon as I found out I booked it, Gio [Mazza, Gio Palmieri] and I went and got lunch and kind of got to know each other on a more personal level. We’ve become really great friends and we have really similar senses of humor, which is fun and makes work fun. I’ve gotten to meet Eden [McCoy] who plays Josslyn [Jacks]. She’s incredible. She’s been on the show for a really long time and she has been nothing but helpful and complimentary and great. I got to do my first scene with Taby [Tabyana Ali, Trina Robinson] the other day and she’s just such a joy, such a nice person. She’s also from Texas, which I didn’t know until recently, so we kind of bonded over that.”

Christine Bartolucci/ABC

Look for Emma to shake things up when she comes home. “Emma is confident. She’s bold, she’s unruly, you could call her rebellious,” offers Bruner. “But I think underneath all that tough exterior, she’s really quite compassionate. As we’ve been filming, we’re kind of peeling back those layers and getting to see more and more of the vulnerable side of her. But externally, she’s a lot.”

Which suits Bruner just fine. “She is so much fun to play,” she enthuses. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing a character because she is incredibly nuanced and I’m finding more and more of her every day. I hope everyone loves her as much as I do.”  With her first episode about to air, Bruner is hoping to get all she can out of her GH experience. “I always say that storytelling and love are the two closest things we have to magic in this life,” she shares. “Just being able to take wounds from our past and joys from our past and be vulnerable enough to go there is cathartic and beautiful, and getting to do that at this capacity and on General Hospital is really exciting.”

General Hospital, Weekdays, ABC, Check Local Listings