Disney/Ricky Middlesworth
Sixteen-year-old Finn Carr has been drawing rave reviews from General Hospital fans for his sensitive portrayal of Dante and Lulu’s teenage son, Rocco Falconeri. Soap Opera Digest caught up with the rising star about his entry into showbiz, his Port Charles parents and more.
Soap Opera Digest: How did you get your start as a professional actor?
Finn Carr: I started acting over a decade ago. My brother had started acting [before me] and then I also showed some interest, and so my parents thought, “Why not?” I was 4 when I first started and my first job that I ever had was on Hot in Cleveland. I was lucky enough to share a stage with Betty White [ex-Ann Douglas, Bold and Beautiful] for my first job! That’s my claim to fame — that’s my flex [laughs].
Digest: It’s one thing to show interest in it when you’re 4 years old, but how did it evolve into something that you wanted to keep pursuing seriously as you got older?
Carr: I was always a pretty outgoing sort of kid — not shy at all, very spontaneous — which, as a younger kid in the film industry, that’s what a lot of [casting directors] look for. I always kind of had that attitude that a lot of actors share, and I was lucky enough to kind of keep that throughout my teenage years and up to now. I still feel just the same way about acting: I absolutely love it. It’s one of my favorite things. It’s a great way to express myself and get out of my comfort zone whenever I can, which is a good thing to keep doing, especially at my age.
Digest: What was the process of booking General Hospital like for you?
Carr: After Covid, there had been a really big dry spell [in acting jobs], and this is one of the first jobs I got, and I am so lucky to have gotten it. I remember I got fake sides [audition pages] because they weren’t revealing anything, so I had no idea what character I was going out for. I submitted a self-tape, and I remember I wore this cool leather jacket that I wore for the callback as well. When I got the callback, I went to L.A. [Carr is based in Northern California] and had a really good time in the room. People were super-nice and I had a great feeling after, and so I had kind of a little idea that I might have done something good. And on my way home, I got the call!
Digest: Do you remember your first day playing Rocco?
Carr: Vividly! I wasn’t used to the format of how soaps are filmed; I’m used to a multi-camera, one-episode-per-week type of deal. It was definitely a very new experience and one that I was pretty excited to have. All of my jobs before this have been comedies, sitcoms. So having a job that was more drama-oriented was a really cool change of pace that I was very glad to have.
Digest: Had you longed to do dramatic roles?
Carr: I think I was a kid — well, I was told by my mom, so I don’t know how true this is, but apparently, I was a very funny child, so I guess it was sort of natural that I kind of gravitated a bit more towards comedy, because in acting, you want to be able to be as natural as possible. But as I’ve gotten older and I’ve gotten more experience, I really did want to try out the other side of things and kind of be able to go deeper into the characters than what I’ve been previously doing, and really develop a little bit more of a gritty way of acting. And this was a great opportunity to do so!
Digest: I think it’s interesting what you just said about wanting to be as natural as possible as an actor, because I think that’s what General Hospital fans are responding to in your work.
Carr: Well, thank you. Every day, my whole way of thinking about the character is just how to be as organic as I can. And as soon as I feel like I’m acting, I try to to take a little bit of a step back and really put myself into those shoes and just try and be the character and that normally gives me the best results when it comes to my performance and what I feel is a good job for the character.
Digest: On soap operas, characters are often in really heightened circumstances that you wouldn’t necessarily have real-life experience with. How do you approach, say, playing, “My mom just had a liver transplant and she left the hospital and I’m running into her seeing her for the first time awake in four years?” Because you nailed that!
Carr: I think that scene in particular, I really just wanted to go on set and feel out the kind of vibe that was going on. Working with Alexa [Havins, Babe] was amazing. I always love working with really talented actors because you’re able to feed so much off of them. And you know, Rocco wasn’t expecting to see someone. If I was kind of expecting to see my mom, I feel like I wouldn’t be able to deliver as organic of a performance, and so I went on the set and I understood my lines and I just kind of let the emotions come and just did what felt the most natural and trusted my instincts on set. And I guess it worked out pretty well.
Disney/Bahareh Ritter
Reunion Yes! Carr in one of his first scenes with GH mom Alexa Havins (Lulu).
Digest: Dominic Zamprogna, who plays your dad, told me that the first time he realized just how good you are was when Dante came out of his coma and he saw from your reaction in the scene how present you were.
Carr: I love to hear that. That’s so nice.
Digest: You’ve been working with Dom for a while, but your on-screen relationship with Alexa is still pretty new. How have you gone about establishing that mother/son bond with her?
Carr: When it’s going into a relationship like that, like a mother/son relationship, comfort is always the main priority. I need to be very at ease with her to show that, “This is my mom.” So being very relaxed on set — just being in the set before the cameras go on — is a trick I always love to use, just kind of feeling the environment out and just talking with her before the scenes and going over the lines. [Before our first scenes] I think we talked for around an hour just about how she’s doing, how I’m doing, stuff we’ve done before this, how her life is, how my life is. She is an absolute professional and working with her on set was one of the coolest experiences I’ve had. I always love going on the set and just learning from the other actors because they’re so seasoned and such complete professionals. I’m humbled every single day I go on set just because of how much talent I’m surrounded by. She’s super-fun and super-kind and it kind of felt like I was just doing scenes with my mom. Just under a crazier circumstance [laughs]!
Digest: Tell me about your dynamic with Dom.
Carr: He’s a really fun guy. He never fails to make me laugh. I always love when I see that I have scenes with him because we definitely have that flow and that chemistry that the audience loves to see. He’s an amazing person and such a great mentor for me. The realism that he brings, I feel like I’m able to match his energy to help ground the performance. I love working with him.
Digest: What is it like for you to balance work and school?
Carr: I go to a regular public public high school, and school can definitely be a struggle sometimes, but I’m a straight A student, which I’m very happy about. I try and balance it as well as I can, and being able to maintain As while also really giving my all to my performances, I’m very happy with myself but I’ve been able to get there, but it hasn’t always been easy. It’s always a struggle when I go back after missing a week of [school] and catching up on my tests and stuff like that. But I think I’ve done an okay job! There are definitely some sacrifices that have to be made, and some late homework assignments. I make up everything that I can and really work as hard as I can in school, as I do with acting. What kind of helps me is that when I’m in L.A., I’m a different person, almost, in terms of my mentality. When I’m there, I’m Actor Finn, and when I’m at home, I’m a regular person that just goes to school like everyone else and lives a very normal life and plays video games and goes rock-climbing.
Digest: You’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback from fans on social media. Have you enjoyed peeking in on what fans are saying about your work?
Carr: The fans are the most important [feedback you can]. Of course, it’s great to have people on set say great things to you, but at the end of the day, it’s kind of the fans that matter the most, because if they don’t like it, then it doesn’t really count. I do occasionally peer in to see what’s being said, and I’ve been very lucky to have really nice things being said, which helps a lot in my performance, too, and not getting into my head about things. It just gives me more confidence when going on to set.
Digest: Is there anything you’d like to say to the viewers who are reading this?
Carr: Thank you, of course, for all of the positive feedback, and for letting me be a part of the General Hospital legacy. It’s been an honor and I’m glad that my work is being well-received. I’m really lucky to be a part of the show and I’m grateful to the fans. It’s such a great feeling when something you put a lot of work into is well-received.
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