Why General Hospital's Marcus Coloma Thought Nikolas Was Going To Be Killed

As Soap Central recounts, Nikolas Cassadine (Marcus Coloma) has made his share of bad, often detrimental decisions on "General Hospital." His mother, now mayor Laura Collins (Genie Francis), always believed in his good side, but dark impulses often guide his decisions. Assault, bribery, kidnapping, tampering with an election, and plotting to assassinate Hayden Barnes (Rebecca Buddig) are just a few of the awful things he's been involved in. More recently, when he thought his marriage to Ava Jerome (Maura West) was over, he slept with Esme Prince (Avery Pohl) — his son's girlfriend. When Ava found out about the affair, she and Esme fought, the result of which sent Esme over the parapet of their castle, Wyndemere.

Playing a character that constantly pushes the boundaries of right and wrong can take a toll on an actor. Soap Hub reported on a "GH" fantasy event where Coloma and Nicholas Chavez — who plays his on-screen son, Spencer Cassadine — discussed the difficulty of having to play scenes where they are at odds with each other. The scenes were so demanding that they would sometimes go to separate rooms because being such good friends in real life can detract from playing out an antagonistic relationship on-screen.

Coloma recently opened up about his initial fears that Nikolas' misdeeds were intended to get the character killed off the show.

"General Hospital" actor Marcus Coloma was recently interviewed on co-star Maurice Benard's YouTube series, "State of Mind." When asked about playing a character who often makes sinister or hurtful choices, Coloma admitted he had anxiety when he started on the show. "You read a storyline where you're going to stab your son, and you think the producers obviously want my character to die," he said. There were even moments when he thought, "they were really dissatisfied with my work, and I was gonna die."

After a few years, Coloma realized he was doing a good job, even though responses on social media were negative toward Nikolas' actions. He felt fans could separate the actor from the character, though, because of the comedic videos he and Benard have made on the side. He went on to share that if an actor lets negative social media posts into their mind, "it will freak you out ... it's disheartening to invest your soul into a performance and have people hate you after that."

Reiterating what he's previously said on Twitter, Benard told Coloma that his own character, Sonny Corinthos, was initially hated. "It was horrible," he said. When he got a longer contract, "I made different choices," which helped viewers understand that while they hated the character, they still kind of liked him as an actor. "Acting will win fans over," said Benard.