GH's Maura West Remembers Ava's Most Scandalous Stories Over Her Decade On The Show

Ava Jerome (Maura West), the sultry femme fatale of "General Hospital," has stirred up a lot of trouble in Port Charles over the years. Formerly a key part of the Jerome crime family, things changed when Ava had a twisted and strange one-night stand with her enemy, mafia kingpin Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard), in the crypt of the wealthy Quartermaine family. Fortunately, their tryst resulted in their daughter Avery Corinthos, brokering peace between them. Prior to arriving in town, Ava had struck up a relationship with serial killer Franco Baldwin and claimed he was her daughter Kiki Jerome's (first Kristen Alderson, then Hayley Erin) father. 

It was believed that Franco was related to the Quartermaines and Ava wanted some of their vast fortune. Ava also murdered Connie Falconeri (Kelly Sullivan) to stop her from revealing the family's extensive crimes, and would later have an affair with Sonny's son, Morgan Corinthos (Bryan Craig), before inadvertently causing his death. Ava almost married serial killer Ryan Chamberlain (Jon Lindstrom) too, when he was posing as his good twin brother, Kevin Collins.

She eventually struck up a romance with Nikolas Cassadine (then Tyler Christopher), who faked his death for years, only to turn up alive (as played by Marcus Coloma) and eventually marry Ava. However, Nikolas grew increasingly unstable, and when he threatened to take Avery away from Ava, she murdered him, hiding the body with the help of Dr. Austin Gatlin-Holt (Roger Howarth). West recently discussed Ava's many misdeeds.

"General Hospital" star Maura West reminisced all about Ava Jerome's checkered history during a recent interview with Soap Opera Digest. The actor shared how thrilled she was to join the soap back in 2013, describing Ava's appearance: "My intention with her [look] — always in dresses, and I chose that sort of wavy bob, like a mob moll of old — was really making her kind of a throwback to that '40s kind of mobstress." Regarding the time when Ava killed Connie Falconeri, West enjoyed playing with the idea that Ava was good with a gun and had no problem using one. 

However, as for how things went down between Ava and Morgan Corinthos, West admitted to being uncomfortable with the story, "But I don't have to love everything Ava does. I just have to do it as best I can." Concerning when Ava and Austin Gatlin-Holt hid Nikolas Cassadine's presumed-dead body, she stated, "I don't know where that's going, but I love that I'm able to play with Roger [Howarth]." 

When Ava almost married Ryan Chamberlain, West said, "That was really juicy. Ava falls in love with this guy she thinks is Kevin, thinks is a stand-up guy, clean as a whistle as far as mob ties or any of that, and she can't believe that this guy would fall for her. And she was sort of right to doubt it!" West concluded by confirming that she loves working on the show and everyone involved, and is thankful for the experience.