Carlo Rota Talks New 'General Hospital' Villain Role

Actor Carlo Rota has recently talked about joining the cast of General Hospital, where he plays the villain Sidwell. He discussed what it was like getting his first role on a soap opera. He also talked about making a career out of playing villains.

Appearing In A Soap Never Came Up Before

Rota is known for his roles on 24, Little Mosque on the Prairie, and Jane the Virgin. He joined the cast of General Hospital on its Aug 30, 2024 episode.

While Rota has appeared in a variety of high-profile shows, General Hospital is believed to be one of his first roles on a soap opera.

In fact, Soap Opera Digest asked the actor what it’s like cutting his teeth on the famous and prolific soap.

To his surprise, Rota admitted he was in for a bit of a shock when he first started on the series. As he explained, “It’s been a revelation to me! I thought I knew the business, but my first day on General Hospital, I realized, ‘No. No, you don’t know the business. You’re a child!’ Because it’s just a different thing — it’s a different animal and the pace is breakneck.”

Carlo Rota - YouTube — Carlo Rota – YouTube

Rota even joked to Associate Casting Director Lisa Booth that he wanted to make some special T-shirts. The front would read the show’s name. The back would say, “Off-book or die!,” highlighting the importance of memorizing scripts.

The actor even admitted the idea of doing a soap hadn’t really come up earlier in his career. As he explained, What happened was, I auditioned for Frank [Valentini, executive producer] in October of ’23 for a completely different role, and it was my first and last in-person audition since the start of the pandemic.”

“My manager calls me and says, “Look, I have this audition for you for General Hospital. I know I went in, I met everyone. They were so welcoming and I realized then how much I missed auditioning in the flesh, so to speak. It’s such a beautiful event, you know? You’re performing in front of people, in front of live bodies; you can actually hear a reaction, you can maybe hear some laughter, and the self-tape business removes you from that.”

A few months later, Rota was called up and told there was a role for him on the show.

Rota Has Quite The Background In Playing Bad Guys

The publication also noted that Emma Samms, who plays Holly Sutton, previously praised Rota for playing such a “nuanced villain.”

For his part, Rota commented, “That is super high praise. I’m gonna take that and put it in my pocket! I’m thrilled to hear that.

Sidwell may be Rota’s first soap opera character, but not his first “bad guy” role. The actor even noted he had been playing villains for most of his career. He even noted his mother would even ask him why he always played “bad” men.

As he noted, “The truth of the matter is, I think I’ve made a career of it, of playing the quote-unquote baddie.”

“And when it comes to bad people, I think the real bad people of the world don’t wake up in the morning and go, ‘Oh, I’m a bad person! I’m evil!’ They wake up in the morning and go, “I’m just me,” and they go about their business.”

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