Lydia Look: From Tiny Role to General Hospital Villainess

In 2015, actress-screenwriter Lydia Look was brought in to play crime boss Selina Wu on General Hospital (1963 to present).

- 

With more than 15,000 episodes aired, it has become the longest-running American soap opera still in production.

Her role was to be an "under five," which in industry parlance means under five lines.

The part was tiny, but her performance made such an impact with viewers that the show brought her back.

"I guess I did a good job. I think they had never seen an Asian woman — or any woman — be so fierce. The fans liked it and I just blew up overnight," she recounts.

"I got called in again, and about 80 episodes later, I'm still on the show," says Look, who is in her 40s.

Soap operas, because of their tight filming schedules and high volume of output, make high demands on its cast members.

"You get one rehearsal and one take. So, you have to be on top of your game. You have to be a very good actor, you have to be very confident, you have to know how to work with people," she says.

On the plus side, producers gave Look the freedom to fill out the backstory of the Asian-American villainess, who is from an "extremely complicated" and powerful mafia family.

"She's well-heeled and well-travelled, and speaks several languages," she says.