Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with General Hospital’s Sydney Mikayla

Award-winning actress Sydney Mikayla is one of Hollywood’s brightest young stars. With a decade’s worth of experience already under her belt, she’s quickly made a name for herself for the dynamic characters she’s brought to life in projects like School of Rock, Craig of the Creek, Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, and dozens more. But she’s best known for her starring role as Trina Robinson in the longest-running daytime drama, General Hospital.

Pop Culturalist had the pleasure of speaking with Sydney about her thriving career and what it’s like working on General Hospital.

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting?
Sydney: My mother is an actress. She put me into acting. She thought I had a lot of personality and it was something that I would want to try. I remember my first show was Yo Gabba Gabba! Doing that for the first time was really interesting. I got to work with all my favorite crazy characters at five years old. I remember loving it and I wanted to continue doing it.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Sydney: Definitely my mom! She has really inspired me to become a better woman. I have to shout her out. She is constantly inspiring me.

Someone else that inspires me is my acting coach, Ms. Wendy Raquel Robinson. Her show, The Game, is now on Netflix, which is really fun to watch. I got to study and learn under her. She taught me discipline, which I needed to continue to be a great actress. I always go back to the tidbits of wisdom that she gives me to continue to learn and study.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success already in your young career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out?
Sydney: That’s a great question. I would say working on the Gabby Douglas Story. I had a standout moment with Regina King when she gave me advice. She told me to always be cognizant of your scene partner, always give a hundred percent, and always make the other person you’re working with look good. I’ll never forget that. Hopefully, I’ll get to work with her again to let her know how much that positively impacted me and why I make sure to give my all whether I have one line or a full hundred-page script.

PC: You joined the cast of General Hospital in 2019. Has anything surprised you about the experience? What’s been the biggest takeaway?
Sydney: I feel like a lot of people have a bias towards soap actors. They’re like, “That seems so easy or this or that,” but being on a soap has really taught me the type of professionalism you really need to have. They really only want us to do one take, maybe two tops, so fitting all that dialogue into one take takes a specific type of cast/actor. I’m so grateful to be able to work with such an amazing cast and people who are so dedicated to the work.

I’m having such a great time working on General Hospital. We actually just did our Women’s Day episode. In November, we’re doing our voting episode. We pretty much shoot an entire episode in one day. I’ve never done that before.

PC: Your character is dealing with a lot in her life. As an actress, how do you prepare for those more emotional moments and scenes?
Sydney: That’s a great question. I do research on YouTube to see if I can find someone who’s gone through the same thing. Luckily, General Hospital is more on the realistic side, so a lot of people have gone through what Trina has experienced or is experiencing. Though for us, it might be crazy that your dad faked his own death and came back to life. If you look it up on YouTube, there are a few people who that has happened to. I really look at those videos and put myself in that situation.

PC: If you could write a storyline for Trina, what would it be?
Sydney: Now that Trina knows that her dad is alive, she’s is definitely going to be exploring and discovering what she wants to be for her dad and what she wants her dad to be for her. That’s going to be interesting to watch.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Sydney: Lovecraft Country. It’s absolutely incredible. Jordan Peele is awesome.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Sydney: Because of Winn-Dixie—it’s an oldie, but it used to be my favorite growing up.

PC: Favorite book?
Sydney: I would say Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Sydney: West Side Story.

PC: Dream role?
Sydney: I have so many dream roles. I really like August Wilson’s work. Being able to bring that to screen would be really fun.

To keep up with Sydney, follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Photo Credit: Tim Schaeffer Photography // Makeup: Alie Fleck