Exclusive Interview
Inside Gio & Emma’s First Time With ‘General Hospital’ Stars Giovanni Mazza and Braedyn Bruner
What To Know
- Gio Palmieri and Emma Drake, played by Giovanni Mazza and Braedyn Bruner, took their relationship to a new level on the January 15 episode of General Hospital.
- The actors spoke with Swooon about filming their first soap love scene.
- Mazza and Bruner say the fan response to Gemma has been “really rewarding” to see.
On the January 15 episode of General Hospital, Gio Palmieri (Giovanni Mazza) and Emma Drake (Braedyn Bruner) made love for the first time, a moment that felt right not just for the characters, but the actors bringing them to life.
“Their timeline has progressed at such a natural pace,” Bruner tells Swooon. “I think it is more reminiscent of life because they started as friends and then they became best friends, and now they’re in a romantic relationship, and with this episode airing, they’re taking the next step. I feel like it’s moved very naturally, and I really appreciate that. I wouldn’t change anything about it because I think it really resonates with the audience that we’re not rushing anything.”
That authenticity, she notes, began on the page. “We were just ecstatic to be a part of it because the writing was so good,” Bruner adds. “I love the conversations that we have the morning after. I think those are some of my favorite scenes that we’ve done so far.”
For Mazza and Bruner, who both joined the 62-year-old soap in 2024, it marked their first soap love scene, and the show made a point to ensure it was handled with care. “It was really private,” relays Mazza. “Everyone cultivated a very nice environment and silence on set. Everyone was very conscious of the fact that this was very intimate for us, and they were very respectful. It allowed us to be comfortable with each other, and be comfortable with everybody around us.”
That level of ease was reinforced by their off-screen rapport. “Gio and I are very comfortable with each other, and I think that makes the scenes easier to play in a way,” observes Bruner. “We feel very safe with one another. So, that’s always nice because if we didn’t hang out outside the show or we weren’t as close, I feel like doing any sort of intimacy, whether that’s kissing or more, might feel much more terrifying or intimidating or uncomfortable, and thankfully that’s just not the case.”
The two had a sense there would be a romance in their characters’ future, even if it took longer than expected to unfold. “Because I had two chemistry reads with him and my screen test was with him, I just obviously assumed that’s where they were going,” notes Bruner. “However, I felt like it at the beginning, it was months of this ongoing joke of, ‘I don’t actually think we’re ever going to see them together,’ because we would get a scene and we’d be like, ‘Oh, maybe this is where we hold hands,’ or, ‘Maybe this is where we have a kiss.’ We would always try to guess and then it was never anything romantic.”
So, they took matters into their own hands, in a sense. “We started adding our own things in earlier on,” reveals Bruner. “So, some of the stuff that you saw back at the Nurses’ Ball [in May 2025] where I held his hand at the bridge, or any time that he’s held my hand, that kind of became our thing. The hand holding was never something that was written in the scenes.”
Disney / Christine Bartolucci
The powers-that-be quickly took notice. “In that scene where Braden reaches out her hand to hold mine and she said, ‘Where you go, I go,’ they were like, ‘Wait, wait, wait, we need to do that again. We need to get a shot of you guys holding hands,'” recalls Mazza. “From there, it became a thing. Whenever we would feel like it, we would hold each other’s hands and be the shoulder to cry on. The fans just were obsessed with it, and then the writers were writing it in.”
At the core of Gio and Emma’s dynamic is a genuine friendship that’s been building between their portrayers for more than a year. “From the start, I could tell she’s just so trustworthy and welcoming and nice, and she is so much fun to watch on screen and to hang out with,” Mazza says. “We just laugh all the time. Off-screen, we connect over acting and movies, and we watch movies together all the time, and that passion sort of transfers over into the screen. We’ve had scenes together for over a year now, and we’ve had all that time to just regulate with each other that most certainly helps our relationship.”
Bruner agrees that their off-screen bond directly informs their chemistry on the show. “If we weren’t so close outside of the show, I think it would just make scenes a little bit more challenging,” she offers. “I’m not saying that they’re always easy — because they’re definitely not — but being comfortable with your scene partner is the ultimate goal to have because if you’re not comfortable with who you’re working with, then how can you ever just be in the moment? So definitely that makes things a lot easier, and we do have that level of playfulness on screen because we’re so playful in real life.”
With Gio and Emma’s romance now firmly established, look for him to be there for her as she navigates some difficult waters ahead. “There is a lot in store for Emma’s character in this next year,” teases Mazza. “And I think it was necessary to solidify their relationship so that she has this rock that she can always come to because I think she’s just going to go to new heights, on a journey of ups and downs, and hopefully he will be there every step of the way.”
And for both actors, the enthusiastic fan response has made the journey even more meaningful. “It’s why we do this,” notes Bruner. “I mean, the show is not for us, it’s for everyone, so to see how happy they are with us, or when we see the hashtag #Gemma and see how people get excited to tune into an episode because of us, that feels really rewarding and that we’re doing something right. I hope people just remember what it’s like to fall in love when they see us. I think that that’s really special.”
General Hospital, Weekdays, ABC
