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I I always say I was born to act as soon as I came out of the womb,” says Tabyana Ali, the GH newcomer who took over the role of Trina in March. “I feel like my birth was a performance! Literally, my mom went into labor and was trying to take me and all of a sudden the doctor said, “She’s not going to come out anymore!” and they had to do an emergency c-section. They said I looked like I was drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette – like they cut me off I!”
Her creative streak was evident in her early childhood. “As a kid, I used to write scripts all the time—even before I knew how to write, I would try to paint pictures of what I was trying to describe. I would force all my friends to be in my plays. I think my family just went, “Oh, okay. She has something there. She can really perform. “
By 2013, Ali had signed with a local agent in Texas and had almost landed an NBC pilot, BRENDA FOREVER, starring Ellie Kemper (THE OFFICE, UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT). “The role wasn’t for me,” Ali says. “It was meant for a little white girl and obviously I wasn’t a little white girl! But they told me to audition anyway and I followed through and got really far [in the casting process]. This whole experience just skyrocketed my acting career. Then we started taking things a little more seriously and I started thinking, “Okay, this could be my life. This might be something I do all the time. “
At the age of 11, she and her mother moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams in show business. There were setbacks along the way, from a dearth of roles for young black actresses (“At auditions, I was usually the only black girl in the room”) to work she came this close to, only to fail when network executives thought it looked “too urban, if you get my drift.” There have also been triumphs, such as booking a 2015 appearance on NEW GIRL, her favorite show. The ups and downs could be discouraging, especially “when I saw who they were going to pick and it was someone drastically different from me. I was something of a boy at the time. All these other girls were so cute in their dresses and long flowing hair; I liked sneakers, jeans and oversized t-shirts and wore my hair curly and natural. I wasn’t really into the glitz and glamor like I am now.”
The various bumps along her career path felt overwhelming at times. “Honestly, it was kind of a back-and-forth battle for me,” Ali admits. “There were a few times where I was like, ‘You know what? I don’t want to play anymore, I just want to go to school. But as I got older, I knew, “This is what I really want to do, and I can’t see myself doing anything else.” And I remember people telling me as I got older, “There’s going to come a time when you’re going to be ‘in.’ And now, it’s like boom! People of color become protagonists and are no longer sidekicks. They start getting the love triangles instead of just being best friends with the person in the love triangle.
Ali first auditioned for Trina in 2017 and was one of the final contenders, but it didn’t hurt when Sydney Mikayla was hired instead. “I wasn’t at the time [being considered] for the roles I wanted,” she explains. “It was all funny and silly and clownish. I wanted something serious, something that showed I had depth. So to get as far as I did with Trina, I felt it as a sign, like, ‘Okay, you have talent and you can do more than comedy, you can be the smart, intelligent girl.'” Also, she notes, ” I don’t think I was necessarily ready for GENERAL HOSPITAL at the time.”
When the role became available again late last year, after “going through a whole new awakening of self-discovery,” Ali was more than ready. “The year before, I had a ton of squeeze,” she reports. “I was in a bit of a depression and I was actually going to give up acting. My managers abandoned me and I couldn’t cope… I was just going through a hard time and I didn’t know how to handle myself. But I am truly grateful to God for giving me this time, these three years of healing, everything I needed to heal to get to where I am today. I feel like those years — and my whole life — have been preparing me for this moment: “Whatever they throw at you, you can handle it.” “
That hard-earned confidence came in handy when she jumped right into the heavy story (Trina’s arrest for a crime she didn’t commit), though it took her a while to feel comfortable in her new job. “For the first few months, I put more pressure on myself than I should have,” she reflects. “That’s when I had to grab my reins, like, ‘Listen, you can’t keep doing this.'” I don’t know what fairy flew into my ear and switched my brain, but thanks for doing it! Now I feel really good about myself and my performances. I don’t even feel the same person since March.”
She doesn’t take that — or her own success — for granted. “There were times when I asked myself, ‘How am I going to break in?’ Will it ever happen? This [interview], in itself, is a blessing because I didn’t think I’d be in a position where someone who looks like me would get an opportunity when people want to hear about me. When I had [tough times], I’d be like, ‘I’m going to get out of this.’ I remember thinking, “The person I’ve always wanted to be is coming,” and I can feel it inside. I feel like getting that job opened him up to the 10th degree. It makes me emotional. I am so happy to be here now and so happy for my life. I wouldn’t change it one bit.
“Stop” Awakening
Taking over Trina’s role meant Tabyana Ali taking her place as one half of GH’s hottest new duo, Trina and Spencer, aka “Sprina.” Ali says she came determined to “blow the socks off” of Sprina fans. “A switch would go off in me when I got competitive and I felt like, ‘Sydney [Mikayla, ex-Trina] I’ve done a great job, but now I’m going to come in and show you what I can do and you’re going to love it!’ I was very confident in what Sprina could do and what I could achieve. Once I started working with Nicolas [Alexander Chavez, Spencer] one on one, that made it even better. He is a great partner on stage. I enjoy working with him. We always take the time to sit down and go through our lines and clarify them and see what we want to do, what we don’t want to do and, you know, “What does the line mean? What is the underlying meaning of this line? He really gets into his character and I really appreciate that about him because it makes my job easier.
Did you know
• She wrote a children’s book in 2020. My flower childwhich is available on Amazon.
• She and on-screen rival Avery Paul (Esme) became fast friends. “I text her a lot and we talk and FaceTime and we go out to lunch and hike. It’s fun playing rivals with someone you like! You can call each other the “b” word. [in scenes] and then laugh about it.”
Just the facts
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas
Mom dearest: “My mother is the queen,” Ali says gently. “She is elegant and hardworking and very caring. When she was younger, she was a model and almost booked a show in Texas. Can you imagine if my mother had become an actress? We can be friends with Will Smith right now!”
Fraternal fun: “I grew up as an only child because my siblings are 20 years older than me or 15 years older than me. My brothers and sisters were like mothers and fathers to me.
Knows itself: “I listen to any music I like and right now, Revival by Beyoncé makes me feel great! “Alien Superstar is my theme song right now.”
Manifest Destiny: Ali has yet to be assigned a permanent GH dressing room, but when she does, “I want to go to Mr. Frank [Valentini, executive producer] and ask if [my nameplate] I can say ‘Tabiana Multimillionaire Ali’ because being a multimillionaire is one of my goals and if I see that every day it will make me work harder.”
Corporate Intrigue: Ali hopes to one day bring her many business ideas to fruition. “I love lotions and soaps and things like that, so I want to have a body care line. I also want to have a puppy daycare. I love animals to death and that’s why I’m going to have a cute little animal resort. And I would like to have a restaurant.
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