Torch Song

Maura West Relishes A New GH Challenge As Ava Faces An Uncertain Future

- Mara Levinsky

Maura West is enjoying the calm after the storm. The big May sweeps scenes of Ava getting busted by Sonny and Carly for swapping Morgan’s meds — and the subsequent fire she caused, which left her consigned to the burn unit at General Hospital — are over and done with. The show is on a two week hiatus, which she’s spending doing what she always does when she’s not working: notching quality time at home with her family.

They’re a close-knit bunch, consisting of the actress, her husband, Scott DeFreitas (ex-Andy, AS THE WORLD TURNS), their four kids, who range in age from 8 to 17, and her son from her first marriage, Ben, who just turned 21 — but never more so than since relocating to California after ATWT, her daytime home since 1995, went off the air in 2010. “We still feel a little bit isolated,” she admits. “Our families are all back East and we miss them, miss that support system that we had. I have a lot of children, and a child with autism, and so travel really becomes a sticky issue. It’s hard in that way, but we’re doing okay because we’re all together. We really are sort of homebodies. We look out for each other and we love each other.”

West is especially savoring her time off because Ben, who just finished his junior year of college, is home now, too. “He missed his flight, of course,” his mom chuckles good-naturedly, “but he’s here!”