General Hospital Exclusive: Meet Trina’s New Love Interest, Jens Austin Astrup (Kai)
The Journey To Port Charles
The Chicago-born, L.A.-raised Astrup, whose mother was born in Ghana and “idealized America, but specifically Los Angeles,” got his start acting and modeling when he was a child, when his mom got headshots and a manager for him and his two older siblings. After having some early success — a commercial for Kellogg’s here, a part on King of Queens there — he pursued opportunities in theater throughout his school years, and says that a theater program he did one summer at Northwestern University, known informally as the Cherubs program, “probably had the biggest influence on me and did the most work in shaping me as an actor. Cherubs helped me find the foundation of the craft of acting.”
After high school, Astrup attended Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, where he majored in theater. “I love school; I’m very academic in general,” he says. “The program at Vassar was great, and what I think I gained the most was in all the collaborating. Vassar was the first time I was in a room and felt valued as an artist and [felt like the attitude was], ‘Okay, let’s make something together!’ I think that really helped me in terms of the dynamics of going to work, even at General Hospital — meeting another actor and working on a scene, or even just talking to Frank [Valentini, GH’s executive producer], Vassar really helped me in terms of how I hold myself as an artist.”
Throughout his undergrad years, he continued to go out for professional gigs. “It’s so funny to think I was auditioning because I was so stressed out and busy,” he marvels. “I ended up booking Gossip Girl, like a two-episode guest stint, during finals my senior year. It was nuts! I was actually driving down from Vassar to go shoot at, like, 4 a.m. It was so hectic!”
Degree in hand, Astrup returned to L.A., where his big pre-GH break was getting cast in a production of Cyrano de Bergerac at the prestigious Pasadena Playhouse. It was while appearing in the play that the audition for Kai came his way. “I think that was a good thing because I think it allowed me to like come in with confidence, since I was already working [as an actor],” Astrup muses. Still, when he arrived at the studios for his in-person callback, “It was super-overwhelming at first! It had been years — since pre-Covid — since I was sitting in a waiting room with other actors next to me.”
His nerves built as he waited hours for his turn to go in and read, but meeting Tabyana Ali (Trina) for the first time helped put him at ease. “Tabyana was there in the room, reading with everybody for the callback,” Astrup reports. “And once Tabyana was in the room, it was pretty immediate that the scene found its ground, just because she was so generous and because we had a real chemistry there in the room.”
Astrup left “feeling confident,” and the next day, his manager gave him the good news that he was moving on to the screen test. “That was huge,” he grins. “I’d never gotten a screen test before!” On the day of the test, “We all had nerves, me and the other five guys [in contention for the role].” He says that Ali “played a huge part” in helping him overcome his anxiety. “Tabyana actually came to say what’s up and to run the scene with all of us, and that was amazing. She clearly thought about each person that day, and even gave me a note. She was rooting for me; I just really felt like, ‘She’s not just doing this because it’s her job. She wants to do this, and she’s here and she’s present. We spent time in the [dressing] room that they gave me, reading through the scene and just vibing, getting to know each other. That was so sweet, and by the end of it, an hour before I even had the test, I remember feeling completely comfy. I kind of went into Zen mode, a little bit, and by the time I did the test, I truly felt like I was just doing what I enjoy, which is acting. It felt like all the pressure had been stripped away. And, I guess, it stripped away the reality of how much this meant to me, just for a second, so that I could be present and enjoy doing the test with her.”
A week or so later, he got the call that the job was his. “My manager told me, and I was looking around making sure it was real, that it wasn’t a dream. I totally disassociated, I think, when I got the news! I mean, it changed my life immediately. The whole day, I just kept trying to grab onto the reality of it because I really couldn’t believe it. I’ve been auditioning for years, and getting this job is huge. I think every actor is always seeking that validation of, ‘You are doing this for a reason, this is something that you’re good at and something that you love.’ So that felt amazing, and it’s completely restructured my life a bit. It’s allowed me to wake up every day and just feel assured and focused on doing what I love to do.”
Before reporting for his first day of work at GH, Astrup had to finish his run in Cyrano — and he had some supportive faces in the audience. Ali had reached out to Astrup after learning he’d booked the part, and when they subsequently saw each other at a photo shoot, “We hung out a little bit and I told her more about the play, and then she texted me after and said she wanted to come with Gio [Mazza, Gio]. It was so sweet, so awesome. We took a picture after, with Finola [Hughes, Anna], who also came.”
Life After “Sprina”
Astrup and Ali are working closely to build the on-screen connection that will unfold between Kai and Trina. The characters “have these circumstances from the jump that lead us to work together,” he notes. “And Tabyana and I actually talk a lot about this a lot, identifying things in a specific scene where it’s clear that Kai [is drawn to Trina]…. I think with Kai, what is clear is that there’s something about her where I really care about her reaction; what she thinks of me matters a lot to me. It’s clear that it matters more than normal, and for some reason, her reaction towards me and what she has to say can really affect me. And it kind of drives Kai to prove her wrong.” But to hear him tell it, it’s going to be far from a fast-tracked love story. “I think it’s a slow burn,” he says.
The actor knows that “Sprina” fans will be keeping a close eye on the storyline. “Trina has not brought [Spencer] up to Kai yet, but I knew about ‘Spina’ going in,” Astrup shares. “I was very aware; Frank even brought it up to me. And it’s interesting, because even with Tabyana, sometimes I’ll be talking to her in the beginning of the day and when we’re working on a scene, I’ll suddenly remember, ‘Oh, my gosh, she just had years in a different relationship.’ It’s an interesting dynamic.”
Of course, Astrup is hopeful that “Sprina” devotees will keep their minds and hearts open to what develops between Trina and Kai. “I don’t feel intimidated, because I feel that this [potential romance] actually exists on its own plane than ‘Sprina.’ I think we have a very different dynamic,” he offers. “I don’t feel that I’m competing or have to fill the shoes of Spencer. I don’t feel like I’m taking his spot. I just feel excited to get to know Tabyana better and for Kai to get to know Trina better. I think Tabyana is amazing and I hope we can create something special, too. And especially doing the scenes with Tabyana that I’ve done recently, I feel confident that [the fans] are going to see a dynamic that is differently fulfilling for Trina, and feel the chemistry and the bond that is being created.”
