General Hospital update: Amelie McLain is the new Charlotte Cassadine

General Hospital: Charlotte gets a new face

On Tuesday, December 21 General Hospital fans were stunned to see a new actress in the role of Charlotte Cassadine that Scarlett Fernandez held for 5 years. Even more confusing was the fact that Scarlett announced on Instagram in October that she was happy to return to the ABC soap after a bike accident and now 2 months later she is out. Soaps in Depth has revealed that Amelie McLain will now portray Valentin Cassadine's (James Patrick Stuart) daughter.

There is not a lot of information online about McLain but her Instagram account has a post that was dated August 2020 where the young actress said she was beginning the 6th grade. This would suggest that she is about 12 which is the same age as Fernandez. Earlier spoilers suggested that Charlotte was being SORAS which was most likely because McLain is taller than her predecessor.

Scarlett Fernandez exits quickly

On October 8, 2021, General Hospital fans learned that Fernandez was returning to the soap and the next day the actress posted a picture of herself on the GH film. Charlotte returned on October 29 and this turned out to be her final appearance. There are no details related to why Fernandez left the role shortly after announcing that she was back but Stuart said that her family was moving away from LA to a farm where Scarlett could have a horse.

Since McLain's first episode was on Tuesday this would indicate that she began taping around mid-November. McLain had roles in the short films Apple Infused Oasis in 2018 and Pool Day in 2019. She was in the movies Terrifier 2 and Transference in 2020. Not much else is known about the young actress except she is of Scottish descent.

Charlotte Cassadine is a child in peril

For the first eight years of her life, Charlotte believed Claudette Beaulieu (Bree Williamson) was her mother. Claudette had dated NathanWest (Ryan Peavy) and told him he was the father of her little girl. She later changed her story and said tha a brief fling with Griffin Monroe (Matt Coen) led to Charotte's birth. Eventually Claudette admitted that Valentin Cassadine was the bio dad of her baby and through DNA it only turned out that Beaulieu was a surrogate and not the child's birth mom.

Thanks to the mad scientist Cassadines, Charlotte was created through invitro fertilization and the egg that was used belonged to Lulu Spencer. The little girl was traumatized and initially hated her birth mom but eventually the two began to love each other. Charlotte and her papa lived for a time at Wyhdemere when it was believed that Valentine was the heir to the Cassadine property. She and her papa had to move when it turned out that Nikolas Cassadine (Marcus Columba) was the true heir and Charlotte cried that she had to leave her beloved horse behind.

General Hospital: Charlotte's wild ride

Charlotte lived for a time with Lulu and Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zampragna) but ended up with her father again once Lulu was decla Brook Lynn Quartermainired brain dead. Valentin and his daughter moved into the Quartermaine mansion when he believed that Brooke Lynn Quartermaine's daughter Bailey was his child. Charlotte enjoyed having a little sister but the baby is not Valentin's.

Charlotte and her dad have moved out of the Q home and it's not clear where they are currently residing. It was recently revealed that Victor Cassadine (Charles Shaunessey) is Valentin's father and Charlotte's father. He has been spending a lot of time with his great nephew Spencer Cassadine (Nicolas Chaves) but at some point he will cross paths with his granddaighter.

All of this upheaval is surely going to cause Charlotte some problems and she already showed her mean streak when she was picking on her cousin Aiden Spencer. Her grandmother Laura Collins is back in Port Charles so perhaps she might be a calming influence on the child. Best of luck to both Scarlet Fernandez and Amelie McLain and be sure to tune in to General Hospital to find out what happens next for Charlotte.