Trina Robinson is a fictional character from General Hospital, an American soap opera on the ABC network. The role was originated played by Tiana Le from 2017 to 2018. Nearly a year later on February 20, 2019, Sydney Mikayla took over the role. Later that year, Mikayla began appearing as a series regular. She vacated the role in March 2022; Tabyana Ali replaced her later that month.
Introduced by executive producer Frank Valentini in 2017, Trina is created by co-head writers Jean Passanante and Shelly Altman as the party girl best friend of Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy). For the most part, Trina is mentioned in passing by her friends. With Mikayla in the role, Trina is integrated into the canvas as one of the four young teen characters within the series, along with Josslyn, Oscar Nero (Garren Stitt), and Cameron Webber (William Lipton). Trina also forges friendship with Ava Jerome (Maura West) when she interns at Ava's art gallery. Hailed as one of the show's young heroines, in 2020, Trina steps into a more central role with the reintroduction of established character Marcus Taggert (Réal Andrews) as her father and the arrival of her mother, Portia Robinson (Brook Kerr). Trina struggles to cope with Taggert's presumed death and blames Portia's ex-boyfriend Curtis Ashford (Donnell Turner). In 2021, the writers developed Trina's first potential romance with the troubled Spencer Cassadine (Nicholas Chavez).
Mikayla received two consecutive nominations for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Performer in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Trina in 2021 and 2022.
Development Casting and creation
Le originated the role on June 23, 2017. She reprised the role on March 2, 2018. However, the return was short lived as Le last appeared on March 5, 2018. The actress only appeared for three episodes.
Mikayla's casting was announced by Soap Opera Digest after her debut. In the summer of 2019, Mikayla was promoted to series regular. In late 2021, Mikayla was taken off contract with the series to accommodate her schedule as she started college. In a statement to Soap Opera Network, the actress said "Right now I’m getting into the swing of things at school and navigating the balancing act. ‘GH’ has been super supportive of all the teens going to school and I’m super happy about that. Team ‘GH’!
The genre was new to Mikayla. "When my agent called me about the audition, I was excited, but I’d never really watched soaps. I had a small role on a soap years before, but it wasn’t a genre I was familiar with." The actress auditioned twice for the role. In an essay for Backstage, Mikayla explained her journey: "As I researched the series, I wasn’t sure if my acting style could fit the cadence of the show. Could I do the dramatic looks or cry on cue? However, as I prepared for the audition and callback, I put all that aside." Instead, Mikayla set out to bring "authenticity" to the role. At the audition, Mikayla chose to make the character more like herself because "I can see how the writers want her to be portrayed as just a realistic girl." After a few weeks, Mikayla received a callback which she "felt really good about" and she even left an impression on Valentini and she booked the role later that day.
Mikayla said "Getting GH was definitely a breath of fresh air" as she had run into some difficulty booking roles because she was tall for her age. In an interview with Star-Kidz.net, Mikayla said "Joining the cast of General Hospital was a bit difficult at first but I love it so much." Mikayla felt recasting the role made it more complicated. "I’m the 2nd person to play this character, so unlike other roles I’ve done, Trina didn’t really get in introduced I just kinda jumped into the character so it felt like jumping in 12 feet of water." Mikayla said playing Trina "made me become a better actress." She continued, "I feel so honored to portray Trina." In 2020, Mikayla said "In the past I have often played the same type of comedic roles, so to be given a character with so much depth is the opportunity of a lifetime." In 2021, she stated "What I love about playing Trina is the versatility that she has on screen." She later said "This role has really allowed me to delve into my dramatic side, and I’ve enjoyed every second of it." Prior to her role as Trina, Mikayla struggled to find dramatic roles as a Black actress. "I felt like most of the time I was playing like a quicky one-liner or I had some sassy line. I was usually the punchline of some sort bringing the comedy, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it definitely did get tiring after a while and I was really ready for a challenge. I think General Hospital came at the right time."
In March 2022, Mikayla announced her departure from the role, citing her decision focus on her academics; Tabyana Ali was subsequently announced as Mikayla's successor. Mikayla last appeared on March 17, 2022; while Ali first appeared on March 25, 2022.
Characterization Personality Upon her introduction in 2017, Trina was characterized Trina as a "party girl." In 2019, Kim Brandow of the Inquisitr said "[Trina] started out as more of a bad girl." Soap Opera Digest said Trina "tells it like it is." In addition, the magazine said Trina has "ambition," "emotional intelligence and empathy." Daytime Confidential said Trina does "questionable things for the right reasons" and she will "go to that mat" for her friends." Hope Campbell said Trina is "assertive, smart, sassy, insightful, and does not let anyone push her around." Tram Anh Ton Nu described Trina as "rebellious" in 2020. Cliché Magazine's Erin Tatum characterized Trina as "a straight-laced teen." KP Smith described Trina as "spunky, beautiful and smart." Dustin Cushman of Soaps.com felt Trina was "the most open and forthcoming" of her peers. Sherrie E. Smith said Mikayla gave Trina a "fiery personality, […] and a little vulnerability for good measure."
In 2020, Van Etten categorized Trina as one of the "young heroines" of the show. When asked what drew her to the role, Mikayla said Trina is a "strong, independent African American woman." She continued that "Trina really does her own things, and she has interests of her own. Also, she will go after whatever she wants." Of the character in comparison to herself, Mikayla said "Trina is more bold than I am. She says whatever she wants, kinda does whatever she wants." In addition to Trina's outgoing personality, Mikayla said "She's a great student" and "she has great fashion and make-up." She continued "I think Trina is the better looking more outspoken version of me." Mikayla described Trina as the "popular prop queen." In an interview withSoap Opera Digest, Mikayla explained that she and Trina "both have drive and determination. Even though we're young, we both want to work for our dreams and works for our goals and we want to work our way up." Mikayla also revealed that Trina "is really good at hiding her feelings." If something bothers her, "she wouldn't be catty or petty about it." Instead, Trina finds things to distract herself instead of lashing out.
In a 2021 interview, Mikayla said "Trina and I are both headstrong. We really don’t like being told what to do by anyone. However, Trina is a bit more nosy than I am. I like to keep my head down and stay out of people’s way, but Trina does quite the opposite." No matter the situation, Mikayla said Trina's "determination to find the truth always makes her such a fun and feisty character to play." Mikayla felt Trina was a better person because "She really cares about other people’s problems." Mikayla later said "Trina will press an issue. […] Trina will go right in and confront whoever needs to be confronted. […] – she does not care. She has no fear. I definitely should take a chapter out of her book because she’s got guts." According to Mikayla, Trina has a "willingness to see the good in people" that makes it hard for her to trust others. Mikayla stated Trina "has shown herself to be a loyal and protective friend." Trina is a "tell-it-like-it-is" kind of person.
Backstory In December 2019, Mikayla remained tight lipped about Trina's backstory in an interview. The actress later admitted that she tried to craft a backstory for the character. However, she said "every time I did, something would kind of change, like, every time I thought I had a fact, it wasn't really true, so it was really hard trying to guess."
In the summer of 2017, Josslyn notes that Trina is allowed to date while she is not. During her sophomore in high school, Trina starts dating a junior and they consider having sex. Trina worries her mom will find the condoms so she convinces Josslyn to hide them for her. In the summer of 2018, Trina worked as an intern at the Port Charles Museum of Fine Arts. In 2020, Trina is revealed to be Taggert and Portia's daughter. Her parents divorce so early that Trina never experienced their relationship outside of co-parenting as Portia felt Taggert's career took priority over their family. While Taggert is always present in Trina's life, Portia and Taggert agree to keep distance between them for safety reasons. Because of the distance, Trina doesn't know much about her parents' marriage and Portia doesn't talk about it. Mikayla described her character to Cliché Magazine in 2021: "Trina is an 18-year-old straight-A student, with a passion for track and a love for art." She also loves art history and some of her favorite artists include David Driskell and Romare Bearden. Because Portia is a doctor, Trina also grows up exploring her mother's medical journals.
Introduction
Trina is introduced in 2017 when Josslyn enlist her help throwing a party. The party ultimately served as the catalyst to introduce Oscar as Josslyn's love interest. Kim Brandow observed that the writers used Trina "to bring a little drama into Josslyn's life as a teen." Until the recast, "Trina was not in the forefront at all for a while but came back on the scene when Oscar's health took a turn for the worse." Mikayla was relieved with her character's slow integration as she was surprised by the swift production process. She told Soap Opera Digest, "I said my lines and I'll never forget, they said 'Cut! Moving on.' And [she] was looking around" wondering if she had another chance to shoot the scene. "I was not use to that! It was good to start with just a few lines, to start warming up, because jumping into the deep end, never really having worked on a soap before, I don't know if I would've been able to handle that."
As she celebrated her first anniversary on the show, Mikayla said to ABC Soaps In Depth "It’s all still so new and exciting for me. I’m learning a lot from the other teen actors and from the veterans on the show, too." Once Mikayla signed a contract, "Trina became more of a central player in GH's younger set." For Mikayla it was "really, really rewarding. I love knowing the writers like what I'm doing." Mikayla later said "It was quite a shock honestly." When Valentini made her aware that Trina would soon have her own storyline, the actress knew she had "to get more training right away." She continued, "I’ve had so much fun preparing for the role of Trina, taking extra acting classes and creating a community that has really helped me to be the best actress I can be."