Willow Tait suffered a big loss in court last week on General Hospital, with Judge Heran granting her a divorce from Michael but giving her ex sole custody of their kids, Wiley and Ameliaa. But she hasn’t quite been the same since. Katelyn MacMullen (Willow) checked in with Soap Opera Digest about filming Willow’s breakdown, her character’s current mental state and more.

Soap Opera Digest: Willow had quite the meltdown in the courtroom after Judge Heran read her ruling. What was that day of work at GH like for you?

Katelyn MacMullen: That day was weirdly exciting but nerve-wracking, for sure, because I was like, “Okay, it’s kind of all been leading to this moment.” I definitely felt like it required a pretty large reaction, considering Willow was losing custody of her children. So going into it, I was just like, “Okay, this is gonna be scary.” But at the same time, they gave me so much room to play and run around and grab people — of course, with their permission — and there was so much freedom in that because I could take it as far as I wanted to. That’s what made it weirdly exciting, but it was also a really exhausting day. I was really grateful for the chance to even get to touch writing like that, because it had no limits.

And of course, I was working with people like Cynthia [Watros, Nina] and Rory [Gibson, Michael], just to name a few. Everyone in that room was so helpful and so present and so supportive, but especially, like, going to Cynthia’s dressing room and to Laura Wright’s [Carly] dressing room and Sofia’s [Mattsson, Sasha] dressing room, being like, “What are your thoughts?” They were both super, super helpful both on the day and before the day, because we all kind of knew it was coming. I worked with an acting coach, as well, and she was kind of like, “You kind of just have to unleash, because this is Willow losing the most precious thing in the world to her.” It was like, “You can’t take it far enough, essentially.”

Digest: Speaking of Sofia Mattsson, I feel like it was kind of like, “Tag, you’re it!” in terms of having a big emotional acting day in that courtroom! Were you able to support her when it was her turn in the proverbial hot seat, when Sasha testified and went into labor and gave birth?

MacMullen: Oh, definitely. I think we were grabbing lunch or something a few days prior and we were kind of talking about what we knew was coming up. It’s great to be able to be there for each other, and we were even able to go, “Oh, there were courtroom scenes on this show that we should look up on YouTube and watch to pull inspiration from.” We kind of got to strategize and support each other — not that Sofia needs any advice! She just got up there and freaking rocked it. But she’s always so supportive of me and I hope to return the favor to her because she’s always coming to my room and giving me hugs and being like, “You were great!” She’s so kind and giving that way.

Digest: Willow required hospitalization after her meltdown in court. How do you understand what happened to her? Was she merely in shock, or do you think it’s more like she snapped and had a break from reality?

MacMullen: My take is that when you receive really horrible news, sometimes at first your brain doesn’t process it in real time. So that was kind of the initial moment and then realizing what was happening, I feel like she maybe had a little bit of a break from reality. It’s like all the trauma that someone has experienced catching up with them in a moment and being reactivated. I would definitely say it was, in a sense, a mental breakdown.

Digest: She seems to still be in a bit of a fog, even though she’s out of the hospital and back at Drew’s house — a place that feels very empty to her now that the kids are gone.

MacMullen: Yeah, I do think there’s a bit of a fog. I think she definitely snapped — she definitely had a moment where she snapped in the courtroom and I think that there is a little bit of delayed processing, maybe, even like [she’s] kind of losing it a little bit as she’s trying to cope with this feeling of emptiness. Her entire life is her children, so to even look at life without them is, I think, almost impossible for her. And I get it; I can’t imagine losing custody of your children and how that could affect somebody. So, I feel like anything is possible for in the realm of her mental state. I think at any given moment or on any given day, it’s kind of unpredictable. I would say… expect the unexpected.