Warrenville native enjoying longer stay at 'General Hospital'

Senta Moses' stay in the soap opera city of Port Charles has been brief, but already she's endured exposure to a poisonous toxin, a massive hospital fire and encounters with the mob.

And she couldn't be happier.

Moses, who grew up in Warrenville, joined the cast of the ABC soap opera "General Hospital" in early January for what was supposed to be a short guest appearance. But her character - cybergeek/FBI agent Winifred Leeds - caught on, and the writers decided to keep her around.

Thus, the toxin, the fire, the mob - and the chance to wear a hazmat suit.

"I get a kick out of it," Moses said. "This stuff would never happen in real life."

Winifred is far from the usual sexy soap heroine. She wears glasses, and her curly hair is always pulled back into braids. She totes her beloved laptop wherever she goes. Her dialogue, mostly with fellow "General Hospital" geek Damian Spinelli, is heavily tempered with tech talk.

"My mom is all over me: 'Are you and Spinelli going to get together?'" Moses said. "I said, 'Mom, I don't know.'"

Her parents, who still live in Warrenville, have always supported their daughter's dreams. Her mom, an ex-model, put Moses in a diaper commercial when she was only 6 months old and she's been in show business ever since.

Growing up in DuPage County, however, meant lots of trips to the coasts when work wasn't available in Chicago. She balanced classwork - first at a Batavia Montessori school, then St. Francis High School in Wheaton and finally at the Chicago Academy for the Arts - with TV and movie roles.

Over the years, Moses played Macaulay Culkin's cousin in two of the "Home Alone" movies, starred as Phoebe on "Beakman's World" and had roles in TV shows such as "My So-Called Life," "Sister, Sister" and "Greek."

Though now living on the West Coast, Moses gets home to Warrenville a couple times a year - once for the holidays and again to attend the Indy 500 with her dad.

Soaps are a whole new experience. Moses, 35, actually auditioned for a role on "General Hospital" two years ago. She didn't get it, but the casting director remembered her and chose her to play Winifred.

For now, the plan is to keep Winifred as she is: quirky. Moses, for one, is glad. She gets to work in flannel shirts and comfy boots, far from the skintight clothes and towering heels her co-stars have to wear. She doesn't even mind the geek speak.

"I'm really glad to have a steady gig," Moses said. "I just feel really, really lucky to have this job."