By: Angela Ryan-Duncan
On General Hospital, Laura Collins is off searching the globe for her son Nikolas (Adam Huss), while, in real life, her portrayer Genie Francis, is enjoying her summer hiatus. With her husband, Jonathan Frakes, at her side, Genie appeared at the Terrificon convention in Connecticut to greet fans, pose for pictures, and sign autographs. We were delighted to have the opportunity to speak with her there, in between her sessions with her adoring fans, who turned out in droves to see her.
Francis is a daytime icon. She has appeared on Days of Our Lives, Loving, All My Children, The Young and the Restless, and, most famously, General Hospital as the legendary Laura Vining Webber Baldwin Spencer Collins. She started on GH in 1977 at the age of 15, and her portrayal of Laura is a big part of how GH was saved from cancellation. She’s been nominated for 5 Daytime Emmys and won for her work on GH in 2007.
We asked her to share some of her most memorable moments as Laura, and she told us, “Emily McLaughlin (Jessie Brewer) cleaning Laura up after the rape. Putting a star on top of the Christmas tree with
Scotty (Kin Shriner) when she was a little girl. All her hopes and dreams, a perfect ingenue moment. Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) dying, or so we thought. And then there’s lots of things that were just really fun, like dancing in the department store and that kind of thing. That was fun.”
Scotty (Kin Shriner) when she was a little girl. All her hopes and dreams, a perfect ingenue moment. Lucky (Jonathan Jackson) dying, or so we thought. And then there’s lots of things that were just really fun, like dancing in the department store and that kind of thing. That was fun.”
We talked about Laura being the mayor of Port Charles now and how she has come so far in the power dynamic onscreen after the writing for Luke (Anthony Geary), and Laura became more one-sided in the later years of the pairing. Her opinion on this was very enlightening, “I think the combination of the
two of us together was a good combo plate. Obviously, a lot of people thought that, and sometimes they’ll write one side too hard and
not write the other side enough. But when we started, it was very balanced. And I think that’s when it was at its best.“
two of us together was a good combo plate. Obviously, a lot of people thought that, and sometimes they’ll write one side too hard and
not write the other side enough. But when we started, it was very balanced. And I think that’s when it was at its best.“
It’s hard to argue that when Luke and Laura are arguably the most well-known of the soap opera super couples, their 1981 onscreen wedding drew more American viewers than Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s fairytale wedding earlier the same year. Princess Diane herself famously sent a bottle of champagne to the set for Genie and Tony to congratulate them on their onscreen nuptials.
We also talked about the part fans play in show dynamics, and she had a heartfelt message she wanted us to share with all of her fans, “Thank you so much for watching all these years and supporting me in my career.“
It’s safe to say that we Genie fans will keep watching and supporting her as long as she graces our screens. We were so grateful that we got this time with Genie Francis and can’t wait to see what’s next for Laura on General Hospital! You can watch GH weekdays on ABC and catch up anytime on Hulu or ABC.com!
Please enjoy these clips of some of Genie’s favorite moments as Laura:
An amazing compilation of scenes around Lucky’s “death”.
Luke and Laura dance at Wyndhams Department store.
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