General Hospital went deep into the well last year by delving into Laura’s past. Genie Francis took the material the writers gave her — Laura finding out she had two half-brothers (Martin and Cyrus) — and ran with it. Her peers have recognized her work with a Daytime Emmy nomination in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Genie Francis Talks Daytime Emmys
“I was so lucky,” Francis tells Soap Hub of the show exploring Laura’s early days and revealing unknown family members. “The fact that they were willing to go so far back to the heart of what makes Laura who she is. They’d never explored her biological father (Gordon Grey). She never knew who he was.”
Last year, Laura was also reminded of something that occurred when she was a teenager — her accidental killing of her older lover David Hamilton (Jerry Ayres). The popular story was written by the late Douglas Marland, the revered scribe who brought GH from near-cancellation to the top of the ratings back in the late 1970s. The show’s momentum coincided with Francis taking center stage in both this story and the Laura, Scotty (Kin Shriner), and Bobbie (Jacklyn Zeman) triangle.
“Doug Marland was a class act and the likes of which we’ll never see again,” Francis warmly shares. “He was so kind and loving. He loved actors and loved telling stories. He was an elegant man.” The actress also feels positive about GH’s current writing regime, head writers Chris Van Etten and Dan O’Connor. She says she was thrilled for their nomination and is also happy to be nominated along with GH co-stars Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) and Finola Hughes (Anna/ex-Alex) and Y&R’s Melissa Claire Egan (Chelsea) and B&B’s Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy).
Francis joined her fellow nominees at a recent luncheon hosted by Heather Tom (Katie), last year’s winner in the Lead Actress category. She and her GH co-stars gathered for a Daytime Emmy event in Burbank too. “It’s great that we’re [more] together this year,” Francis says. “It was a long time to be holed up in our houses [except for work]. People were getting cabin fever.”
Francis’s reel this year contains scenes involving Laura and her half-siblings Martin (Michael E. Knight) and Cyrus (Jeff Kober). There’s also material that deals with Lulu (Emme Rylan), Laura’s daughter, who went into a coma following an explosion at the Floating Rib. She’s been nominated in this category once before in 1997. A decade later, Francis won the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. General Hospital (GH) airs weekdays on ABC. Check your local listings for airtimes.
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