Genie Francis

Actress Genie Francis was interviewed for two hours in Beverly Hills, CA, consisting of two parts: one-half hour with General Hospital co-star Anthony Geary, and one-and-a-half hours alone. Francis talked about her father actor Ivor Francis and how he taught her respect for the craft of acting. She talked about her work in her first role in television as a guest actor on Family.  She described the role for which she is most known, “Laura Vining Spencer” on General Hospital.  She spoke frankly about the circumstances of her leaving and returning to play “Laura” several times over the years, including her month-long 2006 appearance that led her to a daytime Emmy Award nomination (and eventual win) as Best Supporting Actress.  She described “Laura” and related a number of the storylines she was featured in over the span of three decades playing the role.  She talked about her first on-screen and real-life kiss with Kin Shriner’s “Scotty,” her work with Anthony Geary who played “Luke,” and her impressions of Jonathan Jackson who played her son “Lucky” in the 1990s. She talked about her work as an actress outside of General Hospital in the theater and on television in such projects as the television movie (and later series) Bare Essence and the miniseries North and South.  She also spoke about her late 80s work on Days of Our Lives, as “Diana Colville,” a character that she felt was ill-defined and her early 1990s work on All My Children, as “Ceara Connor,” that she found to be a much more well-defined part.  In their joint interview, Francis and Anthony Geary spoke about acting together as “Luke and Laura” and the fan reaction to their appearance at ABC’s Super Soap Weekend in 2006.  The interview was conducted by Beth Cochran (Francis alone) and Barrie Nedler (Francis and Geary) on June 14, 2007.