Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Genie Francis on GH: 'They cannot conceive a Laura who is a grown woman'

In light of the news that Genie Francis will join THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS at the end of May, EW talked to the ex-Laura Vining Webber Baldwin Spencer to find out why she decided to join CBS and whether it feels like she’s cheating on GENERAL HOSPITAL, her daytime home for decades.

Said Francis: "I’d love to come back to work, but I want to work in a way that uses all of me so I’m not just cheating my audience. I felt for a while with the GH appearances, they were kind of using me as a media trick, bringing me on for three or four weeks, saying I was back on the show, but not really writing for me. And then I would be gone. I just didn’t like that anymore. I guess it was me putting my foot down. I would have loved to come back to [GENERAL HOSPITAL], but I needed them to write a real role for who this woman would be now. They didn’t respond. I didn’t hear anything. And that’s a shame. I was willing to put it out there, see what could be done.

"[GH] cannot conceive a Laura who is 48 years old, a grown woman. So that’s that. I’m a little surprised, too, since this year is the 30th anniversary of Luke and Laura’s marriage. (The wedding aired on Nov. 17, 1981.)"

10 comments:

  1. Wow! you guys just copied & pasted the EW interview on your website without a link to the original article or even citing the source! That is so wrong on so many level. You make it seem like you were the ones who did the interview. Real Source: http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/04/05/genie-francis-on-general-hospital-they-cannot-conceive-a-laura-who-a-grown-woman/

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  2. Debbie,

    There is a link on the page. The word "talked" is a hyperlink to the original article.

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  3. Debbie, #1 is IS linked and #2 (as always) EW.com emailed us and asked us to post this as they do with all their soap articles.

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  4. Genie is right about GH. I don't know if she will better off on Y&R but the writing can't be any worse.

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  5. Roger,

    That's great that EW recognizes the great work Damon & you do by sharing content like this.

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  6. This happens with all the "mainstream" outlets. A lot of times the daytime shows want to give "exclusives" to these folks, but then they come to the soap sites to promote because their readers aren't typically soap fans.

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  7. Genie is so right about what she's saying. If Anthony Geary can play Luke as a 63-year-old adult male, Genie should be allowed to play Laura as a 48-year-old adult woman. Show business double standards are so sickening to me--yuck!

    Go Genie!

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  8. Genie don't know if you will ever read this but I want to thank you for all the years of entertaining me. From GH, DOOL, Bare Essence etc etc. You are a truly one of the most talented artist out there. The honesty and truth in your work always captivates and moves me. I will start watching Y&R now just to see you.

    I was also proud of you for speaking your mind on Oprah. The way the current regime at GH has treated you has disgust me to no end. Laura was never a victim until Phelps came abroad as E.P. Labine and Richie gave us a Luke and Laura who had grown as people but stayed true to their roots. Laura had come full circle and become the earth mother to the show that Lesley Webber was.

    Then history was rewritten and the character of Laura was sacrificed to fit a silly story line. Every time they brought you back I thought finally they will realize their mistake and keep her... nothing.

    I'm happy for you that you will be working on a show that realizes the talent performer they have and hopefully will respect you more then GH has of lately.

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  9. What a shame. I too waited and waited. Such a great role, a warm and big persona. Very disappointed with GH. Too much reality amid the fantasy? GH is usually the best at doing that. Too bad not with this role/person. She deserves the best. I too will look in to see how she's doin' on CBS, but I'll be lookin' for Laura!

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