Genie Francis Quotes
"There is something
else at work here that is beyond me - and that is Laura. She has a life of her
own. There is a magic in her. The muse is in her. And I'm lucky to have her in
my life." (May 14th,
1997)
If there was such a strong connection between Geary
and Francis, why didn’t they keep in closer touch when Luke and Laura lift GH
in 1984? “We went through so much together,” she says softly. “When we left
[GH], it was such a huge thing. Luke and Laura were so much bigger than Tony and
Genie. Both of us really wanted to move on and forget about it. It’s sort of
like people who were in the Vietnam War together. I’m sure they don’t meet for
lunch once a week and chat about it. We wanted to move on. But it’s not because
we don’t love each other - we do.” (Soap Opera Digest, February 15th,
1994)
Genie comments on being
Diana, on Days of Our Lives, and why she didn’t enjoy it.
“Because I knew that
people would view it as a failure. And in fact I was actually called a failure
by, um,… Jane Pauley… [Laughing]… called me a failure, on the air. [Laughs] She
did, she did, I swear to God. She did. And they put me on that morning show and
she was interviewing me and, you know, she said, ‘Well, you know you left the
most popular show to go to this not so popular show and you left at the peak of
popularity and not much has happened since. So, how does it feel to have to go
back, Genie?’ [Laughs] Oh, God. And you cut to me, and you can pretty much see
me start to cry. [Laughs] That was a tough interview, it was brutal. But that’s
that whole thing, that’s how it goes in a career. They build you up, they tear
you down, they build you up, they tear you down. I’ve had a few peaks and
valleys already.” (Intimate Portrait,
November 5th, 2001)
“I hated the first year,” she reveals. “They just
couldn’t figure out what to do with me. They didn’t give me a past or a future.
My agent called {DAYS} and said, ‘This isn’t fair to her. How can you do this?’
The process of discovery happened on the air. It was really embarrassing.”
Things started to turn around for Francis when DAYS paired her with resident
heartthrob Drake Hogestyn, who was then playing Roman Brady. “They said, ‘Oh,
there’s some chemistry,’ and they went for it,” she laughs. “Then they did the big
remote in Greece, but this was a year into my contract. the second year was
more fun; I loved Drake Hogestyn. How could you not love him? He’s such a
gentleman and such a family man. they finally got some juice going between
Diana and Roman, really sweet, romantic comedy.” But by then her contract was
up and she had decided to leave. “It was a pity. {DAYS} was just not a happy
experience for me. I was disappointed and I didn’t want to continue.” (Soap Opera Digest, February 15th,
1994)
“They never really gave me an exit,” she says, “It
was unfair to me and unfair to the fans.”
(1983, Genie comments on returning briefly to General Hospital)
“I just feel [the previous regime] didn’t fully
tell the story of a woman in her late 30s being dumped,” she explains. “I was
the one that fought for, ‘Well, a woman being dumped at this point in her life
could freak out. She could get drunk; she could sleep with a day player [laughs]!’
It’s human to act out. But I was told that fan wouldn’t want to see Laura
drunk. I never wanted Laura to be some kind of goody two-shows, though. She’s
an incredible woman, but I don’t think people can relate to her as readily as
they can to a person with a lot of flaws. That’s what was most interesting
about Laura way back when. She was trying to do the right thing, but couldn’t
quite live up to it.” (Genie on wanting to be able to play Laura with more
strength, May 15th, 2001)
“I didn’t know whether to do it,” she confides. “My
agent would call me up and say, “This is going on too long. You have to
decide.’ And I’d say, ‘Okay, I’m going to call right now.’ I’d hang up the
phone and my heart would pound in my chest and I would breathe into a paper bag
and I would pick up the phone and I would dial Tony [Geary, who plays Luke].
Every time I was supposed to call ABC, I called Tony! And I would say ‘Do you
think we can do this? What do you think? Are you ready?’” (Genie on
whether to return to being Luke and Laura, Soap Opera Digest, February 15th,
1994)
“We just talked about our lives. Then we kind of
went away to our separate corners to think about our lives. At the next
meeting, we had another meal together in which we did an improvisation: I got
in touch with Laura, and he got in touch with Luke. We brainstormed about who
these people would be today. What would their conflicts be? What would they
want? What have the past 10 years been like? And it was that meeting that
really made me want to do it. I realized, miraculously, that the connection was
still there.” (Soap Opera Digest, February 15th, 1994)
“I could act with him forever.” (Genie on Tony Geary, People Magazine, 2001)
“The joy of being here is that I get to work with
this person and we love working together.” (Genie on Tony, sitting beside her,
Living Legends, January 4th, 2000)
“I am thrilled at the idea of the two characters
being brought back together.” (Genie on Luke and Laura reuniting, Living
Legends, January 4th, 2000)
"The pleasant surprise for me is that when I
look into Tony's eyes, he's still 100% present,
sharing everything that's going on," she says. "Acting with him is
like a beautiful dance." (TV Times, January 2nd, 1994)
"Well, I hate to say it, but my biggest
recollection of that day was really how physically uncomfortable I was,"
she says with a laugh. "I was in spiky heels on this very mushy wet lawn.
My dress was made out of something that wrinkled very easily, so I was not
allowed to sit down once I put that dress on. I was in it from 6 a.m. to
something like 7 at night. I just wanted to get into my tennis shoes and my
sweats in the worst way! I also have a fond memory of doing the Virginia reel
that afternoon. That's the part of the day that I really enjoyed."
(Genie’s memories of Luke and Laura’s wedding, November 19th, 1996)
"You can lose your ability to play romantic
scenes," she says. "At least in this case, with Stefan, I get to play
them in flashback." (Soap Opera Update, November 26, 1996)
"I think in Laura's fantasy world, she would
stay married to Luke, he would accept her son, Nikolas would become friends
with Lucky, and Stefan would drop by the house for dinner," jokes the
actress. "But [that's] unlikely." (Soap Opera Update, November 26th,
1996)
"I think there are all kinds of underlying
feelings there," explains Genie Francis (Laura) of her character's attraction
to Stefan. "At one time, she genuinely loved him because she thought Luke
was dead." (Soap Opera Update, November 26th, 1996)
"I have never, ever, had an acting partnership
that was a safe, as full, and as exciting as
the one I had with Tony. I didn't want to go through life without having a
chance to taste it again." (TV Guide, October 16th, 1993)
“When they (Genie and Tony) make public appearances
together, Genie always stays very close to Tony, and she explains that,
"I've learned to rely on Tony for support. If I'm nervous I can always
hold his hand." (1981, Daytimes
Greatest TV Stories # 2)
TVGO: Did your
frustration over equality cause any tension between you
and Tony?
Francis: There's no tension between me and Tony
whatsoever. Tony and I
love each other very much, and Tony wants me to be treated just as well as
he is. He doesn't want the upper hand — that is not who he is. It's not at
all coming from him.
Quotes from 2002 TV Guide Online
TVGO: Was it hard saying
goodbye to him?
Francis: Very. But we didn't say goodbye. I said
I would see him in
Amsterdam. He's going to show me his apartment [there]. And I said he could
buzz over and see my flat in London. I'm actually going to try and find us a
little job on [the U.K. soap] Eastenders. (Laughing.) It's not impossible.
They do hire Americans. Listen, if Tony and I had a chance to work together
like that, it would be indeed a gift, and we would jump on it.
TVGO: Who should GH pair
him with now that you're gone?
Francis: I think he should work with Nancy Grahn
(Alexis). Absolutely.
I liked him and Nancy together before, and I think Nancy is a fabulous
actress. She's very bright, very focused, and she's unpredictable — and he
needs that. She also has a really good sense of humor and that's a big part
of working with Tony. I think he and Nancy would be quite good together.
TVGO: Let's suppose they get married a year or
two from now. Will you
tune in?
Francis: I probably would not tune in for that,
I must admit.
(Laughing) That would be hard. But I would wish him well in my heart.
"She's a wonderful woman and we're close friends even though she's half my age. She was only 14 when we began working together about 19 years ago. We quickly learned to trust each other. There's no one I'd rather work with. Nothing is more important to two actors than trust. You can open up to them and hope the camera catches it. Even with script problems or whatever the problems are, it's really between two people. We can hang onto each other's glances and unspoken moments, saying more with our looks and silent language than with pages and pages of dialogue. With chemistry like that, you feed off each other. Genie is an extraordinary woman and actress. And she's gorgeous. We've come to respect each other's boundaries when we're working. The love scenes were playful when we first played them, but we learned that was uncomfortable and we don't do that anymore. I've spent a great deal of time with her and her child--she's soon going to have another--and her wonderful actor-director husband Jonathan Frakes. When I call them at home and Jonathan answers the phone, he calls, 'Honey, it's your other husband!'"
Soap Opera News, June 3, 1997
"I always thought of Genie as an angel, somewhat like Luke thinks of her. You've got to cross-pollinate these parallel existences."
Soap Opera News, June 10, 1997
"We are profoundly close. Nothing means more to me on the set than to make Genie laugh when she looks troubled or to have her just touch my arm and say, 'I know, honey.' It's a marriage of creativity that's 20 years old, so much unspoken material and love between us. I adore her. I adore her. I am so glad we never fell in love in real life because it could never be this good. I couldn't be unfaithful to Laura with Genie--not that I ever had the opportunity, you understand. She is a very special woman."
"Genie Francis, because it works, obviously."
Soap Opera Digest, July 22, 1997, on his dream co-star
"The last show on General Hospital on which the audience saw Luke and Laura together, Laura was pregnant. She told Luke about it. I'll never forget doing that scene. Genie had no children at the time, and it was the first time she ever said those words to a man. She was so incredible that day. So beautiful. I'll never forget how excited she was. I got swept up in it and thought afterward: I'll never forget that. Nobody will ever tell me they are going to have my baby, and if they ever do, I will never feel like that. But the feeling of the moment was extraordinary."
Soap Opera Weekly, February 24, 1998
"[I would] never have brought back Luke without Laura, because she defines him. His feelings, his life, are all about her. I had so closed the door on Luke that there was a point when I couldn't even remember who he was. But when I sat down with Genie again, and looked at her and touched her and smelled her, it all came back. I can't do it without her."
TV Guide, October 16, 1993
"I knew it had to happen, but I never thought it would be as Luke and Laura. When you're talking about two actors who have committed their lives to the profession, I have to reject the magic and chemistry that people allude to. I don't really think it's magic. I think it's very simple. We're two actors who have a lot of training and a lot of experience under our belts. Ultimately, what really made it work is that we trust each other. Genie and I have an intimacy that...well, sex is not nearly as intimate as what we have. We listen and we watch each other and we feed off each other. That's what our chemistry is."
Daytime TV, March 1994, on whether he thought he'd work with Genie again
"I've missed Genie. Every day, she shows up to work ready to bleed for you. That's the kind of actress she is. She's always working: 'How can I hurt more? How can I be more full of love?' When an actor does that for you, that's a tremendous gift. I love her. I love working with her. She makes me better. She connects to this character so deeply."
Soap Opera Digest, Spring 1996
"My experience with this lady is that she's happiest--and feels most fulfilled--when she has an opportunity to unzip her little heart and bleed all over the place. I just don't know anyone else who does it better. Or anyone who looks for that emotional release more than she does. Literally every day she wants to give you a big ol' chunk o' heart. When we have to struggle to do that on the show is when we have our most trouble. When the material or the situation doesn't allow Genie the full expression of what there is to offer--when the audience doesn't get as much as she wants to give--she's not happy. She just wants to bleed for ya."
TV Guide website, May 14, 1997
"We were our first family together."
TV Guide website, May 14, 1997
"Listen, I should be so lucky to be the father of her children--Jameson is so beautiful."
TV Guide website, May 14, 1997, when told of the rumor that he was the actual father of Genie's children
"I told her she should go and try to break water on stage and put herself back on the cover of Newsweek."
TV Guide website, May 14, 1997, on a pregnant Genie attending the Emmy presentation
And Geary (who has once again permed his hair to achieve, as he puts it, "the Bozo look") says he would "never have brought back Luke without Laura, because she defines him. His feelings, his life, are all about her. I had so closed the door on Luke that there was a point when I couldn't even remember who he was. But when I sat down with Genie again, and looked at her and touched her and smelled her, it all came back. I can't do it without her." (On Genie Francis, TV Guide, October 16th, 1993)
“When Laura was kidnapped and gone for a year and Luke was getting on with his life. He became mayor of the town and the sort of man she had always wanted him to be. He was lonely and the ultimate in Port Charles respectability. The night of his inauguration, he's all alone in the mayor's mansion and walks out onto the balcony. I shudder just remembering the moment. It was a wonderful scene of a man who had reached a dream and finds it empty. Suddenly, Laura was on the lawn below, and he saw her and thought he was dreaming. He puts down his glass of champagne and the moment their eyes met, he felt, "Oh my God, my God! She's alive, she's alive!" It was very touching because Genie and I were both fully in character. Even after we rehearsed it, we stayed in character. We are profoundly close. Nothing means more to me on the set than to make Genie laugh when she looks troubled or to have her just touch my arm and say, "I know, honey." It's a marriage of creativity that's 20 years old, so much unspoken material and love between us. I adore her. I adore her. I am so glad we never fell in love in real life because it could never be this good. I couldn't be unfaithful to Laura with Genie--not that I ever had the opportunity, you understand. She is a very special woman. I once told Jonathan Jackson, "Date an actress, never marry one." That will take him farther than any acting lesson I could ever impart. (Tony Geary on his favorite Luke and Laura scene, Soap Opera News, June 10th, 1997)
1996 AOL Chat:
Question: How do you like working with Genie Francis?
ABCStar: I'm very, very happy to be at GH. And I'm ecstatic to be working with
Genie Francis. We have a fabulous chemistry--from the first moment we sat down
to work together.
Question: Ask Stephen if Stefan is really out for revenge or is he in love with Laura. ABCStar: There's a good possibility that both of those things are true.
“There is no doubt that Genie and I have chemistry together, but I
think there are a lot of factors involved in why two actors click and why they
work so well together.” (Stephen
proceeds in saying that it’s Genie’s intelligence that adds to the success of
their onscreen pairing) “She knows what
she’s saying and why she’s saying it and always has a point of view. So I’m very clear on what she’s doing, and I
don’t have to create some kind of scenario from her to make my thing work. We just keep throwing it back and forth-I
really enjoy working with her!”
"At first I felt a bit of pressure and responsibility. I thought,
'My god, these guys as a couple, they're the soap opera icons.' And I remember
they wanted me to do a tribute to these guys once and they put me on-camera to say a few words. I said, 'I never
understood this Luke and Laura thing, because I had never watched. I didn't
know what the big deal was until I worked with these two.'" Nichols says
he and Francis clicked the moment
Stefan first laid eyes upon Laura on the docks of Spoon Island.
"She's game for it, I'm game. And Tony's game; it opens up new story opportunities for all of us, so
it's worked out great for everyone, I think."
From Soap Opera Weekly, November 9th, 1999
Stephen on working as Stefan with Genie,
Tony Geary, and Jackie Zeman
SON: You have great chemistry with Tony
Geary. too. There's such hatred. Do you need chemistry with another man!
S.N.: I think it's just the fact that we
appreciate each other. And we have a very similar energy. I noticed it right
away when I got on the set. I don't know what it is, or what you'd call it.
It's a kind of intensity. There's a lot of focus involved in that. When you
focus, you sort of create that energy, and he does that. I watch him. I like to
watch other actors -- it's fun to see what other people are doing. Tony has a
great intensity. He's also very clever. I mean, out of many, many daytime
actors, he's one who has really carved a niche for himself in terms of
character. And it's all because of his ability, his energy and his personality.
He brings all of that to Luke. This is
the first time I've worked with Genie (Francis), too, and it's the same thing.
She has this fabulous energy. It's two actors looking at each other and really
being aware.
SON: What about working with Jackie Zeman
(Bobbie)!
S.N.: Jackie's fantastic. We have a great
time together. She's a really good actress. She's always prepared, which is
something that I appreciate. So often you work with people who just don't have
their stuff together. I don't know how they do it, because I would just fall
apart if I didn't know my lines.
Fan, Becky, Speaks to John York (Mac
Scorpio, GH)
Q: Hi, John!
I'd like to say how much I enjoy your work,
and I hope to see lots more of Mac in the future! I think you have good
chemistry with just about everybody, and I love when Mac gets to interact with
my favorite PC residents. Any chance we'll be seeing Mac and Laura
sharing any airtime soon? I love watching those two; I think I've worn
out my tape watching that time they danced on the roof! ;) Thanks
for taking the time to answer our questions! You rock!
Becky
A: Hi Becky,
Working with Genie Francis is always a
wonderful experience. She is such a professional and makes herself so
open to her fellow actors, it's easy to see why her scenes turn out so
well. I hope to be working with Genie in the future, but in what way, remains
to be seen.
Thanks, you rock too!
John
Miscellaneous
Mary Beth Evans on discussing performing
weddings on soaps:
"You'd better perform, or else,"
Evans says, but there was also a danger of getting too caught up.
"Genie Francis [ex-Diana, DAYS; Laura, GH] came up to me when it was
all over and said, "I just want you to know I love you and you're
special. On my wedding day on General Hospital, everyone just went home
and I felt lonely and really depressed and I don't want you to feel
depressed.' That caught me by surprise, but she was right. At the
end, everyone just went 'OK, that's a wrap.' You're left standing there
with a bouquet in your hand thinking, 'I get to drive home alone.' It's
like you were jilted at the altar. What Genie did was really special.
I've never forgotten it."
Constance Powers (Helena Cassadine on
General Hospital)
Describes Genie as “luminous”
Jonathan Jackson From Genie Francis’s
Lifetime Special (November 5th, 2001)
“There was an instant connection there…like a
mother and a son, she was very attentive and concerned about…what I was going
through.”
Genie said, “I wanted to give to him
everything…I wish had been given to me.”
"When I first began on General Hospital,
Genie Francis, who plays Laura, clued me in on what to expect as a child actor
on a soap. She wasn't much older than I am now when she first joined the show.
Genie warned me that studying wth a teacher on the set is a lot more lonely
than in a normal school. And maybe the studying part is, but I've made too many
friends at the studio to be lonely!"
- Jonathan Jackson (Lucky) (Re: First dayss on the set)
"When I auditioned, I didn't even know
that Luke and Laura were daytime's most famous couple ever! When people heard
who I was playing, they were like "Wow! You're Luke and Laura's son!"
I had to bone up on my soap opera history pretty fast!"
- Jonathan Jackson (Lucky) (Re: Getting thhe role of Lucky)
Tyler Christopher (ex-Nikolas, General Hospital), in
joint-interview with Vanessa Marcil
(Thanks to Nancy for sending me this quote!
Thank you Becky for letting me use it!)
Although Nikolas’
romantic life is heating up. Christopher is most proud of his work with Genie
Francis (Laura).
Tyler: “I realize how much I miss working with
her,” he says. “I had a really intense connection with her, and outside of
doing a scene, we’ve never sat and had a conversation - yet I share that with
her for some reason. I think she’s got life figured out and I don’t even have
to sit down and talk to her to know that. She’s maybe that figure in my life
that I need that kind of connection with. I miss that and still wish she were
here. The mother / son thing was great and I enjoyed doing that more than
anything else, nothing personal against anybody I’m working with now. I hope
and pray she comes back. Everything Nikolas is now is affected by his past with
his mother and his issues with abandonment.”
Vanessa: “I would love to work with Genie, too,”
Marcil adds. “When I first started watching Tyler work, it w as with Genie and
she is such a good actress. Seeing them in scenes together is what reeled me
into watching him. I would love for Brenda and Nikolas to be involved in any
way because I want to work with him - I think he is such a good actor - but
also because I want to work with Genie,” she says with a laugh. “Like Tyler
said, she gets it. She’s about her family. It’s not about the industry and all
that.”
Jonathan
Jackson and Anthony Geary Interview
Jonathan Jackson: So how did you come about
creating Lucky?
Anthony Geary: I think you created the character of Lucky. But if you would
like to go there, sure, I had something to do with the story that brought us
all back. But Lucky was a historical fact. The last show on GH on which the
audience say Luke and Laura together, Laura was pregnant. She told Luke about
it. I’ll never forget doing that scene. Genie (Francis who plays Laura) had no
children at t he time, and is was the first time she ever said those words to a
man. She was so incredible that day. So beautiful. I’ll never forget how
excited she was. I got swept away in it and thought afterward : I’ll never
forget that. Nobody will ever tell me they are going to have my baby, and if
they ever do, I will never fell like that. But the feeling of the moment was
extraordinary. That’s why you are such a living, breathing miracle of fantasy.
What question led me to this rhapsody?
Later…
Anthony Geary: You know what, Jonathan? You see that because often my cynicism
won’t play with you, because you’re fresh. You’re alive. You’re looking for the
reality of the moment. And that’s a girf to the cynic any time of the day. So
the gift has gone both ways, and Genie would agree if she were here. Genie is a
much more idealistic actor than I am. She needs more truth out of the moment
than I do. My life is more a fantasy, therefore I can tap dance around the
moment. She can’t and I love her for that. I think you’re more like her.
Idealistic is good. I do enjoy it. I am idealistic, but I’m also...old!