Genie Francis delivered a powerful performance on her last (meaning most recent) day of work on General Hospital before taking her well-deserved, annual summer vacation.
Laura ripping into Drew Cane (Cameron Mathison) — and defending her pal Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) in the process — was a tour de force, and TV Insider is honoring the fan favorite and Daytime Emmy-winner with our Performer of the Week honors.
In the arc, Laura invited Drew and Cane to a meeting at the Metro Court, asking the two men to keep the peace while she was out of town. (Laura was planning a trip to Ireland to visit her husband Kevin, played by Jon Lindstrom, and her grandson, Ace.)
The conflict was clear: Drew and Sonny simply could not get along. This prompted Laura to play peacemaker, referee, and mayor (her job in Port Charles), all at the same time.But being Port Charles’s mayor isn’t just a job — it’s a role that Laura embraces with her full heart. She first came to live in Port Charles as a teenager, and she wants nothing but the best for the city and its citizens.
Drew, with his back up against the wall, made it clear that he wasn’t backing down from his stance regarding the upcoming pier auction. While Laura tried to use calm logic to get Drew to back out of the deal, Drew fired back that his plans for the pier were legal — unlike Sonny’s.
Francis has always been an actress who puts the scene first, as evidenced by Laura letting Sonny and Drew each have their say before speaking her mind. Once Drew accused Sonny of being a murderer, though, Francis shifted Laura from her role as a mediator to a defense attorney.
“If you have any proof of that, I suggest you take it directly to the PCPD,” Laura shot back. “But in the meantime, this is my town. It’s not Sonny’s. It’s not Sidwell’s [Carlo Rota]. And it’s certainly not yours. And Drew? I’ve had enough of this crap in my town.”
Drew opted to leave, realizing he wasn’t going to win Laura over. He tried to make a final dig, questioning Laura’s character, relating to her choosing to be Sonny’s friend.
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Laura, literally standing up to Drew, fired back, “You know what? I don’t care what you think of me because I don’t answer to you! I answer to the people of Port Charles. They elected me, and they knew who all my friends were.”
Francis played that last line with subtle but effective subtext as Drew was elected by citizens who were unaware of just who Drew considered his friends.
Each time that Drew tried to bring Sonny’s past into the conversation, Laura remained focused on her goal: to shut down the conflict between the two men.
Laura came armed with facts about Drew’s association with Jenz Sidwell. Francis brought a commitment to Laura’s delivery as if she were playing a district attorney going in for the kill with a guilty party on the witness stand.
“Stop insulting my intelligence by suggesting that my concerns are completely unfounded,” Laura blasted Drew.
Laura may have failed to convince Drew to step back from his conflict with Sonny, but Francis showed her range as an actress as Laura brought another side to her character.
“We tried,” Laura compassionately lamented to Sonny after Drew left. She wanted to leave Sonny with some hope, and that’s just what she did. “Don’t let Drew pull you back into a life that you decided to leave,” Laura asked of her friend. “Stay the course, OK? I think we should try to keep this feud from bleeding into the next generation.”
While Laura told Sonny that she was incredibly proud of him for vowing not to let Drew get him off course, we suspect that Sonny wouldn’t be promising to do so without Laura’s supportive friendship. Perhaps it’s easier to believe in yourself when Laura Webber Collins believes in you.
We also get the impression that Laura wouldn’t leave Port Charles, the town she loves, if she felt the war between Sonny and Drew might escalate while she’s gone.
You’d never know it if Francis had been preoccupied with leaving for vacation the day that she showed up to shoot this episode. She gave 100% of herself to these scenes, as she always has ever since she joined the show nearly 50 (!) years ago!
TV Insider’s not the only entity saluting the actress this week. It’s been announced that Francis is receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 53rd Annual Daytime Emmys on October 30.Brava to the actress for her well-deserved accolades, and for entertaining daytime fans with not only this performance but so many others!
General Hospital, weekdays, ABC