Any General Hospital fan can tell you that Genie Francis, who has played Laura Webber Collins since 1977, is the heart and soul of the show.Even casual viewers of the ABC soap opera could ascertain that fact from watching the actress’s heartfelt and dramatic performances last week. We saw Laura at her most loving with her family and friends, and her most powerful as she balanced her friendship with mobster Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and her duties as mayor of Port Charles.
Laura’s between a rock and a hard place thanks to political pressure that’s being put on her by Senator Drew Cain (Cameron Mathison) and Councilman Ezra Boyle (Daniel Cosgrove) over putting the McConkey Esplanade smack in the middle of the waterfront area Sonny uses for his, ahem, “coffee import” business.
There’s the added dynamic of Laura and Sonny sharing a grandson, Rocco (Finn Carr).
After having a one-on-one with Sonny about her political predicament and checking in on her family, which resulted in some lovely one-on-one time between Laura and her son, Lucky (Jonathan Jackson), Laura took on some mayoral duties at a press conference.
Disney/Christine Bartoluccii
Francis brings a commanding presence to Laura’s role as PC’s mayor while never failing to forget that Laura is a compassionate and supportive friend to those who matter to her. The town of Port Charles is as lucky to have Laura as a mayor as GH viewers are fortunate to have Francis on the show.
At the media conference, Laura set out to be transparent about the esplanade, but she faced a formidable adversary in Cosgrove’s Ezra, who was intent on pushing his own agenda.
The councilman put the mayor on the spot by asking her in front of everyone in attendance if the public had a right to know that the owner of the warehouse areas involved in the esplanade conflict were owned by Sonny, PC’s resident mob boss!
Mayor Collins told Councilman Boyle that it’d be best to let the people of Port Charles decide in a referendum where the esplanade should be located.
Boyle pressed, pointing out that there’s a friendship between Laura and Sonny, implying that she wasn’t being on the up and up.
In Francis’s capable hands, we saw Laura be affected by Ezra’s words, but the mayor handled the situation like a pro by simply telling the truth. “Mr. Corinthos and I share a grandchild, something I make no apology for,” Laura stated to Ezra. “I do, however, take offense at your suggestion that I may have shown Sonny Corinthos any partiality here. That is, in fact, the reason I have chosen to put the decision in the hands of the voters so there can be no question here of bias!”
Ezra refused to let up, prompting Laura to proudly state, “My allegiance is to all the citizens of Port Charles and to the Constitution of the United States of America.”
Later, Laura privately blasted Drew for going after Curtis (Donnell Turner). Is she unbiased when it comes to Sonny? Maybe not. But we were reminded just how savvy and passionate Laura can be when she turned the political tables on Drew.
“How dare you speak to him that way!” Laura snapped at Drew, defending Curtis. “When you first undertook this project, you were very clear about the location you chose and why you chose it. This whole thing was your idea, and it was a wonderful idea. And now, you have tainted it because you have allowed your antagonistic relationship with your brother and Sonny to become more important than the people you were elected to serve!”
Disney/Bahareh Ritter
Ezra did manage to score one victory over his political opponent. He put Deputy Mayor Jordan Ashford (Tanisha Harper) on the spot during the conference, prompting her to resign right then and there.
Laura was blindsided by Jordan’s move. The two women had a private moment back at the mayor’s office. A lesser actress might have had her character fly into a burst of unbridled rage, but Francis chose to play Laura as being a bit more, well, resigned to Jordan’s resignation.
Still, Francis conveyed how miffed Laura was by the way she snatched Jordan’s letter from her hand, noting, “Didn’t see that one coming!”
Veteran GH fans know that Francis has been the heart and soul of the show for decades. The soap opera thrust the heroine into the forefront of the story back in the late 1970s, which propelled the show to become a pop culture phenomenon.
Laura’s come a long way from being a lovesick teenager working in the General Hospital bookroom to her status now as a confident wife and mother, and politician. What remains the same is that Francis continues to give us enticing and strong performances that make her synonymous with GH.
General Hospital, Weekdays, ABC
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
