Francis recently turned back on the award-winning ABC daytime drama series, General Hospital, just in time for an interesting storyline. She started playing the role of Laura Spencer back in 1977. “My sociopath husband, who I think is my good husband, Kevin Collins, is really Ryan Chamberlain,” she said.
She had nothing but the greatest remarks about her fellow cast members, including veteran soap actresses Lynn Herring and Jacklyn Zeman. “They are good people,” she said. “We are doing well. It’s a fun show.”
Each day, Francis is motivated by “finding what makes me happy and going with that.” “I do what I need to do to stay feeling good,” she said.
On her plans for the future, Francis shared, “I want to spend the next year working on General Hospital, and finish up decorating my house and spending as much time as I can with my kids.”
She encouraged aspiring actors to go into acting, only if it is the one thing that they can’t live happily without doing. “If not, find something else,” she said.
When asked how Francis handles being dialogue-heavy all the time (especially in the daytime world where actors tackle 40 to 80 pages of script a day), she responded, “I have done it for so many years that I don’t find it difficult. I found a way to get through that when I was very young. My memory is good.”
In 2007, Francis won the Daytime Emmy award for “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series” for her portrayal of Laura Spencer. “That was a while ago,” she said. “That felt amazing and I never thought it was going to happen for me since it had been so long. It is great and an amazing thing. I have my Emmy at home near my TV, and it’s a great memory.”
Nutrisystem
Francis shared that her partnership with Nutrisystem has been “excellent.” “They have been loving, supportive, encouraging and understanding. It has just been great,” she said.
Speaking of Nutrisystem, Francis encouraged her fans to give it a shot. “For me, it has definitely worked, and I have been on every diet on the planet. If I can do it, anybody can do it. I highly recommend it,” she said.
In her spare time, Francis enjoys knitting, painting, and drawing. “Those are a couple of big things for me to do. I also like hiking and I like nature a lot,” she said.
Longevity in acting
Reflecting on the last four decades, she acknowledged that looking back she sees “a lot of work.” “I have spent a lot of time working and not enough time playing. I am trying to correct that too in my old age,” she said. “I am looking to be in peace with myself, comfortable in my own skin and enjoying life. Nutrisystem helps me with that immensely since it is a very loving environment. They are gentle and there is a lot of encouragement and support.”
On the key to longevity in acting and entertainment, she said, “In my case, I have had really good luck. I always worked hard and I knew how to stir the pot. That’s the truth of it, and I managed to keep things going.”
She defined the word success as “Being happy in life.”
Digital transformation of entertainment
Regarding the impact of technology on the entertainment business (predominantly streaming services), Francis said, “The streaming services have had an adverse effect on television. Now that we have thousands of channels, On Demand, and different ways to watch television, it has been really hard for television.”
In this digital age, Francis shared that actors have to print out their own scripts most of the time. “If you are there, they put them in your mailbox, and you can pick them up,” she said.
Francis noted that she is not that savvy with technology. “I need a lot of help with technology. It has been rough since my kids went to college. I just started getting comfortable with Twitter,” she said. “I also started SnapChat a couple of days ago, and that is a little complicated.”
To learn more about Emmy award-winning actress Genie Francis, follow her on Twitter.
