After years of defending her character’s controversial history, General Hospital actress Genie Francis finally spoke out against the “inappropriate” 1979 storyline that spawned soap history’s most iconic couple, Luke and Laura.
Genie Francis, who portrayed the role of Laura Spencer since 1977, opened up about the date r*pe scene from 1979. General Hospital shocked fans after the show’s character Luke (Anthony Geary) r*ped Laura before the two fell in love and eventually married in 1981.
In the ensuing years, fans have questioned the troubling plot where Laura falls in love with her abuser, but the characters Genie Francis and Anthony Geary always defended the forced seduction story arc.
However, in 2023, during ABC’s Television Critics Association presentation, Genie Francis spoke out against her character’s controversial history. Francis noted that she was 17 years old when she filmed the scene, and as a young actress, she did what the show’s brass told her.
Francis noted, “At 17, you follow the rules, do as you are told, and aim to please. At 60, I don’t feel the need to defend that anymore.”
Francis continued she would not justify the story anymore, saying, “I think that the story was inappropriate, I don’t condone it, and it’s been a burden that I’ve had to carry to try to justify that story, and so I’m not doing that anymore.”
Francis added, “When a woman says ‘No,’ she should be listened to, and if you replay that scene, you don’t have Laura just saying ‘No.’ You have her screaming ‘No.’”
In 2020, Abigail De Kosnik, the author of The Survival of Soap Opera, revealed that the r*pe storyline was a last-ditch effort by producers to save General Hospital from cancellation.
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