‘General Hospital’ Star Laura Wright Says Carly’s Grown But Will ‘Still Protect What’s Hers’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Soap star talks showdowns, romance and spy life and gets candid about Carly’s journey and her own
With tomorrow promising to be a must-see-day on General Hospital, Carly Spencer is set to throw down with Cynthia Watros’ Nina again—but this one-time villain has come a long way since she showed up to cause trouble for her mother Bobbie and even further since soap opera star Laura Wright assumed the role almost 20 years ago. Here, the Daytime Emmy-winner who also starred in Loving, The City, and Guiding Light sits down with Woman’s World to reflect on Carly’s journey and get candid about her own.
Plus, Wright shares her take on General Hospital’s new guy Brennan, getting to dance with Finola Hughes’ Anna, and the iconic dynamic between Steve Burton’s Jason, Maurice Benard’s Sonny, and Carly.
GH’s Laura Wright on Carly today: ‘She’s still going to protect what’s hers’
When Carly Roberts showed up in Port Charles in 1996, she was a schemer out for revenge, but by the time Wright stepped into the role formerly held by Sarah Joy Brown and Tamara Braun, Bobbie’s long-lost daughter had grown into a more complicated powerhouse. She was still a handful and probably always will be, but having reclaimed the Spencer name, Carly’s become downright respectable these days.
“I think age changes us all and life hands you a new set of issues,” portrayer Laura Wright says. “Carly has grandchildren now. And she’s supporting Jason as he steps into this father figure role. When he got in that fist fight with Drew, Carly was like, ‘Your actions have consequences that are going to affect Danny.’ I mean, of all people saying that to him, Carly—that was rich!”
While Carly raised her family with a mobster (or two!) and has rarely been one to think about consequences, viewers have spent decades watching her learn big lessons. True, she’s still reactive, but she’s no longer that catty, self-involved troublemaker locked in survival mode.
“Carly used to crawl and fight for it, but her feet are planted more firmly to the ground and she has a little more faith that she can handle things without having to be cutthroat,” Wright says. “I also don’t think her decisions are so self-serving, like they used to be. She’s still going to protect what’s hers, but her ‘mine’ has gotten bigger, in terms of who she cares about.”
GH’s Laura Wright admits that like Carly, ‘I used to react in a way that was life or death’
As Carly has grown in Port Charles, Wright has been working on herself—and more recently, working on settling into her new home with her real-life love of seven years, Wes Ramsey, who played General Hospital’s villainous Peter August.
“Wes and I are still unpacking and hanging things,” Wright shares. “We have our little puppy, and my kids are healthy and happy, and General Hospital is thriving. Life is good!”
At 54, Wright has found her sense of balance in the world.
“Life hands you crazy, interesting and different situations all day long, and I used to react in a way that was life or death,” she admits. “It was that fight or flight we all experience for our own reasons—depending on where we come from, how we were raised, or what things happened to us as children. We carry these things forever, but as adults, we have choices. Do we allow our emotions to be controlled by everybody else’s actions?’
“I also respect the people I interact with, so even if someone is coming at me or making decisions I don’t like, maybe I don’t have to yell,” she adds. “I get to witness the moment and handle it accordingly, instead of fighting, resisting, and judging. It makes life more beautiful.”
Soap star Laura Wright admits, ‘It’s taken a long time to get here’
After Wright opened up on Maurice Benard’s State of Mind series a few years back and got candid about her divorce and her parents’ passing, she started hearing from fans who could relate to her journey—and some of them were feeling stuck.
“I understood that, because there were times I felt that,” says Wright, who’s a certified meditation coach and more recently took courses with Peter Crone, a.k.a. The Mind Architect. “It’s taken a long time to get here.”
Now, Wright is helping other women work through what’s got them stuck via her Sacred Spaces events.
“Look, I’m not a Peter Crone or Deepak Chopra, but I do think we can hold space for each other and share—and through that sharing alone comes courage and freedom,” Wright explains. “It’s not about me telling people how to live their best life. Only they know what that is. And when you walk someone through their own words and help them find a way through something, it is powerful.”
With the next Zoom tentatively scheduled for March, Wright is also looking to take her Sacred Spaces on the road. In the meantime, she’s still hosting lighthearted General Hospital fan events and after a quiet spell in Port Charles, Carly’s drama is picking back up.
GH’s Laura Wright on whether Carly could fall for Brennan: ‘It’s the bad boys for her!’
Thanks to Jason’s unexpected heroic pairing with Anna and her own chemistry with bad guy turned WSB station chief Brennan, Carly’s recently been sliding into the spy game—and her bestie is not exactly thrilled.
“In true Carly fashion, she’s telling Jason she’s got it under control, and Jason is very much like, ‘I know you think you do… and I’ll be here when everything comes falling to the ground,’” Wright says. “It’s a classic Carly/Jason dance, but she’s getting frustrated because she’s not stupid. She knows Brennan’s a spy and dangerous—but we hang out all day long with Anna, and so is she! And when Carly went to Brennan, he saved Jason’s life. Does Jason not get that?”
As for whether the pair’s obvious flirtation could turn into a full-fledged romance, the handsome devil is certainly Carly’s type.
“It’s not like Carly’s attracted to the good guys for long,” Wright cracks. “I mean, Drew came and went. Jax came and went. Jason and Sonny have been the only constants in her life. It’s the bad boys for her!”
GH’s Laura Wright on Carly’s spy life: ‘The gift has been working with Finola Hughes’
Whatever comes for these two, with Carly pulled into the search for Lucky and now Charlotte, Wright is enjoying her new spy-adjacent adventures.
“Espionage is my favorite thing to watch, and I love working with Charles Mesure,” she raves of Brennan’s portrayer. “Watching him and Finola Hughes (who plays Anna) makes me laugh, and then he and I get to dip into some emotional stuff. He and the gentleman who plays Sidwell (Carlo Rota) are very different compared to everybody else and just great additions to the cast.
“But I do have to say, the gift has been working with Finola,” Wright adds. “Our characters are very different but strong, so there’s a lot of comedy there that we get to play—and we hope we get more! She’s super fun to work with.”
GH’s Laura Wright loves playing Maurice Benard’s ex but, ‘Never rule out Carly and Sonny’
It’s shocking to get this far into talking about Carly without a mention of Sonny. Thankfully, with the holidays nearing and their son Michael’s world blowing up, Carly is going to be spending more time with Sonny.
“I got to work with Maurice for all the Christmas stuff and with all that coming with Michael, we have more coming—which is nice because it’s been a while,” she says. “And we love playing exes because we like arguing, fighting, and telling each other what to do—even though we have no right to tell each other what to do!”
Now that they’ve moved past their latest nasty breakup, it’s hard not to wonder if Carly and Sonny will make it all the way back to saying ‘I do’ for the sixth time.
“You never rule out Carly and Sonny… and I would never rule out Jason and Carly,” Wright says. “I meant, it’s not happening right now. No one’s married or making out, but this trio is still a family. When something happens, they come together.”
GH’s Laura Wright teases Friday’s Quartermaine blowout: ‘I’m just here for Jane Elliot!’
Based on Chad Duell’s announcement that he’s ending his run as General Hospital’s Michael, viewers know SOMETHING is coming. While we can’t share the juicy spoilers, we can tell you that you won’t want to miss the Q party or this Friday’s episode.
After the week Carly’s had with Brennan and the search for Charlotte, she gets pulled into her son’s drama, which leads to a showdown with Nina—and while we’ve seen these two Port Charles powerhouses throw down over Willow before, the dynamics have certainly changed.
“This is the first time that Nina gets to be Mom to Willow and really protect her,” Wright tells Woman’s World. “And then you’ve got Carly, who’s so protective of her family, so you get a great standoff. No one’s backing down!”
Amid all the fireworks in Friday’s General Hospital episode, Wright is thrilled to tease some extra fun in the form of Tracy Quartermaine, who will also play her part.
“When we all got the script, we were like, ‘Oh, I’m just showing up to work that day to watch Jane Elliot do her magic,’” Wright shares with a laugh. “She’s so funny, and there’s just so much going on. It’s great stuff!”
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