Laura Wright and Cynthia Watros Preview the “Explosions” Ahead on GH!
On GENERAL HOSPITAL, there is no one that Carly Corinthos detests more these days than Nina Reeves. However, in real life, the forever-fighting characters are played by Laura Wright and Cynthia Watros, respectively — two Emmy-winning actresses who are actually quite good friends.
Wright and Watros have known each other for over 20 years, stemming back to their days in the late 1990s as Cassie and Annie on the CBS soap GUIDING LIGHT. Outside of the studio, the ladies often get together for regular games of pickleball — a separation between their reel-life and real-life that they both say is much-needed to keep their friendship intact.
During a recent chat with The Locher Room host Alan Locher, Wright and Watros — both contenders in the Outstanding Lead Actress category at the Daytime Emmy Awards on June 24 — had a lot to say about preserving their off-screen friendship amid all of those on-screen altercations. And it all comes down to embracing each other after the director yells cut. “The hug afterward is so nice,” confessed Wright, pointing to the recent GH scene at the yoga studio in particular where Carly and Nina trading barbs was challenging to work through with her friend. “It was very stressful in the moment. But when we were done, it was a big hug. We were like, ‘We did it!’”
Agreeing with her co-star, Watros added that the support she receives from Wright and her female colleagues at GH is inspiring. “[We] just want the best for each other,” she said. “No matter what we’re going through that day, we’re there for each other. We don’t knock down, we build up.”
Both actresses long for Carly and Nina to share scenes every now and then where they are not going at each other’s throats. Especially since the combative behavior can begin to weigh on their psyche even after the camera stops rolling. “The hard thing that we do [on a soap opera] that you don’t find in any other medium is it continues,” shared Wright. “Cynthia and I have been yelling in each other’s faces at work for like, two years. So, you have to find the separation.”
When you are able to compartmentalize, Wright continued, it makes performing such antagonizing scenes easier. “It’s being aware to separate and then really drop into it when you want to go full-on. You don’t want to worry about the other person [in a scene] because then you lose what you need to do for you,” she explained. “In the moment, we have to do what we have to do, which isn’t pretty for the person receiving it. It’s a bizarre job.”
And it doesn’t seem like Nina and Carly will be meeting up for drinks at The Savoy anytime soon, especially since Carly is keeping the secret that Willow was Nelle’s twin. “It’s a great story,” Wright enthused, acknowledging that fans are going crazy online insisting that Carly should come clean with what she knows. “She can’t just sit on this yumminess for a few weeks? Maybe she’ll do the right thing. And maybe she won’t. I have no idea when and how or if.”
But no matter which direction the storyline between Willow, Michael, Carly, Nina, and Sonny takes in the future, Wright is ready. “I’m okay with whatever road we walk down because they’re all going to have great hurdles and explosions and consequences,” the soap veteran points out.
And that is the kind of daytime television we all tune in for.
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