The mother/daughter reunion General Hospital viewers have been waiting for will take place on December 4 when Laura Collins (Genie Francis) reconnects with Lulu Spencer (Alexa Havins), who has just come out of a four-year coma.
Havins, who debuted in the role on November 19, admits she tries not to focus on the fact that her new alter ego is the child of soaps’ most famous supercouple. “I don’t think about it,” she explains. “I just rely on the writing. The more people started hearing who I would be working with and seeing their reactions, I was like, ‘OK, OK, don’t mess this up.’ So, I’m not intimidated, but excited. I just want to deliver what the audience wants me to deliver.”
Working with the legendary Francis, however, is not something she takes lightly. “Just to be a part of creating the story, creating something lasting and really continuing the legacy of Luke [Anthony Geary] and Laura and the whole Spencer family feels very rewarding,” says Havins. “I just want to execute it well.”
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Havins got her soap start as All My Children’s Babe Carey in 2003. After leaving Pine Valley in 2007, she has worked occasionally, but primarily spent her time away from the spotlight raising a family with Justin Bruening (Jamie Martin, AMC). Getting back into the swing of things was an adjustment, she shares, especially when it came to the glam chair. “I call it going to the car wash,” she muses. “ ‘OK, I gotta get out of my mom sweats and into this world again.’ You have to get your hair done, your eyebrows done, a manicure; I hadn’t had one of those in four years. It’s fun but it’s not me. The first day, we did a makeup test and I came home and had to take the kids to a creative writing club and my friend said, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in makeup!’ She was blown away by it.”
Her four children also did a double-take. “My kids are shocked by me,” Havins reports. “They’re like, ‘What is that on your eye?’ They look at me kind of side-eyed like they aren’t quite sure who I am. I think I had a little lash on and they’re like, ‘Is something on your lashes?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Can you wear it home and give me a butterfly kiss with it?’ ‘Yes, I can. Yes, I will do that for you.’ It’s so sweet because they just see mom, and I always will be mom, even though this is such an honor to be a part of something so big.”
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But she worries about the message her look sends. “I always think about the young teens in my life and think, ‘This is all so fake. This is not what anyone looks like,’” Havins notes. “We’ve got the best wardrobe people shopping and they’re altering it to fit our bodies, and we’ve got the best hair people styling us and the best makeup people doing our makeup, but it’s still make-believe. The people at the show are so talented and they are definitely making me my best version of myself. Don’t hold yourself to that standard.”
As she continues to settle into the role, Havins offers, “I feel very honored that Frank [Valentini, executive producer] would trust me with such a legacy character. But still, the most important work I want to do is in my home. It’s a lot for a working mom, so I’m hoping to strike that balance really well.”
To the fans, she concludes, “I didn’t watch clips but I saw your message boards and I hear you. I see what you want in Lulu. I see what you love in Lulu. I see what you think is missing in Lulu. That’s what matters to me, and to fit into the essence of what’s happening in Port Charles.”
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