Genie Grows Up
In a dressing room on the second floor of the Days of Our Lives studio,
Genie Francis, wearing a floral-patterned outfit, sits curled up at one end
of a long sofa, periodically sipping from a mug. The blonde, blue/green-eyed
actress, formerly the heavenly half of General Hospital's greatest love team
Luke and Laura, is quietly poised and polite to a late-morning visitor. She
speaks softly, so softly that at times the tape recorder resting on the sofa
beside her can barely pick up her words.
"Hmmm-mmm, I'm very happy now," Francis is saying, responding to the visitor
s question regarding her feelings how the character of Diana Colville is
evolving on the show. The actress' return to daytime drama had certainly
been negotiated with whirlwind speed. She was notified by her agent on a
Friday afternoon that she'd been hired, and she started work Monday morning.
"I didn't have any information (about the character). They didn't even know
her name in the beginning. They wheeled her on a gurney (unconscious, a
victim of assault), as a 'Jane Doe.' Oh, oh, oh, it was not a pretty sight,"
she laughs lightly.
Not pretty either was the reported hostility generated by certain factions
of Days fans which greeted Francis when she joined the show, because they
felt she was replacing two of their favorites, Derya Ruggles (who was fired)
and Deidre Hall (who left to do the nighttime series, OUR HOUSE). Initially,
the producers matched Francis with Michael T. Weiss (who plays Dr. Michael
Horton), but that all-important chemistry was apparently not there. Then,
she was paired with Drake Hogestyn (who plays roman Brady), and slowly but
surely the proverbial sparks began to fly, climaxing with their adventures
in Greece. Of the chemistry with her leading man, she remarks, "I think it's
great. And it's nice to be working with someone who is that interested and
dedicated to the work." She admits Hogestyn breaks her up often. "There's a
lot of practical joking, goofing around. I think that's part of what shines
through, that we like each other so. You can tell."
"So, yeah, I'm pleased with the way its come out," Francis reiterates. "I
think it was a long process for them, figuring out what they wanted to do
with me, which guy they wanted me to be with, what they wanted the character
to be like, what I wanted the character to be like."
She sees Diana as "a very strong person. She gets herself into trouble, but
she's also capable of getting herself out of trouble. She's not the classic
victim."
Continues Francis, "I'm seeing something in my work that I'm happy about too
I'm not quite sure how to put it into words, but with this particular
character, I really have seen myself make the transition from playing the
ingénue to playing a woman, and that's something I'm very pleased about. to
see that transition happen very smoothly. I see myself as a grown-up when I
watch the show. this character is so strong that she brings that out in me
and I like that."
Adding to the new image of the grown-up Genie was her recent marriage to
Jonathan Frakes (who plays commander Riker on the syndicated series, STAR
TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION). They originally met while working on the mini
series, BARE ESSENCE, and exchanged vows in a very private ceremony.
Asked for first impressions of Frakes on the set, Francis says, "I was, like
19 years old at that time, and I don't know, I kind of thought of
(Jonathan) as a big brother type of a figure." She laughs, conjuring up in
her head some private memory of Frakes. "He's got this great sense of humor.
Y'know it's kind of a relief when you're, like, the star of a show and
somebody comes up and makes fun of your hairdo or something. He made me feel
like one of the guys. He didn't put me up on t his big pedestal. It's kind
of uncomfortable—and lonely—to be up there. It's more fun to be one of the
guys," she says, punctuating it with a laugh.
They began dating after working together again in another mini-series, NORTH
AND SOUTH, and the relationship blossomed. "The nice thing about it is that
we were friends for such a long time," offers Francis, smiling. "That's a
very positive thing."
Did she think about her own wedding when she played the scene following
Adrienne and Justin Kiriakis' nuptials, the one in which Diana fantasized
about marrying roman? The actress thaws considerably. "Oh, sure. I thought
about it every waking moment, are you kidding?" A laugh. "How could you not?
Francis volunteers that she didn't want a "huge wedding" like Justin and
Adrienne's. "No, uh-uh, that's not my idea of a wedding." Further stating:
I don't have a big need to share the experience with a lot of people. I want
something smaller and intimate. I don't really like big 'to do's' and being
the center of attention. I get very embarrassed in those situations. This is
not a performance; this is real life."
On the subject of two actors in a family, Francis comments, "Everybody says
it's a bad idea…(but) I happen to really like that. I can't imagine being
able to explain to my husband, who was an accountant, let us say, what it is
I go through every day (at the studio) and what it feels like when I don't
get a job or what it feels like to be out of work and the craziness that
comes when you're between jobs."
The official production company bio describes Francis as "a homemaker at
heart." True? "I like being a woman, I really do," she says. "I like my work
and my career. It's a very important part of my life, but I think it used to
be all of my life. And it just isn't now. There's more of a balance. I like
the idea of being a wife/mother/homemaker…it's very appealing to me."
Genie Francis says the patter of little feet will definitely be heard around
the Frakes house in the San Fernando Valley. "I'm 25, I'll be 26 in May. I
don't want to wait and have my children when I'm 35. A lot of women in this
business wait and wait and wait for the perfect moment, and I guess there is
no 'perfect moment.' I'd like to have my children—at least my first
one—while I'm still in my twenties."
by David Johnson
BIG thanks to Ann for sending me this article!