What To Know
- Laura Wright’s portrayal of Carly Spencer on General Hospital earned her TV Insider’s Daytime Performer of the Week for her nuanced performance in a storyline involving Jack Brennan and her daughter Josslyn.
- Carly is secretly furious with Jack for involving Josslyn with the WSB, but she plays along romantically and emotionally to set him up for a major downfall.
- Wright skillfully balances Carly’s outward composure and inner turmoil, maintaining the charade with Jack and Josslyn while setting the stage for a dramatic reveal.
Laura Wright‘s Carly Spencer is never one to hold back from how she’s feeling. The General Hospital veteran doesn’t hesitate to confront everyone and anyone right there in the moment. She says what she’s feeling, and she means what she says, and that’s one of many reasons why fans love her.
Now, however, Carly’s playing the long game in terms of her relationship with Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna), who’s oblivious to the fact that Carly is livid with him for bringing her daughter Josslyn (Eden McCoy) into the WSB.
Wright’s nuanced performance in this story has earned her TV Insider’s Daytime Performer of the Week.
Carly’s so invested in making Jack think that she cares about him, she made love to him. The next morning, he asked her if she had any regrets, referring to the lovemaking. “No,” Carly responded as she snuggled up to her daughter’s WSB boss. “I made my choice, and I’m sticking to it.”
As far as soap opera subtext goes, Wright walked that line perfectly. She delivered it in a way that Jack felt confident she was directing it to him in a positive and loving way, while the audience was thinking Carly is setting this man up for the biggest fall of his life.
ABC
The writers have set this particular dynamic up beautifully as Jack knows that Carly is upset with him, but he thinks it’s because he didn’t let Carly know that Vaughan (Bryce Durfee) was with the WSB. That allows Wright to play her character as somewhat betrayed, but Jack doesn’t know how deep the hurt runs.
“I just need to remember that you had a life before we started seeing each other, and it’s going to be up to both of us to figure out how we fit together,” Carly shared with Jack, as she chose her words carefully.
Carly’s not made of stone. She couldn’t help but let on that something was troubling her, but she’s still able to think fast on her feet to keep Jack at bay. He probed to see what was up. “It’s Josslyn,” Carly replied, hastening to add that her concern was that her daughter was encouraging Lucas (Van Hansis) to move into Wyndemere. She came up with something plausible that Jack would believe without giving away what her uneasiness was fully about.
Jack urged Carly to make peace with both Lucas and Josslyn and let things play out. “Patience is not my strong suit,” a frustrated Carly announced. “But I can see how waiting them out would work.”
Again, this exchange was two-fold. The real situation that Carly’s waiting out is the one she has with Jack.
The WSB boss told Carly he knew how much of a special bond there is between Carly and Joss. “Thank you,” Carly told Jack. “It means so much to me that you understand how important my daughter is to me.” (Dude, you are so going to find out how much Carly truly means this!)
The couple kissed, but their moment was interrupted by Jack’s phone. As he stepped away, Wright was able to have Carly drop the façade of pretending to care so much about him. Jack said he wouldn’t be able to stay for breakfast, excusing himself from the room. Only then, when Carly was alone, did she let out a frustrated sigh as if to indicate she couldn’t believe that she was having to go through this charade.
Later, outside General Hospital, Carly actually did take Jack’s advice and apologized to Josslyn. She said she couldn’t stop worrying about Lucas and his relationship with Marcus (Adrian Anchondo) and his proximity to Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota).
While Carly apologized to Joss for how she handled her feelings about Lucas, she circled back on the intent — Lucas shouldn’t be around someone as dangerous as Sidwell. Carly’s giving Josslyn a chance to explain her true reasons for supporting Lucas’s move to Wyndemere. For now, both Joss and Jack are keeping her in the dark.
Wright is doing a masterful job of playing Carly’s cards close to her vest while at the same time expressing her concerns so that no one gets suspicious. When the truth comes out, watch for Wright to let loose with Carly’s full fury!
General Hospital, Weekdays, ABC