At GENERAL HOSPITAL there is no one Carly Corinthos detests more than Nina Reeves these days. In real life, however, the ever-fighting characters are played by Laura Wright and Cynthia Watros respectively – two Emmy-winning actresses who are actually pretty good friends.
Wright and Watros have known each other for over 20 years, dating back to their late 1990s days as Cassie and Annie on the CBS soap GUIDING LIGHT. Outside of the studio, the ladies often get together for regular pickleball games – a disconnect between their roles and real life that they feel is badly needed to keep their friendship intact.
During a recent chat with The punch room Host Alan Locher, Wright and Watros – both nominees in the Outstanding Lead Actress category at the Daytime Emmy Awards on June 24 – had a lot to say about how to keep their off-screen friendship alive amid all of this on-screen arguments . And it all boils down to hugging after the director yells cut. “The hug afterwards is so nice,” Wright admitted, gesturing to the youngest GH In particular, the scene in the yoga studio where Carly and Nina exchanged barbs was a challenge for her friend. “It was very stressful at the moment. But when we were done, it was a big hug. We thought, ‘We did it!’”
Watros agreed with her co-star, adding that the support she receives from Wright and her female colleagues at GH is inspirational. “[We] we just want what’s best for each other,” she said. “No matter what we go through that day, we are there for each other. We don’t knock down, we build up.”
Both actresses crave for Carly and Nina to occasionally share scenes where they’re not at each other’s throats. Especially since the combative behavior can begin to weigh on your psyche even after the end of the camera. “The difficult thing we do [on a soap opera] what you won’t find in any other medium is it goes on,” Wright said. “Cynthia and I have been screaming in the face at work for about two years. So you have to find the separation.”
Being able to split up, Wright continued, makes performing such antagonistic scenes easier. “It means being aware of breaking up and then really going into it when you want to fully embrace it. You don’t want to worry about the other person [in a scene] because then you lose what you have to do for yourself,” she explained. “Right now we have to do what we have to do, which isn’t nice for the person receiving it. It’s a bizarre job.”
And it doesn’t look 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,” gushed Wright, acknowledging that fans online are going crazy insisting Carly should clarify what she knows. “She can’t sit on this treat for a couple of weeks? Maybe she’s doing the right thing. And maybe she won’t. I have no idea when and how or if.”
But whatever direction the plot between Willow, Michael, Carly, Nina and Sonny takes in the future, Wright is ready. “I’m okay with whichever path we take, because they’re all going to have big hurdles and explosions and consequences,” the soap opera veteran points out.
And that’s the kind of daytime television we all tune into.
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