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Nancy Lee Grahn Previews "Very Poignant" General Hospital Anniversary Episode
General Hospital star Nancy Lee Grahn (Alexis) is celebrating 25 years in Port Charles. To commemorate the occasion, Alexis will take center stage on April 8's episode of GH. The two-time Daytime Emmy winner chatted with TV Insider about why the soap was the perfect fit for her, playing matriarch to the Davis family, and the Alexis-centric episode.
What did it mean to become a part of Port Charles' notorious Cassadine clan? Grahn, also a mom to daughter Kate Grahn, dished:
I grew up watching GH. I knew all about the Cassadines and the freezing of the world. I’d joke, 'My father almost froze the world. What has yours done?' I knew GH was where I belonged even though, at the time, there were a lot of other soaps on the air. The point was to have Kate and to raise her. GH put her through college. I couldn’t have imagined it working out better.
Some think that being a lead on a primetime show is 'better,' but not if you’re a mom. In daytime, people look out for one another. If I needed to be somewhere for Kate, the show would fix it. If I needed to be at her school, I was there.
In particular, Grahn was thrilled with Sam (Kelly Monaco) turning out to be Alexis' long-lost daughter. She said:
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It was great. It’s a great addition. It provided us with a great story. Yes, on soaps, there’s always a child that comes out of nowhere, but they layered it all so nicely when it was done. I love the scenes when Alexis is with all three of her daughters — Sam, Kristina [Lexi Ainsworth], and Molly [Haley Pullos]. Each character is so well-defined. The scenes are textured and layered. Each one of us is specific and unique. Everyone in a real-life — that isn’t a Stepford family — can relate. It’s the complexity that makes it believable.
What can fans expect from Thursday's Alexis ep? Grahn explained:
This goes deeper than [a standard anniversary episode]. They did a very good job of making more it more than being just about my 25th anniversary. There’s something very poignant that happens at the end that will be very relatable. It serves the emotional well-being of the audience. Everybody will be able to relate to what happens. [Viewers] will see that you don’t get to skip over parts of your life and not deal with them. You can, but then you end up faking a lot of your life.
The care that was given to this particular show by Frank [Valentini, executive producer], the writers, and Phideaux [Xavier, director] was enormous. They let me be a part of the process. Again, this episode is not a story about Alexis. It’s about everybody. I like that.
