Disney/Christine Bartolucci
Mother And Child Reunion: Jonathan Jackson (Lucky) says it’s “such a joy’ to once again be working alongside Genie Francis (Laura).
Jonathan Jackson kicked off his return to General Hospital with his character, Lucky Spencer, far from home as he was being held hostage in Africa by Jenz Sidwell. The actor tells Digest that he had a good time with his reentry arc, saying, “I was just kind of in the moment of it and enjoying the process. I really loved working with everyone I was working with, so I wasn’t really overly anxious [to get into the Port Charles-based action] in any way. I knew it would happen; I knew it was coming. So I was just taking it as it came and it felt pretty natural. The length of everything felt just about right.”
Port Charles Returns
But now that Lucky is back in Port Charles, the actor is getting to share scenes with a who’s-who of castmates that were part of his earlier runs on the show.
The actor got his first taste of that when Lucky first interacted with Steve Burton’s Jason while he was still a prisoner. “Steve and I are pretty close friends, so we’ve been in touch a lot over the years,” Jackson notes. “It wasn’t as much of a reunion for us as it was for the characters, really, because he and I have stayed in touch a lot. But it was really fun to get to work with him again and to act with him again. It’s great to have that kind of history and rapport with someone.”
After Lucky saw Elizabeth for the first time, he dropped in on Maurice Benard’s Sonny. “Those scenes were really fun,” reports Jackson. “I mean, Maurice is one of those people that, with him and I, it always feels like no time has passed.”
And then, just when Lucky needed it most, his mother Laura, returned, signalling the end of Genie Francis’s annual summer break from the show. “Getting to work with Genie again has been absolutely amazing,” Jackson declares. “Just seeing her again was wonderful. It was such a joy. The idea and the thought of getting to work with Genie again was a huge part of the inspiration and the drive to come back to the show. When I was here in 2010 [after his original 1993-99 run], she wasn’t on the show. And I’d had such a great time working with Tony [Geary, ex-Luke] again, and I always felt like, ‘Man, I wish Genie was here. I would love to get to work with her at this stage in my life.’ And, yes, I did get to work with her very, very briefly when I was here for a couple of episodes [in 2015] when Tony was leaving, but it just wasn’t really enough. And it’s been almost a decade since then!”
The reunion has definitely lived up to Jackson’s high expectations. “Genie is just an amazing person and an incredible artist,” he praises. “It really has been such a joy working with her. I’m very grateful.”
That goes for the rest of the cast that he’s working with again after such a long gap. “That’s something that is so amazing about this medium and so unique,” Jackson notes, “that I get to work with not all, but many, of the same actors. It’s a very special thing.”
ABC/Craig Sjodin
We Knew Them When: Jackson first began working with Francis and Anthony Geary (ex-Luke) in 1993.
Disney/Christine Bartolucci
Mother And Child Reunion: Jonathan Jackson (Lucky) says it’s “such a joy’ to once again be working alongside Genie Francis (Laura).
Jonathan Jackson kicked off his return to General Hospital with his character, Lucky Spencer, far from home as he was being held hostage in Africa by Jenz Sidwell. The actor tells Digest that he had a good time with his reentry arc, saying, “I was just kind of in the moment of it and enjoying the process. I really loved working with everyone I was working with, so I wasn’t really overly anxious [to get into the Port Charles-based action] in any way. I knew it would happen; I knew it was coming. So I was just taking it as it came and it felt pretty natural. The length of everything felt just about right.”
Port Charles Returns
But now that Lucky is back in Port Charles, the actor is getting to share scenes with a who’s-who of castmates that were part of his earlier runs on the show.
The actor got his first taste of that when Lucky first interacted with Steve Burton’s Jason while he was still a prisoner. “Steve and I are pretty close friends, so we’ve been in touch a lot over the years,” Jackson notes. “It wasn’t as much of a reunion for us as it was for the characters, really, because he and I have stayed in touch a lot. But it was really fun to get to work with him again and to act with him again. It’s great to have that kind of history and rapport with someone.”
After Lucky saw Elizabeth for the first time, he dropped in on Maurice Benard’s Sonny. “Those scenes were really fun,” reports Jackson. “I mean, Maurice is one of those people that, with him and I, it always feels like no time has passed.”
And then, just when Lucky needed it most, his mother Laura, returned, signalling the end of Genie Francis’s annual summer break from the show. “Getting to work with Genie again has been absolutely amazing,” Jackson declares. “Just seeing her again was wonderful. It was such a joy. The idea and the thought of getting to work with Genie again was a huge part of the inspiration and the drive to come back to the show. When I was here in 2010 [after his original 1993-99 run], she wasn’t on the show. And I’d had such a great time working with Tony [Geary, ex-Luke] again, and I always felt like, ‘Man, I wish Genie was here. I would love to get to work with her at this stage in my life.’ And, yes, I did get to work with her very, very briefly when I was here for a couple of episodes [in 2015] when Tony was leaving, but it just wasn’t really enough. And it’s been almost a decade since then!”
The reunion has definitely lived up to Jackson’s high expectations. “Genie is just an amazing person and an incredible artist,” he praises. “It really has been such a joy working with her. I’m very grateful.”
That goes for the rest of the cast that he’s working with again after such a long gap. “That’s something that is so amazing about this medium and so unique,” Jackson notes, “that I get to work with not all, but many, of the same actors. It’s a very special thing.”
ABC/Craig Sjodin
We Knew Them When: Jackson first began working with Francis and Anthony Geary (ex-Luke) in 1993.