General Hospital’s Laura Wright Opens Up About Her Incredible Final Days With Jacklyn Zeman: ‘It Was Such a Gift’
We never know when we’re going to lose the ones we love. That’s why it’s so important to cherish every moment together — which is exactly what General Hospital’s Laura Wright did during Jacklyn Zeman’s final days. Because as it turns out, Bobbie’s final scenes in Port Charles were with Carly and Wright couldn’t have asked for more special of a sendoff.
Carly’s portrayer spoke with EldredgeATL.com about Zeman’s final week on the show, which just so happened to be the Nurses Ball. And while it may not have been a pivotal moment for their characters, it was a downright amazing time for the actors.
The Nurses Ball took a week to shoot, which meant a week sitting together in the audience. “When we shoot that,” Wright explained, “there’s a lot of time for chit-chatting and all of our stuff is stashed under the table.”
It’s basically just one big hangout while they sit back and watch the folks who have to perform up on stage and get to react to it. This past Nurses Ball saw Carly and Bobbie sitting with Eden McCoy’s Josslyn and Tabyana Ali’s Trina and Wright took full advantage of the time together. “I was like, ‘Jackie, tell them this story or that story!’”
Zeman, she shared with EldredgeATL.com, “had the best stories on the planet.” The General Hospital vet was a world traveler “and had the most incredible life experiences, both on and off camera. She was a part of daytime from the late 1970s to this year. It was incredible to get to have that full week with Jackie and hanging out with her every day right before we lost her.”
Not only did Wright get to take in her TV mom’s stories all week, so too did the next generation. It was an incredible way to keep Zeman’s memory and experiences alive, even after losing her.
As Wright put it in those last days together on General Hospital, “I had five days that week of sitting and hanging out with Jackie from eight in the morning until nine o’clock at night. It was such a gift.”