‘General Hospital’s Nancy Lee Grahn Addresses the Julexis Controversy
What the holy hell is going on? Mere weeks ago, General Hospital’s Julian (William deVry) and Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) were the sexiest, most blissful couple in soaps, with a massive and deliriously happy fanbase known as the Julexis Army. But now we know that Julian did not give up his life in the mob—as he promised Alexis before their wedding—and he remains a cold-blooded killer. And the army is having a cow! Grahn weighs in on the matter.
Your fans are in hyper-shock. Why would GH mess with a good thing?
Alexis is in shock too! She’s been through the sleeping-with-the-enemy thing. Now she hates the motherf—er and is ready to kill him. No one is telling me where this is headed, so I am taking the same journey the audience is and feeling all the same things—horror, dismay and the five stages of grief.
Including acceptance?
Look, when men were writing GH, Alexis was in a safe, generic, boring place. Now that Shelly Altman and Jean Passanante are our head writers, I’ve been forced to get off my ass and sweat and cry. It feels like the most fantastic workout at the gym, and at the end of every workday I’m going, “Damn, I feel like a real actor!” Yes, to pull the rug out from under Julexis is a very risky move. But no risk, no gain. And you can’t say this isn’t interesting. The next few weeks are wild. We’re going places I never would have imagined.
RELATED: Grahn and deVry Take Fan Questions From the Julexis Army
Ballsy, 180-degree twists like this are commonplace these days on the great cable dramas, and the audience thrives on them. Are we talking about a different set of rules here? What viewers accept in prime time they won’t accept in daytime?
We do work differently in daytime. Spontaneity is rare. Things can get extremely predictable, as if there are only five plots that play over and over and over again. So when something like this comes along that we haven’t seen before, it can really throw you. When I’m binge-watching Bloodline or Breaking Bad I’m constantly going, “Wow! Whoa! What the f—k?” And that’s what keeps you coming back. We love saying, “This is insane! I didn’t see that coming!” But daytime viewers invest in a different way. Alexis and Julian weren’t just smacked together like so many soap couples are these days. Their relationship unfolded slowly, gradually, truthfully. It’s been a real relationship. We saw their love blossom.
We also saw him give up his wicked ways for the love of a good woman, which is a huge and heavy thing. But then it all turned out to be bulls—t, or so it seems. It’s like the viewers have been fooled by the same lie that fooled Alexis.
There are a lot of women in our audience—men, too—who relate to Alexis. They do see her as a good woman who deserves good things and who got some happiness by not bending over backwards for a man. The man bent over backwards for her! And that’s something that had never been seen on GH. That’s why it’s not OK with me to call Alexis stupid, because that would mean the viewers are also stupid and they’re not! We all believed Julian. There was enough evidence in the writing of their relationship that this guy had truly changed and that his love for Alexis was genuine, authentic, trustable. I do not believe any of that was a lie, which is what makes this new direction even more shocking and interesting to me.
Should we be hoping Julian is actually an evil twin, or that he’s been brainwashed by the evil Helena Cassadine, or that he has one of those Franco brain tumors? There are many wacky ways out of this situation, but at what cost to reality?
Well, there better be a good reason for all this, so bring it on! Hey, I play a character who gave birth after a train crash via C-section—and they did the surgery with a butter knife and no anesthetic. [Laughs] So I’m not a big stickler for reality.
Let’s bring this in for a landing. Would you go so far as to say you are optimistic about where this is headed?
I say take the ride. I say with optimism that the story is not over yet. One of my favorite lines comes from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: “Everything will be all right in the end. If it’s not all right, then it’s not the end yet.”
In the meantime, what do you recommend to your army?
[Laughs] Have a couple of cocktails. And try to stay calm. You’re not alone. Hang on. Don’t abandon ship. If we eventually have to throw Julian overboard, so be it. It’s women and children first! I do not intend to die on the Titanic.
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B
Thanks for the interview! Both Nancy and Will are doing a great job with this shocking material. Give them all the Emmys! LOL
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I like Julexis too, but I've seen Julian since he was 1st introduced on GH in the 80's, & he's acting like he was then! So it's not out of character! Their current SL is well written & brilliantly acted! Sometimes love doesn't change a person for the better! But like NLG said enjoy the ride! The story isn't over yet!
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C
I think Julian is a *tad* better than he was in the 80's. He only re-entered the mob for his sister, Ava, who was on the verge of losing custody of Avery. In the 80's, he offed his other sister. So, it is a sacrifice on his part that he gave in to Ava's pleas. The way I read the whole plot, Julian does indeed love Alexis as much as any mobster right out of THE GODFATHER can love his spouse. In his mind, killing Carlos was justified because it threatened their life together. I see them turning this into a situation right out of THE GODFATHER. Remember what Michael Corleone's wife did to extricate herself from that life? He was never going to divorce her. So, she did the one thing she knew he could not forgive - she aborted their child.
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C
So Alexis is going to get out of this by killing Sam? Lol, I'm just playing. I really like your comparison to the Godfather, very interesting. I do wonder where this couple is going, I became so invested in them over time.
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P
I love NLG and I don't want to criticize her, but it sounds like she's OK with Julian being gone, which means her co-star being gone and that is a little cold. I know she has waited a long time to be front and center, but without a love interest, it won't last long. Just ask Tracy
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C
Man, why did they have to throw Julexis under the bus like this, the one relationship that developed slowly over a couple of years, and I was invested, and he has so many relationships on the show. Why do they have to have him acting like a wild, uncontrolled animal? I know it's in his character from the 80's and I'm talking about a man who killed his own sister in cold blood, but Julian has been good for so long I would rather see a man who was conflicted rather than one that just had some crazy off switch and just turned crazy seemingly overnight or regressed back to whatever he was in the 80's. People grow don't they? It seems like they go out of their way to make Julian this off kilter madman while Sonny is the shining hero, even though he's probably killed way more people than Julian ever did. However many enjoyed the cat and mouse of the story between Julexis, despite the way it compromised Anna and Jordan, two of the best detectives on the show suddenly not having it together when Alexis needed them, thrown under the bus also for Sonny. This s#$t just ain't necessary!!!
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Wow is she obnoxious as hell. I hope they are over the less gross Julexis love scenes I have to see the better.
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O
Obnoxious?? Makes no sense.Can you please elaborate?
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Media thinks we accept the bad prime time writing? we don't we turn the channel, we hate those shows, People who watch those Prime time shows, you speak of, don't watch Soap Operas...Tell the writers to start listening to the fans, not the non-fan base.
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That's crap. I watch those primetime shows AND soaps, and I guarantee there are lots of other people who do too. Please do not speak for me.
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That's ridiculous.
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The majority of viewers disagree. Prime time writing is not bad. It's exciting & a lot more inventive these days than soap operas, which is the main reason daytime audiences have largely vanished - because the plots are completely predictable, boring & unimaginative.
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Alexis is ruined as a character if she forgives or condones Julian in any way.I already found it hard to swallow that she looked the other way over Duke's murder.
Julian is straight up scum now.He's murdered 2 more people in cold blood.Unforgivable.
Now he's issued veiled threats to Alexis and physically grabbed her.That is crossing a no going back line as well.
Alexis has a core of integrity that would be destroyed if she doesn't break ties forever with Julian. She needs to divorce him and help bring his ass to judgement.
My dream story would be an updated version of the David Hamilton story. Molly kills Julian and Alexis confesses to protect her daughter. That would be a great story and NLG would rock the hell out of it.
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