General Hospital Performer of the Week: Laura Wright as Carly Spencer

General Hospital's Laura Wright played three different versions of Carly Spencer this past week. Despite two of them being versions of Carly we never see, Wright made each persona completely believable while looking like she was enjoying herself the whole time.

The all-new Carly Spencer

Carly gave Lulu a lecture on General Hospital | Image: ABC

Carly started the week as the doting mom of a successful college student, but quickly morphed into a woman enjoying dating life, something Carly has rarely had. Wright shows us a more carefree side of the often tightly-wound Carly whenever her character is with Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). Carly seems genuinely happy, which is a rare sight to behold. We also know Wright will bring out viper Carly when she learns that Jack recruited her college-age daughter into the WSB.

Wright also brought out a striking level of maturity in Carly that made us wonder who we were watching. Carly, the woman who can never stay out of anyone's business, lectured Lulu (Alexa Havins) on staying out of other people's business. Carly was absolutely right, of course, but just hearing it was mind-boggling. Still, Wright kept a little bit of the Carly we know through these scenes as she said the words without a hint of self-awareness that everything she was accusing Lulu of, she had done herself. And then, Carly reverted right back to form.

Wright knows her General Hospital character

General Hospital's Carly reverted to form and argued with Sonny | Image: ABC

What a relief when the real Carly returned by Thursday. Wright slipped right back into the role of the busybody who likes to take over any situation, ultimately causing some sort of disaster in the end, something she warned Lulu could happen if she blabbed Brook Lynn's (Amanda Setton) secret.

Wright's comedic side came out in full force in the scenes with Jason (Steve Burton) and Diane (Carolyn Hennesy), and later with Sonny (Maurice Benard). Carly knew she screwed up, but she was going to take charge anyway and see her screw up through. So what if Michael couldn't be at his own custody hearing? His fierce mama bear would speak for her son, even if her son had no idea what she was doing. That's the Carly we know and the Carly that Wright also knows like the back of her hand. She gave us different layers of one complex woman this week, but in the end, she also gave us the familiarity that we need.

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.