Laura Wright Marks 20 Years As General Hospital’s Carly! Relive Her Two Decades of Drama

On November 4, 2005, Laura Wright made her General Hospital debut as Carly, one of the show’s signature roles. Carly had previously been played by Sarah Brown, Tamara Braun (Sienna, Young and Restless) and, briefly, Jennifer Bransford. Wright was no stranger to daytime, having two major soap characters under her belt (she was Ally Rescott on Loving and The City from 1991-97, and Cassie Layne on Guiding Light from 1997-2005), and admitted as a guest on Soap Opera Digest‘s podcast, Dishing with Digest, in 2021 that, “I felt coming onto [GH], ‘Look out, here I come!’ I had so much — not arrogance, but excitement and confidence. I felt like I couldn’t wait to play Carly, like all the characters I had before were there because I was going to play Carly.”

The actress grew up a GH fan, telling Digest in 2023, “It was the first soap opera I ever watched…. To be on General Hospital now, playing Bobbie Spencer’s [Jacklyn Zeman] daughter and Luke Spencer’s [Anthony Geary] niece, it just blows my mind to this day.”

In honor of the Daytime Emmy winner’s 20th anniversary, join us for a look back at Carly’s highs and lows in the years that Wright has been bringing her to life.

RON TOM/ABC

Here is Wright in 2005, in her very early days as Carly, in one of her first on-screen encounters with Maurice Benard (Sonny). At the time, their oft-married characters' relationship was not in a good place. The actress recalled to Digest in 2022, "When I first started, Carly wanted Sonny back and her family together with him, no matter what, at all costs."

ADAM LARKEY/ABC

In 2006, Carly and Jax (Ingo Rademacher, l.) teamed up to stop Nikolas (Tyler Christopher) from discovering that baby John, as he was known at the time, was actually his son with the late Courtney, and not Jax's. (The truth eventually came out and Nikolas renamed the boy Spencer.) Along the way, Carly and Jax developed a romantic connection. In 2020, Wright raved to Digest, "I loved when Jax and Carly got together and fell in love, back when I first started. It let me introduce my version of Carly — how I act, my personality, my vision of Carly — without changing what the fans loved about her, and it tied in humor, and also conflict with Jax and Sonny, which is always great to tap into."

ABC

In 2007, Carly made it official with Jax, and Wright was a GH bride for the first time. In 2013, she beamed to Digest, "That was a spectacular wedding. We had a great time."

RON TOM/ABC

Sarah Brown, the Daytime Emmy-winner who originated the role of Carly in 1996, returned to GH in 2008 to assume a new Port Charles identity, Claudia Zacchara. In 2013, Wright freely admitted to Digest that she was anxious about sharing scenes with her predecessor. "Talk about intimidating; try working with the original Carly!" she laughed. "Sarah made it so wonderful. The first day that I had to work with her, it wasn't scripted, but she called me Carly. She did that on purpose, almost like, 'You're Carly.' She didn't have to do that, but that moment, for me, was like, 'Okay, I can breathe.'"

ADAM LARKEY/ABC

In 2009, Carly celebrated her first Christmas as a mom of three after she and Jax welcomed their daughter, Josslyn, who was doted on by big brothers Morgan (Aaron Refvem) and Michael (then-Drew Garrett). In 2022. Wright told Digest that she thinks becoming a girl mom fundamentally changed Carly, noting, "When Josslyn was born, that was when Carly first realized she had a little girl watching every move she was making.”

PATRICK WYMORE/ABC

In 2010, Michael was sent to prison for Claudia's murder, utterly devastating Carly. But on the bright side, Wright took home the Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress after making the emotional moment the centerpiece of her submission reel. "I did pretty good with that pick," she chuckled to Digest in 2015. "Those scenes were about a mother's worst fear, really, of not being able to protect your kid. Chad [Duell, then-Michael] was so good."

RICK ROWELL/ABC

In 2011, Carly pulled out all the stops to prevent Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil) from becoming Mrs. Sonny Corinthos, but her efforts failed. Wright mused to Digest in 2022, "The greatest rival of the heart [in Carly's history] would be Brenda because Carly is so different than Brenda; Brenda is tiny, with long, beautiful, brown hair and it’s just a very different visual, you know? Brenda was the first love of Sonny’s life and Carly can’t compete with that."

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Carly took up with Johnny Zacchara in 2012, but when he cheated on her, she found comfort with a different bad boy: Roger Howarth's (Matt/Mitch, Young and Restless) Todd Manning, who had moved to Port Charles from One Life to Live's Llanview. "I actually think Todd was one of the perfect matches for Carly," Wright told Digest in 2015. "They were two peas in a pod, extremely similar, and I loved working with Roger. The honesty he brought! Roger felt the same way I did about Carly and Todd and we worked really well together. He would sit next to me while I was getting my hair straightened and we'd run the lines over and over and come up with funny bits."

SEAN SMITH/JPI

An epic new rivalry was born when Maura West's Ava swooped into Port Charles in 2013 and slept with Morgan (then got pregnant by Sonny and gave birth to Avery the following year). Enthused Wright to Digest in 2020, "I have been a fan of hers ever since As the World Turns [where West played Carly Tenney Snyder] and when I knew she was coming to General Hospital, I was so excited.... I have learned, when I work with Maura, if it's Carly against Ava, then she's going to go for it. There's no, 'Oh, we're friends [in real life], I'll be [nicer].' She's my dear friend and I learn from her daily."

JPI

In an action-packed 2014, Carly helped Sonny conceal his crime after her ex fatally shot Michael's birth father, AJ Quartermaine. Their shared secret helped refuel Carly and Sonny's chemistry and they landed back in bed, even as she decided to go through with marrying Franco (Roger Howarth). Unfortunately for her, Franco was wise to her infidelity and dumped her at the altar — then exposed the AJ cover-up to Michael, who shunned his parents. "It was a great story," Wright declared to Digest in 2015. "Her whole life was fighting so that Michael can never be taken away and then he walks away on his own." In time, mother and son (and father and son) reconciled.

HOWARD WISE/JPI

2015 saw Sonny and Carly remarry yet again, and also rally behind their son Morgan (Bryan Craig), who, like his father, was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Wright told Digest at the time of "Carson's" latest wedding, "She has no bad feelings about anything happening to mess it up. She is convinced that this is it. In fact, she even says, 'This is forever. I know it is.' Famous last words, right?"

CHRIS D/JPI

One of the greatest blows of Carly's life came in 2016, when Morgan was killed in a car explosion, which nearly tore Sonny and Carly apart. Noted Wright to Digest, "This is a big explosion to Sonny and Carly’s world, and Maurice and I were both really nervous about it because we really like Sonny and Carly together and this kind of [messes] with that for a while. We just didn’t want anything to cheapen the relationship. But these are good reasons [for tension in the marriage].... A lot of couples do divorce or split up after they’ve lost a child because the pain of looking at the other is so intense."

XJJohnson/jpistudios.com

Jason (Steve Burton, l.), Carly's longtime BFF and former lover, returned to town in 2017 after being presumed dead in 2012 ... which caused some mass confusion for not only Carly, but Jason's wife, Sam (Kelly Monaco), and Drew (then-Billy Miller), as Drew had been living as Jason (whose memories he possessed) for several years.

ABC

Carly was in danger of going to prison in 2018 after a period of gaslighting by Nelle Benson, Carly was in danger of going to prison, but was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity and sent to Ferncliff. It took several months, but her nae was ultimately cleared and she was sent home.

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Sonny and Carly found their way back together and renewed their vows in 2019 while Carly was expecting the couple's daughter, Donna.... but more clouds were most definitely on the horizon!

XJ JOHNSON/JPI

Scheming Nelle (Chloe Lanier) had caused problems for Carly and her family for years, and in 2020, she fell to her presumed death after a scuffle with Carly. "It was a great ending to Nelle/Carly," Wright enthused to Digest. "It had to be something big and fantastic like that." After Nelle's demise, Carly learned that she was the biological daughter of a none-the-wiser Nina, and she kept the news to herself. Cue the Carly/Nina feud!

Eric McCandless/ABC

Sonny was presumed dead in 2021, and unbeknownst to Carly, he wound up amnesiac and living as "Mike" in Nixon Falls. Nina found him there and they struck up a romance, with Nina concealing Sonny's true identity from him and the fact that he was alive from Carly. "Widow" Carly, meanwhile, became Mrs. Jason Morgan when the duo decided to wed to safeguard Sonny's organization from the Five Families. Opined Wright to Digest in 2020, "I don’t think there’s a moment that doesn’t shine when you put Carly and Jason together. It’s built-in emotion, strength, loyalty, family, love — everything that you would have in any relationship, they have it firing on all cylinders."

ABC/Eric McCandless

Carly and Sonny reunited when his memory returned, but in 2022, they headed back to divorce court after she caught him in bed with Nina! Wright told Digest, "It burns because it’s Nina. She’s an enemy. This woman purposely kept Sonny from her.... Carly cannot believe that Sonny is still connected to this woman who truly destroyed their family. What happened to the Sonny that would be like, ‘You’re dead to me and I’m going to crush you?’ That’s the partner that Carly was used to having. He’s not fighting for his family the way he would have in the past."

ABC

In 2023, Carly got hot and heavy with Jason's twin, Drew (Cameron Mathison), who she never could have imagined would one day in the not-too-distant future become her sworn enemy! Wright shrugged to Digest in 2025, "At this point, the only thing she thinks about him is, ‘You are a horrible human being.’ I don’t think she gives herself that much time to think about Drew because, you know, she’d want to kill him!"

Christine Bartolucci/Disney

2024 got off to a devastating start for Carly when she got word that her mom, Bobbie, had passed away. “I have to honestly say that Carly has no idea how to handle what life has just handed to her,” Wright asserted to Digest about Carly losing her mother, which was "not something she ever wrapped her head around or thought could ever happen. I think just stops her in her tracks. It really pulls out the rug from underneath her."

Disney/Bahareh Ritter

In 2025, Carly got swept up into a romance with WSB Bureau Chief Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna), only to discover that he'd broken her cardinal rule and lied to her about something that affected one of her children — in this instance, Josslyn, who he had recruited to become a spy. So, naturally, she's now out for revenge, and has teamed up with Valentin Cassadine to execute it. As Wright recently told Digest, "Carly’s going to handle it her way. I mean, this is Carly we’re talking about! In her mind, it’s, ‘I’m gonna do whatever I have to do.’"

Laura Wright General Hospital

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