The general hospital cries Monica, Leslie Charleson, Jane Elliot reflects

There is no drought in the All Saints chapel on Thursday and the episodes of the general hospital on Friday, while family, friends and colleagues come together to honor Dr. Monica Quartermaine, who died peacefully in his sleep last week. The emotion on the screen was real – Leslie Charleson, who had given Life to Monica since 1977, died in January at 79, making these scenes a farewell both to the character and the actress.

“It was very, very difficult to play it alive when she had already spent real life. This extended the mourning because we had to keep it alive when it was not, ”explains Jane Elliot, who plays Tracy Quartermaine, Monica’s sister-in-law. “I had to cry his death twice.”

Take out the fabrics – you will need it. The commemorative service begins quietly. Jason (Steve Burton), who was raised by Monica, is waiting in the chapel to greet people in mourning, her sorrow written on her face. Looking at Monica’s photo, her eyes are filled with tears. He admits to Elizabeth (Rebecca Herbst) that he regrets the distance he once held from the quarterma, but she reassures him that life in the manor last year meant the world for Monica. She liked to have her son under her roof.

At the Quartermaine Mansion – as we can see in the exclusive video – Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) tells Chase (Josh Swickard), she understands why Tracy rushed to Atlantic City to avoid going to the funeral of Monica. Brook Lynn understands that her grandmother did not want to show her sorrow in public, says that everyone must cry in his own way. Ned (Wally Kurth) returns to his own complicated story with Monica and admits to Olivia (Lisa Locicero) that he always feels his presence everywhere in the house.

Slowly, The Mourners arrives at The Church: The QS, Michael (Rory Gibson), Portia (Brook Kerr), Stella (Vernee Watson), Felicia (Kristina Wagner), Lucy (Lynn Herring), Lulu (Alexa Havins), Gio (Giovanni Mazza), Laura (Genie Francis) Sofer), Each Remembering How Monica Shaped Their Vies. Tracy looks at Monica’s photo and fights with her emotions. When Ned thanks Michael for welcoming everyone, he learns that Jason did it quietly – something that deeply touches Tracy, who tells him that he returned his proud mother.

As the service begins, all eyes turn to Tracy, feared to sneak, unable to face the reality of Monica’s death. But she takes a stabilizing breath, nods her head and enters inside the chapel. One by one, Monica’s relatives share stories, laughing with tears. Ned does not know how they will get out of it without Monica, but at least today, they don’t have to do it. He takes paper from his pocket, revealing that Monica left a last message for them all.

“Leslie has left two voids of my life,” explains Elliot. “She left a vacuum as an acting partner and a friend. Leslie and I have known for 60 years. We met in 1965. I was 18 and she was 20 years old, and she went out with a boy in a room in which I was in New York. She came to the theater on Saturday. shared experience and things to say. [on ‘GH’] Only to discover that I had to play his sister-in-law. »»

Elliot and Charleson became very good friends on the set, even if their “GH” characters were constantly bickering. They made trips together, made each other birthday party, and when Elliot married, Charleson gave him a wedding shower. “She was an integral part of my life … It is already quite difficult to cry the death of someone once, but then to start again. One was obviously the person, and the other was the character, but at some point they mixed. You know, Monica was Leslie, and Leslie was Monica.

Monica’s death hits Tracy particularly harshly. When Tracy was presented in the series, his brother Alan was already married to Monica, which Tracy thought below him and in place in society. She laughed and decreased for years. “And then everyone [in Tracy’s life] Died – Alan is dead, Lila died. Edward died. And Monica and Tracy were the last two standing, ”she explains.

“Monica had been the head of the hospital, and Monica had been a prosperous surgeon. Monica was on the board of directors. And Tracy began to see it as an equality. Tracy had evolved over the years and was a more substantial human being and had crossed the sorrow of losing Luke’s weight, and she developed a more complete personality. Because of this, she could see the weight of Monica and respected her for her. ”.

And now Tracy is alone. “It’s a huge loss for her. All his contemporaries have disappeared. His mother, his father, his brother, Luke, Gregory, ”explains Elliot. “I mean, Monica was that. They were the last two hand in hand, side by side. So losing it was like losing an arm.”

Will Tracy be able to put a courageous face and share his deep emotions by speaking in the service of Monica? “She’s categorical, she’s not going to do it, but there are a lot of people who really want her to do it,” she said. “The question is: someone will make him change his mind?”