Alexis Davis
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| Alexis Davis | |||||||||
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 Nancy Lee Grahn as Alexis Davis. |
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| General Hospital | |||||||||
| Portrayed by | Nancy Lee Grahn | ||||||||
| First appearance | 1996 | ||||||||
| Created by | Robert Guza Jr. & Karen Harris | ||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||
| Aliases | Natasha Alexandra Cassadine Alexis Davidovitch Dobson |
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| Gender | Female | ||||||||
| Age | 43 (born in 1964) | ||||||||
| Occupation | District Attorney (2008 to present) | ||||||||
| Title | Russian royalty | ||||||||
| Residence | Port Charles, New York | ||||||||
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Alexis Davis (né Natasha Alexandra Cassadine; raised Alexis Davidovitch) is a fictional character on the popular ABC soap opera, General Hospital. Nancy Lee Grahn originated the role in 1996. She is the daughter of Mikkos Cassadine and mother to Sam McCall, Kristina Davis, and Molly Lansing
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[edit] Character history
Alexis is the daughter of Mikkos Cassadine (who at one point wanted to take over the world but whose plan was foiled by Luke Spencer), a Greco-Russian aristocrat, and his mistress Kristin Nilsson (changed to Kristin Bergmann), a Swedish opera singer. Her mother was murdered by Mikkos' wife Helena Cassadine. Different versions of Alexis' early years have been presented, but in each version Helena slits Kristin's throat in front of the young Alexis.
Alexis was then taken into Mikkos and Helena's household to be raised as a poor relative. In one version of the story, Alexis was a child of four when her mother was murdered. However, in the most recent revision of the story, she was nine or ten. Alexis's infant sister, Kristina Cassadine, disappeared at the time of the murder and Alexis believed she was responsible for her disappearance because Kristin had told her to hide her sister. She hid the baby in the stables and ran back to help her mother, only to witness the murder. When she returned to find the baby, Kristina was gone.
Years later, an adult Kristina Carter came looking for her sister and explained that she had been adopted and sought out information about her birth family after her adoptive mother's death. The show did not explain in detail what happened to Kristina or how she came to be adopted. It was in part thanks to Jasper Jacks's help that the sisters were reunited.
Alexis developed at least partial amnesia and grew up believing she was Alexis Davidovitch, the daughter of Mikkos's dead sister Sophia and her Russian husband Alexei Davidovich. Alexis was tormented by Helena and her half-brother, Stavros Cassadine, but had a close bond with her half-brother, Stefan Cassadine. Stefan protected Alexis from the rest of the family and paid for her to attend boarding school in the United States when she was a teenager.
In the spring of 2006, Alexis revealed that she gave up a daughter for adoption when she was 16 and at boarding school. She said that Mikkos pressured her to give up the child. Mikkos then altered documents to make it appear that the child had died in a car accident when she was three so that Alexis would never be able to find her. Alexis badly wanted to please Mikkos and did as he told her. Alexis has not revealed who the father is, but said he never knew that she was pregnant.
[edit] Early years on the show
In return for Stefan's protection of Alexis, he expected loyalty to himself as head of the family. He suggested that Alexis "Americanize" her surname to Davis from Davidovich to make herself more acceptable to American clients. Alexis worked as Stefan's attorney when she completed school. Alexis aided Stefan on the legal side of things when he was carrying out his vendetta against Luke Spencer, whom he blamed for killing his brother Stavros and for preventing Laura from returning to Stefan and her son Nikolas Cassadine.
Alexis has been willing to bend the law when needed to suit her own ends as well. She was in cahoots with Luke Spencer to kill Helena Cassadine, but the plan went wrong and Katherine Bell fell off the parapet instead and was severely injured. Hoping to break up Stefan and his fiancee Katherine Bell, Alexis tricked Stefan into believing that Katherine was actually his half-sister Natasha. Stefan was estranged from Alexis for a time when he learned of the lie. Luke Spencer learned that Alexis was the real Natasha and told her. It was only after Luke gave her the information that she began to remember her past.
[edit] A run-away bride and a platonic marriage
Alexis had a long affair with her fellow "gatekeeper" Ned Ashton, but lost her nerve at the altar when it came time to marry him. They met in December 1996 and began dating the next spring. They shared their first kiss while dancing on a rooftop after The Nurses Ball. It was nearly a year later, on Valentine's Day, that they consummated their relationship. During this time they broke up numerous times, but managed to find their way back to each other.
On July 5, 1999, she married her best friend Jasper "Jax" Jacks, while Ned had a platonic marriage to Chloe Morgan. Ned, Alexis and Jax were helping Chloe to fulfill the conditions of an inheritance, but the wrong couples ended up married. They explained their sudden relationship as a result of a helicopter crash in the Sahara Desert, where they were stranded for days due to a sandstorm. The crash had been caused by Helena Cassadine as Jax and Alexis were pursuing her. They were only married for eight months, but both of them refer to their time together as their most successful relationship. They are one of the few male/female friends whose relationship has always been platonic on the show. Lady Jane Jacks took a liking to Alexis and both had a good relationship.
Ned asked Alexis to marry her, and she reluctantly said "yes." While Ned was on tour singing as Eddie Maine, Alexis was caught posing for Ned in a black teddy with a rose between her teeth. Something that started out as harmless blew out of proportion and Alexis couldn't show her face in public without being mobbed by admirers and reporters, simply because she was "Eddie's Angel." They planned a huge wedding in the hope of discouraging the reporters from following them around. She had images of what her life would be like as Ned's wife and ran out of the church.
[edit] The Sonny Saga
In February 1999, Sonny Corinthos approached Alexis to aid Jason Morgan to retain custody of Michael, a proposition Alexis would ultimately agree to. Upon overhearing Assistant District Attorney Dara Jensen questioning Sonny about the disappearance of Jason and Michael, she reluctantly stepped in to aid and protect Sonny's rights - thus becoming his "mouthpiece".
The following year, Sonny discovered that Carly Benson was pregnant - with his baby. Not wanting the child to grow up with the Quartermaines, he enlisted Alexis' services to make sure that he would have a role in his own child's life. However, before the baby was born, Carly fell down the stairs at the Quartermaine mansion and lost the child. During a depression that followed, Sonny was approached by Sorel with an opportunity to look the other way while Sorel stepped up on his drug dealings. Sonny decided to accept the meeting, and unknown to him, Carly hid in the closet and taped the entire conversation. Detective Marcus Taggert received an "anonymous" tip regarding the meeting, and with a team of officers, busted into the office and arrested Sonny. The only way Alexis could keep him out of jail was to convince him to marry Carly so that Carly would not have to testify.
Sonny convinced Alexis to move into the vacant penthouse across the hallway from Sonny's place after Carly expressed an interest in moving in with her son Michael. The move allowed Sonny and Alexis to get to know one another as people, rather than attorney-client. After Alexis and Ned were officially engaged, she talked of her fears and apprehensions to Sonny, much to Carly's chagrin.
Alexis also agreed to defend Zander Smith on kidnapping charges, which caused a rift between herself and Ned, though not enough to make them call off the wedding. Sonny and Alexis both found themselves growing attached to the kid, and she took him to live in her penthouse after being freed on bail. Alexis worked out a deal in which the charges would be dropped in exchange for Zander's testimony against Sorel in the latter's drug trial. Following the successful deal and subsequent $2 million bail agreement, Sonny, Alexis, Zander and Emily Quartermaine left the PCPD with the intentions of celebration. Just outside the precinct, two of Sorel's men, disguised as police officers, opened fire on the four. Sonny pushed Alexis out of the way of the bullets, getting hit himself; Zander was also hit, though it was a superficial wound.
Later, Sorel threatened Zander's life once again. Seeing no alternative, Sonny decided to make Zander "disappear", and did not tell Alexis. Panicked by his disappearance, Alexis asked Roy DiLucca for help, and then visited Sorel in jail and threatened him. Sonny brought Zander back just in time to testify against Sorel, and Alexis discovered what had transpired - and was not pleased.
The year 2001 was one of great change for Alexis. She officially resumed the role of "mob mouthpiece", as well as lost her best friend Chloe (who was murdered by Stavros Cassadine - and discovered that her presumed dead sister, Kristina was, in fact, alive and well. After the Cassadines escaped Helena and Stavros' plot, it was on Sonny that Alexis leaned on when she finally needed to vent her feelings of anger and sadness. And from there their friendship grew and deepened. Soon enough, though, duty called, and Alexis and Sonny were on a plane to Puerto Rico to handle a labor situation at his molasses refinery. They stayed at Sonny's casino, and what started out as purely business turned into a night of fun. But, before anything serious could happen, Sonny was called back to Port Charles to deal with another "Carly" situation, one that revealed the existence of his half-sister, Courtney Matthews. Alexis was instrumental in trying to help Sonny build a relationship with his new sister, drawing on her own experience with having Kristina in her life to help him. But A.J. Quartermaine was determined to seduce Courtney and use her to force a deal with Sonny - his sister for A.J.'s son.
As Sonny began to wonder about Alexis' romantic feelings for him (following a slip of the tongue by her sister), the flirting and the deep connection between the two both intensified. But tensions between Sonny and his sister continued to escalate over the subject of A.J. during the early months of 2002, and finally, the Courtney and A.J. ran away. Alexis tried to keep Sonny from doing anything he'd regret during this time, prompting a lot of questions from her sister Kristina regarding their relationship. Finally, pushed to her breaking point, Alexis admitted her feelings to her sister in a rush of anger.
“ Alexis: I never said I was "OK" with my feelings, Kristina. I never said I was "comfortable" with my feelings. I said I didn't want to share them with you or Ned or Jax or anyone else. Shouldn't that be my choice? Shouldn't that be my prerogative? Is that so hard for all of you to understand? You know what I think? I think that --- that you don't care at all about my relationship with Sonny. In fact, I don't think you give a damn about my feelings at all. I think you're all so damn mad at me because I'm in love with a man you can't stand! ”
Alexis continued to try to hide her true feelings from Sonny - and everyone else - as they searched for Courtney. When they finally did locate Sonny's sister, they discovered she was now married to A.J. who then made his offer of an exchange of Courtney for Michael, to Sonny. Sonny, who was worried about his sister's future decided to have A.J. killed. But, he canceled the order at the behest of Alexis. This decision made Sonny realize he really cared for Alexis:
“ Sonny: You know what you are to me now? Someone who matters, someone I need too much to push away. What am I to you? I mean, what are we to each other? You're like a dance, Alexis, and I'm not talking about drunk on rum in Puerto Rico. You -- you -- you like to dance around me, and that's fine because I -- I like to dance with you, too. But not tonight. You forced me to choose, and I -- I chose you. I wonder, if the positions were reversed, would you choose me? ”
That night, Sonny and Alexis made love, which, unbeknowst to them, was witnessed by Carly. The next morning, they learned that Carly had disappeared and had possibly been in a car accident after seeing them in bed. Sonny and Alexis were both distraught over this and later when Carly turned up alive and well, Alexis told Sonny he should go back to his wife, which he did.
Alexis later found out she was pregnant and had planned to tell Sonny, but chose not to after overhearing Sonny discuss his willingness to kill Zander Smith. When confronted by Sonny and his suspicions that the baby might be his, Ned(who was dating Kristina at the time)stepped in unasked, and claimed the baby was his. After an initial outburst of shock and rage, where Alexis slapped him, she agreed to carry on the charade and they told everyone that the baby was his. Soon afterwards her sister, Kristina, was killed in a warehouse explosion that was intended for Sonny. Kristina had learned that Sonny was the father of Alexis' baby and had gone to the warehouse to look for him to tell him the truth. Sonny questioned the dying Kristina in the hospital about what she had wanted to tell him, but she chose to keep her sister's secret. Alexis promised to name the baby after her sister, whether it was a boy or girl. At Kristina's memorial service, the devastated Alexis lambasted Sonny, Jason Morgan, and Roy DiLucca and reminded Sonny that her "Cassadine ancestors were ruling countries when his were toiling in the fields with the other peasants".
She hated Sonny for a time and went to great lengths to keep the truth from him. Ned helped Alexis alter documents and assumed paternity of baby Kristina for the first year of her life. Ned was granted custody of Kristina when Alexis was on trial for murder in the death of arms dealer Luis Alcazar, the man who set off the warehouse explosion that killed Kristina Cassadine. Luis had threatened Alexis and her daughter. When Alexis went to his hotel room to confront him, he fell off the balcony during a fight between the two. Alexis later said that the death was accidental and Luis had threatened her, but she knew a jury was unlikely to believe her. Alexis faked Multiple Personality Disorder and received a verdict of innocent by reason of temporary insanity. During her probation, she was allowed only supervised visitation with her baby daughter by Ned. Alexis dressed up as a male butler named Dobson and obtained employment in the Quartermaine household to be closer to Kristina. Eventually, she regained custody of Kristina and barred Ned from her baby's life. He had attempted, along with Skye Quartermaine to gain full custody of Kristina. Ned later dropped the custody suit and bowed out gracefully from Kristina's life.
Alexis was forced to ask Sonny for help when her daughter Kristina became ill and needed a bone marrow transplant. Kristina was ultimately saved by a transfusion of stem cells from Sonny's stillborn daughter with Samantha "Sam" McCall, who a few years later turned out to be the daughter Alexis gave up for adoption.
Up until very recently, Alexis has had a contentious relationship with Sonny, but with the discovery that Alexis is facing a serious health crisis (stage 2 lung cancer), Sonny is becoming more and more involved and is concerned about her well-being.
[edit] Recent stories
Alexis also has an infant daughter, Molly Lansing, by her husband Ric Lansing. Ric is also Sonny's half-brother. Ric originally tried to get close to Alexis after he learned that Sonny fathered Kristina. The manipulative Ric thought he could use this to his advantage. Later, Ric realized that he truly cared for Alexis. Their educational backgrounds, intelligence, wit, and similarly screwed up childhoods gave them much in common. Though Alexis tried to draw back from Ric and even told him he should go back to his ex-wife Elizabeth Spencer, Ric decided to continue to pursue Alexis. He gently pressured her until she agreed to give their relationship a chance. However, their marriage was not without its tensions. Ric's obsession with Sonny Corinthos was a source of conflict. His one-night stand with Reese Marshall nearly ended their marriage, though he and Alexis were reunited just before the stressful birth of their daughter after a train crash. Alexis nearly died giving birth to Molly and later both she and Ric were near death during an encephalitis epidemic that struck Port Charles in February 2006.
After the death of D.A. John Durant, Alexis was next in line to assume office, much to the dislike of Mayor Garrett Floyd. She accepted the job nonetheless.
Ric helped Alexis look for the daughter she had given up for adoption but did not find her. Documents had been altered making it seem that she had died when she was three. Jason and Sam, who were on the same search, did learn the truth that Alexis was Sam's mother. Sam decided to keep it a secret and started observing Alexis from afar. When Sam was in the hospital due to a gunshot wound, Jason went to Alexis to tell her the truth figuring Sam would have wanted her to know before she died. Alexis rushed to Sam's bedside and fought with doctors to keep her alive. She also convinced Jason that he was a danger to Sam and that he should let her go. He did and Sam moved in with Alexis. Sam and Alexis' relationship became conflicted after Sam learned of her mother's involvement in Jason leaving her.
Ric started to complain to Sam that Alexis favored Kristina, her daughter with Sonny, over Molly, her daughter with Ric, and accused Alexis of not spending enough time with him or the girls. Alexis had been trying to get to know Sam as a daughter and has been determined to separate Sam from her fiance Jason Morgan. Sam deeply resented Alexis's efforts to keep them apart. Alexis, who regards herself as a very independent woman, told Sam that she can't understand Sam's reliance on a man for her identity and her determination to be with a mobster. She ordered Sam to leave her house before she poisoned Kristina and Molly with her pitiful attitude. Sam proceeded to get drunk and then she slept with Ric. Alexis witnessed this through the window. Jason, who had come over to her house to reconcile with Sam, was dragged away by Alexis when she asked him to take her to the hospital because she was coughing very hard. While in the hospital Alexis found out that she was diagnosed with lung cancer. Alexis did not want Jason to see what she saw. But Jason did go back and saw Sam and Ric having sex.
Alexis came back the next day as if nothing had happened and kept silent about her knowledge. She wanted to protect her younger daughters in the event that she died or becomes incapacitated by her recently diagnosed lung cancer. Ric was given the job of interim D.A. as Alexis battled cancer.
Alexis asked Sonny to permit Ric to raise Kristina in the same household with Molly in case she dies. Sonny, who was also aware of Ric's affair with Sam, refused to consider the idea and said that he will raise Kristina if that happens. Alexis also continued to want to keep Sam away from Jason. However, after beginning chemotherapy to treat the lung cancer and tired of faking that she did not know about their affair, Alexis blew up at both Ric and Sam, kicked Ric out of the house and said she will fight Ric if he attempts to take custody of Molly. Ric got custody of Molly after showing the court that Alexis was too sick to care for her. Alexis was furious and upset. Alexis concentrated on getting better so that she could recover her job as D.A. and her daughter Molly.
When Ric's father, Trevor Lansing came to town bringing trouble with him, Ric gave custody of Molly back to Alexis. Alexis moved to Wyndemere for a time to keep her and her children safe from Trevor and new threat, Anthony Zacchara. She recently began working on Lucky and Elizabeth Spencer's divorce.
Nikolas announced that he was holding a Black and white ball at Wyndemere, the Cassadine estate. Alexis, on her way to Wyndemere, ran into Jerry Jacks. Although she rebuffed his proposal to be his date at first, she accepted once she saw her ex, Ric Lansing with Skye Quartermaine. A mob war began to ensue at the ball, and Ric Lansing was stabbed. Alexis started clutching her side, and the doctors in the house believed that she had appendicitis. They recovered from their respective wounds, but Emily Quartermaine was killed by the Text Message Killer, who also claimed several other victims.
Alexis is currently dealing with the hunt for the Text Message Killer. Her daughter Kristina is catatonic after spotting the killer, Diego Alcazar, at the window. She had also gone catatonic after seeing Sam shoot him months before.
Michael Corinthos and Morgan Stone Corinthos were given up by Sonny because Carly Corinthos and Jason Morgan asked him to due to Michael being shot with a bullet meant for Sonny. Alexis Davis wants Sonny to give up Kristina but Sonny refuses so she goes to Carly and Carly spoke to Sonny. Sonny refused.
[edit] Character traits
Alexis is an intelligent and witty character whose quick, sharp tongue often hides considerable vulnerability. She shows toughness and independence and forwards feminist causes but she is still scarred by her childhood. Ned and Jax, discussing Ned's engagement to Alexis's sister Kristina Cassadine, concluded that the quirky, free spirit Kristina was attractive to Ned because she was "Alexis without the baggage" of her emotionally damaged childhood. Other characters have found Alexis similarly frustrating. Alexis is often neurotic and high strung, traits that are sometimes used as comic relief by the show, and still finds it hard to let anyone get too close, even though she had a semi-successful marriage in recent years.
Alexis and Sonny Corinthos's friendship has continued, they are willing to raise their daughter with Alexis's custody agreement. Alexis and her oldest daughter Sam McCall don't always get along, but they try.
[edit] References
- Alexis Davis profile Soapcentral.com
- Alexis Davis profile Generalhospital.com
