Although Jonathan Frakes has had a long and successful career in Hollywood as an actor and director, most notably in the Star Trek series, his almost four-decade relationship with his wife, the daytime drama star Genie Francis, is arguably more admirable than his previous accomplishments in the entertainment industry.
Frakes, who is 71 years old and starring in the Hallmark holiday film A Biltmore Christmas, which will be released this weekend, tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview that “we’ve been together for 38 years.” On the last evening soap opera, which was called Bare Essence, I had the opportunity to meet the exquisite Genie Francis, who would later become my wife. However, she was far too young for me at the time.
In 1983, the miniseries–turned–weekly series catapulted Francis — stepping into primetime television following her red-hot stint as Laura Spencer, half of General Hospital’s then-zeitgeist-dominating super-couple opposite Anthony Geary — into primetime. Frakes was ten years older than she was, making her age twenty.
Despite the fact that Bare Essence was only shown for a short period of time, the producer of the program went on to cast both actors in pivotal parts in the expansive Civil War miniseries North and South, which was produced by ABC in 1985. These roles were against other rising stars such as Patrick Swayze and Kirstie Alley.
Frakes remembers that the dailies were so wonderful that they said, “Why don’t we make it, from six hours, make it twelve hours?” or whatever it was. “The dailies were of such high quality.” When we were working on site in Charleston and Natchez, we realized that we had fallen in love with one other, and for some reason, she wasn’t too young for me. Therefore, we have been together ever since our very first date on North and South, which took place 38 years ago, when we took a vacation for Memorial Day and traveled to New Orleans.
Frakes acknowledges that at that time period, the fame of his future wife was far more prominent in Hollywood than his own is. Because I was like number 37 on the call list for North and South, she took a risk on me. She was up there with Patrick Swayze and Lesley-Anne Down. “Somehow, she took a chance on me,” I said. Consequently, it is a puzzle as to why she would go out with me!
Nevertheless, not long after that, Frakes was cast in his own soon-to-be-iconic role as Commander Will Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He recently recreated this character to great acclaim in the third season of Star Trek: Picard. He went on to have a successful career as a director, working not just with the Star Trek franchise but also with other programs including Roswell, Leverage, and NCIS: Los Angeles. This job was essential in his career.
At the same time, Francis has maintained his position as one of the most prominent figures in daytime television. He has appeared in a number of primetime guest roles, as well as on Daytime shows such as Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless, and General Hospital.
Right up to the moment when they arrived for Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas holiday party in Los Angeles, Frakes had been running lines with his wife in order to assist her in getting ready for an unexpected change in her shooting schedule. This pair continues to be a perfect example of a couple in the entertainment industry.
His amazement is evident as he says, “She has two shows she’s doing tomorrow, probably thirty pages of dialogue.” Since the strikes by SAG-AFTRA and Writers’ Union did not have an impact on the soap operas, she has been working nonstop throughout the whole process.
Frakes and Francis have two children who are described as “amazing,” and he makes the observation that his daughter Eliza, who is also an actress and writer, may find the Hollywood fairy tale to be intimidating.
Due to the fact that she was brought up alongside the two of us, she has the misconception that this is the way things operate. In addition, we are both aware that this is not the case, right? According to Frakes, “I would think it is difficult to come into a family where two people have been as fortunate as Genie and I have been over the course of our childhood.”
Frakes is following in his wife’s footsteps by appearing on the Hallmark Channel in the role of A Biltmore Christmas, which is a rare outside of Star Trek acting appearance for Frakes. It is said by him that his wife has appeared in a number of these films. “This brand is very remarkable, and I am continually seeking for other outlets to purchase it from. For the last 36 years, I have been fortunate enough to be a part of the Star Trek franchise, so the opportunity to be a part of a new series is really a pleasure for me. Additionally, I had a lot of anxiety about acting up to the point where I worked on the third season of Picard. After that, they asked me to do this, and I said to myself, “Oh, this is going to be a lot of fun for me, and the story is even better.”