Francis received generally negative reviews for her portrayal . Jamey Giddens of Zap2it wrote of the decision to sign Francis onto the series : " Maria Arena Bell just made Brian Frons kick a puppy in the face . " After her debut , he called Francis ' portrayal of Genevieve " embarrassingly-bad " , stating : " I 'm sure I will catch hell for going here about a daytime treasure , but Francis ' portrayal of Cane and Caleb 's ( Daniel Goddard ) unhinged mother has been cartoonish and abysmal from her first air show . I do n't know if Francis is painfully attempting to channel the late Elizabeth Taylor ’s fun , campy turn as Luke and Laura 's arch nemesis Helena Cassadine on '' General Hospital '' 30 years ago , or going for Evil-Lyn from the old '' He-Man and the Masters of the Universe '' cartoon , but she 's missing the mark either way . " He also wrote that as much as he would " love to solely blame this performance on the writing — because let ’s face it , the story is dreadful — Francis is the one making the choices to jerk , gasp and wince as Genevieve registers each and every emotion or painful memory . This is '' not '' the Genie Francis we know and love . " Adam Hughes of Yahoo! wrote of viewers ' reactions to Francis ' debut and her portrayal , stating : " Since Francis arrived on the scene this spring , fan reaction to her revised on-screen attitude has been a mixed bag , but she continues to draw a ton of interest to her new CBS television digs . Former '' General Hospital '' followers may find her more biting character hard to swallow , and longtime fans of '' The Young and The Restless '' have watched her push aside some of their favorites , but Francis has undoubtedly shaken up the local landscape . Buzz is half the game when comes to keeping soap opera fans interested , and Francis has certainly delivered that . " Upon the news of Francis ' casting , Sara Bibel of Xfinity wrote that the soap opera had " finally mastered the art of stunt casting " . She also stated that seeing Francis paired with Tristan Rogers " will be delicious " , and that she thought " we can all agree this is a far more exciting addition to the show than Eric Roberts or Sean Young " . She gave " kudos " to the soap opera for creating " what is sure to be must-see daytime TV " . When news broke of Francis ' dismissal , Bibel wrote : " Francis 's character , Genevieve , was , to put it mildly , not an audience favorite . She started out as a dark psychopath hellbent on revenge then , when that persona made the character less than viable over the longterm , morphed overnight into an aspiring business woman . Neither incarnation played to Francis ’s strengths as an actress . " Omar White-Nobles of '' TVSource '' wrote : " Genevieve was determined to bring down her crime lord husband Colin ( Tristan Rogers ) and attempt to reconcile with her son . Unfortunately for Francis , playing a vengeful ice queen turned shrewd businesswoman did n’t work for the audience . Subsequent attempts to soften the character failed as well , leaving aborted pairings with Jack Abbott ( Peter Bergman ) and Victor Newman ( Eric Braeden ) . " In 2012 , Francis received a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series at the 39th Daytime Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Genevieve . On her nomination , Francis felt that she had " tremendous good fortune " and was extremely thrilled to be a part of the show . She said : " I 've only been with this show for a year , so I 'm thrilled that we managed to put together some nice work that people are enjoying . " However , she lost her bid for the award to former '' General Hospital '' co-star Nancy Lee Grahn for her portrayal of Alexis Davis
39th Daytime Emmy Awards
39th Daytime Emmy Awards
Genevieve Atkinson