Finola Hughes

In Staying Alive (1983), Finola Hughes’s Laura has to keep us interested while the film repeatedly turns back to Tony Manero. She makes an impression, but Sylvester Stallone gives her little convincing human behaviour to work with. We were frustrated watching Hughes and Cynthia Rhodes, as Jackie, struggle to sustain our interest in such a self-involved lead. Their effort is plain enough; the harder the film pushes its emotions, the more we notice how little the writing has given either woman.

Laura is a dancer, and Hughes had already originated Victoria the White Cat in the London production of Cats (1981). That physical assurance helps explain her appeal: she can suggest a woman accustomed to attention without making her seem grateful for it. But her US feature debut also exposes the difficulty of turning an imposing presence into a person when the script offers so little assistance. We would not dismiss the performance, nor recommend the film on its strength.

Anna Devane, the superspy she began playing in General Hospital in 1985, is the more useful place to look for Hughes’s appeal. The cool, authoritative manner fits the role, and her association with Anna has continued across multiple runs. Sustaining a lead character over that span asks something different of an actor from keeping a thinly written part interesting for one film. Her work in All My Children, which she joined in 1999, included both Anna and her twin Alex, giving her two versions of the commanding women she is often cast to play.

Her move into directing includes The Bet (2013) and an episode of Good Trouble (2020), while her acting career has kept returning to Anna. There is no need to treat that recurring role as a failure to move on: a part that suits an actor is worth keeping. For Hughes, start with Anna Devane; Staying Alive is a poor introduction.