Carly Corinthos is a fictional character from General Hospital, a soap opera on the ABC network, portrayed by Laura Wright from 2005. A collaborative effort between the writers, Carly – originally played by Sarah Joy Brown (1996–2001) — was introduced under executive producer Wendy Riche. A "love to hate" character who brings excitement to storylines because of her devious ways, Carly is the illegitimate daughter of former bad girl turned heroine, Bobbie Spencer (Jacklyn Zeman). Carly seduces her mother's husband for revenge. Throughout the 2000s, Carly, then Tamara Braun (2001–2005) goes on to become one of the show's most prominent, vital and popular characters largely due to her supercouple pairing with mobster Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and her friendship with Jason Morgan (Steve Burton). Carly's revenge on Bobbie and her near lethal vendetta against A. J. Quartermaine (Sean Kanan) — the biological father of her son Michael (Chad Duell) – remains two of the most revered and controversial plots in the show's history. While Brown's portrayal of Carly is viewed as a "duplicitous vixen," Braun's Carly is viewed as more of a romantic heroine. With Laura Wright in the role, Carly goes from being a pampered wife to being powerful business woman while embodying the qualities of her predecessors. Sarah Brown earned three Daytime Emmy Awards for her portrayal of Carly—two in the Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series category and one in Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category. Braun earned an Emmy nomination Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2004. However, the role of Carly would bring Laura Wright her first Emmy nomination overall – in the Outstanding Lead Actress and her first win, 20 years after breaking into daytime television on ABC's Loving.