Recast report: General Hospital's Alexa Havins as Lulu Spencer

General Hospital legacy character Lulu Spencer is finally awake after a four-year coma but is looking a bit different these days. Alexa Havins has stepped into the role last played by Emme Rylan. So far, Havins hit the ground running bringing us aspects of Lulu we loved and new aspects to fall in love with.

General Hospital's Alexa Havins makes Lulu her own

Perhaps not seeing or hearing Lulu for the last four years helped make Havins' transition into the role easier, but the actress has slipped right into Lulu's shoes, and we completely believe she is Luke's (Anthony Geary) and Laura's (Genie Francis) feisty, only daughter.

While the extremely talented Rylan played Lulu as more zany and sweet than tough as nails, Havins' Lulu reminds us of the teenage and young adult version of the character brought to life by Julie Marie Berman from 2005 to 2013.

This version of Lulu has no issue getting up after four years in a coma and walking out of the hospital like it was nothing. When she explained to Dante that she hitchhiked, she said it as if it was the most logical and obvious thing on Earth, bringing back aspects of Lulu we saw before. Havins is also bringing aspects of her All My Childen character, Babe Carey Chandler, to the surface, and we can't complain.

Chemistry to spare

When Lulu reunited with her various family members, Havins brought a tenderness to the scenes that tugged at our heartstrings. The look of wonder in her eyes as she realized that her son Rocco (Finn Carr) was now a teenager was real and earnest, with Havins letting us feel every emotion that Lulu felt.

After just a few scenes, she already has chemistry with Dominic Zamprogna's Dante. Since Dante and Lulu are clearly endgame, that's a good thing.

Havins' scenes with Jonathan Jackson's Lucky made us believe Lulu and Lucky were really siblings who hadn't seen one another in years. However, the scenes with Genie Francis as Laura saw her daughter awake for the first time in years clinched it for us. That mother-daughter bond was natural, and we felt like we had been watching Francis and Havins share scenes for years.

Much consideration has to go into recasting a legacy character, and GH certainly got this one right.

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.