How about Renee Elise Goldsberry as the new Drucilla on Y&R?

[Ms. Chandler Quartermaine]

You know I did forget....REG did have her "Fierce" days back when she first started on OLTL, Evangeline was a very grey character when she first started, when she represented Mitch Lawerence, she was very cordial to the other characters but had that underlying bitchiness in every scene.

I still don't think she would make a good Dru, but REG did bring the fierce and fire back when she first started...but then the writers changed her after she was given a contract and she became a heroine. But I'd love to see REG go to Y&R...oh I bet ABC would be pissed, cause REG does have a very good fanbase.

[marceline]

How do we know that the fans and the shows moved on? It's entirely possible that recasts were hated just as much back then, there just places like this board where people could share their opinion. I'm willing to bet that if you looked back at some of the mail the shows used to get, fans were just as unhappy with some recasts as they are now. Only now they have a place to talk about it.

[SFK]

REG is an Olivia, not a Dru. Perhaps she could pull it off, but I just don't think any of us who'd remember her as Evangeline would buy it. Hell, sometimes I didn't even buy VR as Dru after seeing her in interviews. Vivica Fox is a Dru (though she's already played another character on the show).

[CassieFan]

I would give Renee Jones that role. I think she would be great.

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Recasts actually lasted on shows for years and years and some characters were actually recasted multiple times. In recent years, it seems as if shows recast characters once, and if the recast fails, they write out the character and don't recast again.

I can't honestly think of one character that was recasted multiple times this decade that's still an essential character on any soap, other than Carly on GH of course.

Renee is way too young to play Olivia as well, I'd never buy her as Dru or as Olivia.

[dragonflies]

Complete and total WORD!

[SFK]

I meant in terms of type.

[JONNYSBRO]

The thing about is REG should then create a role on Y&R to bring the diversity back. The thing is REG was the only african american actress I seen in years that was constantly frontburnered. The girl was always on the frontburner and all the time. She had lots of press and buzz and she garnered an emmy nomination for the show. how ABC let her go was stupid but she is the whole freaking package and had chemistry with everyone. Did anyone notice how in this daytime how little african american actresses are used but with REG she was used all the time. The woman was very popular with the fans. OMG MY JOVAN was so hot until they pulled the plug. REG needs to return to daytime soon, she is so missed.

[miajere]

I would never accept a recast of DRU....I don't think anyone ever will....The original is just too good.

But I would also never accept a recast of Evangeline....

There are alot of characters that shouldn't be recast under any circumstances.

[miajere]

I don't think actor contract statuses and workplace situations were so public, so people accepted what was offered...Probably weren't thrilled, but moved on...I also think the writing was probably 10 times better and people were much too involved with the soap to put up too much of a fuss. If an AA actress were let go and you wanted diversity, you just watched another soap with another AA actress who was talented- which you can't do now. And if soaps pissed too many people off there was another show to immediately take it's place. Soaps are far to lucky now, because they know people only have one other option in that hour.

Y&R use to introduce every recast in a polite way, that somehow appeased the situation.

"The character of Lily Winters will now be played by Christal Khalil."

[Ann_SS]

Renee would not be my first choice, but I don't see why Dru can't be recast. I never thought that the character of Jack would work with a recast when the amazing Terry Lester left and then Peter Bergman came along and made the role his own. There are many talented black actresses in Dru's age range who cannot get work in Hollywood, I'd be thrilled if Y&R gave one of them a call.

[DavidEvanSmith]

I TOTALLY agree with this.

I think that's why I appreciated shows like Melrose Place (not that I'd call it a QUALITY show, more of a guilty pleasure) or pretty much any primetime drama of recent decades because they rarely, if ever, recast. It's the agendas that ruin the recast because (in most cases) they are trying to cash in on the popularity of a character that was hugely popular because of what the original actor brought to the role. The role was successful because of the original actor's chemistry with co-stars, ability to rise above the material whenever spotty, longevity in the role, etc. So to win over the audience, we are inundated with scenes that are crafted to PROVE to us that this actor is or can be just as good in the role as the previous actor, scene after scene of "cute" or "funny" to cement the chemistry that the previous actor brought to the role, re-created flashbacks with the new actor in the established role playing a scene that we don't even remember because technically we've never seen that scene before, being hit over the head with qualifying dialogue like "if I know my sister" or "But you're my MOTHER and I love you!" to reiterate the relationships, and the characters name being used every time they're being spoken to. Too much working at it to make us accept it garners the usual response of firm resistance.

In one way, I understand recasting, of course, because it is history, backstory, ties across the canvas, etc, and in many instances recasting works, but when an actor is SO identified in the role (like Drucilla) or the role was ONLY expanded because the actor brought some unexpected chemistry (like Evangeline) then TPTB should stop trying to make lightning strike twice and just get more creative and DO THE WORK in carefully crafting new, complex characters and storylines.

Take Di Henry on AMC... They played with the "Is she Dixie? Is she Di?" questions for so long, and played the actress with ALL the people Dixie cared about, until most of the audience (from what I've read) was ready to accept Kelli Giddish as a Dixie recast, and they finally established she's 1.) Not Dixie, 2.) Her sister Di, and 3.) Here's the actual Dixie, that you've wanted back all along! The problem then was that they totally dropped the ball on Di after the audience invested in the character, and there goes the heroine that they spent over a year "selling" to the audience.

Recasting is SUCH a delicate issue, and there are so many things that can go wrong, so if all the pieces are not in place (a charismatic, capable actor, solid character-driven writing, proper publicity, etc.), then just avoid the headache, Execs, and try something new with an actor that impresses you!

[detroitpiston]

Personally, I'd rather a show recast a role then bring on an entirely new character who is almost identical to the one that just left(which MP did a lot, especially during s5-6).

And your post made me miss Di.

[DavidEvanSmith]

LOL, I hope you didn't think that's what I was suggesting either. My bid is for originality altogether, not the "veiled recasting" you're describing. I fell away from MP during Season 5 and while I did "keep up" with it, I wasn't glued to it like I was up through season 4. Reruns on SoapNet right now are killing me because it's a shell of the Kimberly and Sydney I knew and loved airing at the moment, getting down towards the (disappointing) end of their runs. But that's a talk for another thread.

[rhinohide]

She garnered an emmy nomination for herself. One thing I got from VR's interview was how worthless those emmy's really are as a measure of talent. IMO if VR couldn't get prenomed because she wasn't "popular" with her castmates, then the award is meaningless.