Talia was possibly one of thee most boring characters OLTL ever created, but Beth Ann Bonner is a great actress, who was just hindered by a useless role. I think she would have made a MUCH better Natalie than Melissa Archer does. I mean, yes, Natalie (despite who plays her) is still going to be hindered by awful character direction, idiotic actions, and destruction of established history...but I could see her giving the role better nuances to make it a bit more tolerable, despite it all. I could see BAB better interacting with ES and JvD. Hell, as much as I opposed John/Natalie, I may have been willing to give them a chance with her in the role. A shame.

Edited April 24, 200916 yr by Candid Candor

Melissa Archer is perfectly fine as Natalie. I like Beth Ann but I dont think it would have been a good idea to fire MA for her

Talia was possibly one of thee most boring characters OLTL ever created, but Beth Ann Boner is a great actress, who was just hindered by a useless role. I think she would have made a MUCH better Natalie than Melissa Archer does. I mean, yes, Natalie (despite who plays her) is still going to be hindered by awful character direction, idiotic actions, cluttered purpose and destruction of established history...but I could see her giving the role better nuances to make it a bit more tolerable, despite it all. I could see BAB better interacting with ES and JvD. Hell, as much as I opposed John/Natalie, I may have been willing to give them a chance with her in the role. A shame.

Hmm... It's kind of an out-of-left-field idea there. I liked BethAnn Bonner well enough. I actually thought she really LOOKED like Carlo Hesser's daughter. But I don't think she would have worked as a Natalie recast.

Connie Fletcher (ex-Erin Lavery, AMC) was initially a Natalie recast front-runner back when Melissa Archer and TPTB were in a contract snit. (Remember when Natalie was kidnapped and kept off-screen for several weeks?) Of course, they eventually came to terms and Fletcher quickly landed on AMC.

Talia was possibly one of thee most boring characters OLTL ever created, but Beth Ann Boner is a great actress, who was just hindered by a useless role. I think she would have made a MUCH better Natalie than Melissa Archer does. I mean, yes, Natalie (despite who plays her) is still going to be hindered by awful character direction, idiotic actions, and destruction of established history...but I could see her giving the role better nuances to make it a bit more tolerable, despite it all. I could see BAB better interacting with ES and JvD. Hell, as much as I opposed John/Natalie, I may have been willing to give them a chance with her in the role. A shame.

IMO Natalie stinks, period. MA's amaturish acting makes it worse, but I don't think on paper Natalie is that much better. BAB wouldn't have been able to save the role. The Natalie role was just a mistake from day 1. She clutters up and convolutes the Lord/Buchanan family dynamic, and just doesn't fit in. Plus they don't know which direction to take with her. One minute she's a conniving street rogue, the next she's a wounded woman-child with abandonment issues, then she's a cartoonish herione. I wouldn't wish Natalie on any good actress. BAB has too much of a alpha-female aura. I think she'd get lost in the muck of Natalie and would probably wind up going on autopilot.

IMO Natalie stinks, period. MA's amaturish acting makes it worse, but I don't think on paper Natalie is that much better. BAB wouldn't have been able to save the role. The Natalie role was just a mistake from day 1. She clutters up and convolutes the Lord/Buchanan family dynamic, and just doesn't fit in. Plus they don't know which direction to take with her. One minute she's a conniving street rogue, the next she's a wounded woman-child with abandonment issues, then she's a cartoonish herione. I wouldn't wish Natalie on any good actress. BAB has too much of a alpha-female aura. I think she'd get lost in the muck of Natalie and would probably wind up going on autopilot.

Well I'm a big'ol "Team Jessica" player - so I won't disupte you too much there.

But the truth? I'd kind of miss Natalie if she were altogether gone because she gives Jessica someone to rival. I get excited whenever poor Natalie starts to feel like people prefer Jessica over her. Kind of the same way I felt about Jan Brady's feelings toward Marcia...

Hmmm...no.

Yikes.

I just noticed in the thread title that the OP misspelled BAB's name as Beth Ann BONER!

UPDATE: Ahh, they edited it!

Edited April 24, 200916 yr by YurSoakinginit

Bonner is too good of an actress to play a buffoon like Natalie.

I think Talia would have been fine if they

a ) Hadn't made her a cop.

Cop characters (especially female cops) on soaps are so dry and rigid.

b ) Hadn't stuck her with Antonio.

They stopped caring about Antonio 3 years ago. A new role like Talia paired with him was bound to be sabatoge for her.

c ) Hadn't made her Carlo Hesser's daughter.

His only making cameo appearances every few years made her being his daughter rather pointless.

d ) Hadn't made her core scene partners Fish, Sarah, Antonio, Cristian and Layla.

When everyone you hang out with are day players/backburner characters who do a whole bunch of nothin', how long is gonna be before you're sucked into that trap too?

Talia should have come on as a business woman, or maybe an assistant to Viki or Todd at one of the newspapers, or a dubious intern at Llanview Hospital. I'm almost tempted say she should have played Gigi, but her having to play the love interest of ambigously gay Rex probably would have been a disaster.

So I don't know.

Edited April 24, 200916 yr by ACEM

I just noticed in the thread title that the OP misspelled BAB's name as Beth Ann BONER!

Opal (AMC): "Don't look now, but somebody's Freudian slip is showing."

Talia was possibly one of thee most boring characters OLTL ever created, but Beth Ann Bonner is a great actress, who was just hindered by a useless role. I think she would have made a MUCH better Natalie than Melissa Archer does. I mean, yes, Natalie (despite who plays her) is still going to be hindered by awful character direction, idiotic actions, and destruction of established history...but I could see her giving the role better nuances to make it a bit more tolerable, despite it all. I could see BAB better interacting with ES and JvD. Hell, as much as I opposed John/Natalie, I may have been willing to give them a chance with her in the role. A shame.

How about no. MA rules.

Opal (AMC): "Don't look now, but somebody's Freudian slip is showing."

Khan, was this line said again recently and I missed it??

Or are you and I remembering the same scene from like FIFTEEN years ago? Because I have never forgotten that line since.

It's the latter.

To me, that's right up there w/ Erica's line to Adam - "You made your bed, now writhe in it." - as one of the classic AMC retorts. (God, how I miss those days.)

Talia was possibly one of thee most boring characters OLTL ever created, but Beth Ann Bonner is a great actress, who was just hindered by a useless role. I think she would have made a MUCH better Natalie than Melissa Archer does. I mean, yes, Natalie (despite who plays her) is still going to be hindered by awful character direction, idiotic actions, and destruction of established history...but I could see her giving the role better nuances to make it a bit more tolerable, despite it all. I could see BAB better interacting with ES and JvD. Hell, as much as I opposed John/Natalie, I may have been willing to give them a chance with her in the role. A shame.

Uh! No. Melissa Archer owns the role of Natalie and has a very strong fan base that supports her. Recasting her would have sent those fans away at a time when the show can't really afford to offend more viewers.

The Talia character would have worked had the network the gumption to stick with the original concept of a female Middle Eastern cop with 9/11 ties as counterpoint to Tate and the OPP. Instead they dithered and dithered, finally throwing in a few lines about her fiance who died in the attacks and promptly backburnering her as Antonio's consolation prize for losing Jessica. A waste all around, mostly because ABC chickened out.

Connie Fletcher (ex-Erin Lavery, AMC) was initially a Natalie recast front-runner back when Melissa Archer and TPTB were in a contract snit. (Remember when Natalie was kidnapped and kept off-screen for several weeks?) Of course, they eventually came to terms and Fletcher quickly landed on AMC.

Oh my. I always thought CF was rather dull on AMC. Can't see her playing feisty Natalie. At least TPTB intended to keep her a redhead

I don't have anything against BAB, but I can't see her play Natalie. MA is perfectly fine in the role.