Another World

[DRW50]

I think Cali's Paulina was still more involved with Grant.

[Melroser]

I thought AW was pursuing Judi Evans for Paulina initially but she re-upped with DAYS instead. They hired Cali Timmins. Then Judi became available and was willing to join the show so they grabbed her.

I do remember rumblings in the press that Cali was unhappy in the role which could have led to the replacement when Judi was available. I think Cali thought Paulina was weak because she was manipulated by Ken and then Jake. 

I believe Sharon Gabet's husband stepped in to get her off the AW. The "abusive" nature of Brittany and Peter's relationship was taking an emotional toll on her while she was pregnant. He was able to get her out of her contract early. 

I loved both Cali Timmins and Sharon Gabet on AW. I was so disappointed when each of them left. Such wasted opportunities. 

[Contessa Donatella]

Yes, I can confirm that. Her husband did get involved & they worked it out, the show & her. Our loss that her time was cut short but her health was at issue. 

On my forum last year we were looking at a clip where Brittany shot Peter & it was so clear that it was self defense & I tagged Sharon on the discussion & she came around & was just so funny, saying she had always alleged that it was self defense but they found her guilty & now she had the proof, finally! You know she was found guilty by the audience when AW did that stunt. Of course in that trial there was no videotape just testimony. 

[j swift]

@Melroser This is the SOD tidbit that I referenced about AW pursuing Judi Evans.  It doesn't make reference to whether they had wanted her earlier when she re-upped at DAYS.  But, this implies that she wasn't initially being offered the re-cast of Paulina once she left DAYS in October 1990 (although the language is vague).  I assume her script and Spelling pilot went nowhere.

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Obviously they are referencing Jake's shooting, and here's Cali Timmons reaction to being told that she was the attempted murderer.  Which was prophetic because two months later she was leaving the show, after being fired.

Edited November 2, 2023 by j swift

[Xanthe]

I vividly remember that quote from Michael Laibson about Cali's delight on learning that Paulina was the one who shot Jake. Maybe she found that appealingly gutsy, at least.

It does sound like there are two possibilities: either AW did always want Judi as Paulina and continued to manoeuvre to try to hire her even though they had cast Cali, and then fired Cali as soon as they had Judi; or else they knew they would like to cast Judi in some part but didn't decide to make her Paulina until they had decided to let Cali go. (Although only imagine if they had cast Judi as Nancy and kept Cali as Paulina. Nancy could have been a suspect in Jake's shooting, an antagonist for Victoria, a contrast with Amanda, a friend to Marley . . .)

[Contessa Donatella]

And had wonderful scenes clashing over everything with Connie Ford! 

[teplin]

That had never occurred to me before, but Judi would have been great as a returned Nancy. I liked Cali well enough but Judi's chemistry with Tom Eplin was off the charts, and Nancy & Jake could have easily been paired. 

[Xanthe]

To give credit where credit is due I believe I got the idea here from @watson71.

[Contessa Donatella]

I was always for Jake & Paulina but I can definitely see how Judi could've played an amazing Nancy! And, then I'd for sure have been Team Nancy & Jake!

[chrisml]

I never cared for Jake after Marley's rape. Soaps will go out of their way to rehab rapists, but won't put in the same amount of effort for other characters and storylines. It's so bizarre to me. I don't think I ever bought Evans as Paulina. It was more of a "this is another character named Paulina" situation. Evans should have been cast as Nancy. For the life of me, I never understood why they didn't recast or try to lure Jane Cameron back. 

[Contessa Donatella]

I was one who steadfastly, stubbornly insisted that Jake would NOT have raped Marley. I was very gratified when I learned that was Donna Swajeski's opinion as well & that it was NBC who absolutely insisted that Jake rape Marley. 

I was thinking about your saying that soaps will go out of their way to rehab rapists. By & large, I think soaps have a very bad record when it comes to any kind of rehabilitation of rapists. Most of them seem to be just accepted into everyday life without either therapy or punishment. When DAYS had Jack Deveraux see a therapist, I think it was because they knew they wanted to pair him romantically with Jennifer Horton, the virginal heir apparent to the Alice Horton matriarchy. I think it was rather unusual. Are you aware of a lot of rapists who either were punished or were seen to be having therapy? 

And since everyone else is ragging on her, I'll take the Minority position of liking Judi's Paulina & I also didn't think she changed the role. I think she simply played what was written. 

Edited November 3, 2023 by Donna L. Bridges
combine 2 posts

[Xanthe]

Jake behaved pretty badly over a lot of things, probably starting with the custody of Steven where both he and Jamie were asses. Before that he was kind of a good guy but misunderstood. I was recently watching the episode with Ellen Wheeler as crazy Marley with Vicky on a ledge and Jake pretending to be remorseful for the rape in order to try to make sure Marley doesn't go over the edge and take Vicky with her. But then of course as soon as Vicky is safe he viciously tells Marley how much he hates her. It made my blood boil to see Jake think he had the high road here. (Not that Marley should have taken Vicky hostage either, but she was clearly not in her right mind. It's too bad that they weren't able to tell a story about Marley's trauma without making it about poor precious Vicky and her self-righteous champion. I did like the scenes with Donna worrying about Marley even though it appeared that they were chiefly supposed to show how mean Donna was to heroine Vicky.) 

Thinking about Marley's trauma reminded me of one of my favourite scenes from 1985 where Carl meets Vicky for the first time. He has a little throwaway line about how Donna's treatment of Marley must have caused her to disassociate and create the Vicky personality.

https://youtu.be/tNn5q5MOILE?si=zv1MvTzod70FlL4h

Edited November 2, 2023 by Xanthe
Adding 1985 video.

[Melroser]

I really liked the chemistry between Cali and Tom. I think they could have worked well with her continuing as Paulina. Judi Evans changed the character too much. Judi playing Nancy though could have been great. I could just imagine what a Cali/Tom/Judi triangle could have been! Plus, Judi is a strong enough actor to be placed as Vicky Wyndham's sister. The two could have had their own rivalry of sorts and Nancy/Amanda could be another angle. 

[robbwolff]

Cali does mention that Paulina was not supposed to be the daughter of Mac Cory. She was originally slated to be another character's daughter. I'm guessing she was supposed to be the daughter of Felicia and Lucas.

[China Jones]

Wouldn't Cali Timmons' physical appearance make her not the most natural choice to play the daughter of Lucas and Felicia? Wasn't the fact that Alicia Coppola shared similar Italian features with her on-screen parents one of the reasons that made many people prefer her to Robin Christopher?