Y&R: Shocking Role Recast

[Lucid]

Update 2 - Statement from Chris: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseact...logId=491217751

Update: http://www.tvguide.com/Soaps/Young-Restles...ey-1006263.aspx

Chris Engan (Adam) has quit because he had a scene in which he was to kiss Yani Gellman (Rafe). He'd been unhappy for awhile and had been meeting with the show's bosses to discuss his role. As he is still under contract, Y&R is considering taking legal action.

http://tvguide.sympatico.msn.ca/The+Suds+R...n_NB.htm?isfa=1

[Rakesh]

First of all, Maria and company should have spoke to Chris about the gay role and see if he's comfortable portraying it.

[Ann_SS]

I am not happy with Chris Engen if any of this is true, but MAB showed poor judgment not talking to him about this story.

[MarkH]

Wow!

I agree...Engen should have been TOLD it was headed in this direction.

On the other hand, as an actor, he should play what he's given.

I'm wondering if his objections to the story have more to do with "What am I playing here? What future does this have? How can my hitherto-hetero-lothario suddenly turn into bisexual? Where is the good side?"

I'm not justifying, but I could see how this constant flip-flopping with Adam could be very frustrating. Still, it is unprofessional for him to up-and-quit. It is also stupid, because that will kill a career. (Hello, Roscoe Born!).

But I'm gonna do that thing people hate, and say "This could be a good thing". Maybe they could recast the role with someone more suited to this reconceptualization of Adam (Snidely Whiplash and equal opportunity slut). I'm picturing someone darker, snarkier....

I think this puts the cat out of the bag vis-a-vis the "gay" storyline.

But it also leads me to believe that all that "P3 is gay" stuff is either nonsense (given both P3's straight history, and the fact that they are going "gay" on another part of the canvas), or that P3 would be gay IN ADDITION to Adam/Rafe. But I don't see that. It also leads me to believe that speculation that P4 might be gay might also be nonsense...although that is still more interesting (both because it is hard to reconcile with his military past, and because it sets in motion a bona fide triangle).

Sigh. I hope they work it out. I really do like Engen. But if this is his line in the sand...well...so be it. He'll pay the consequences, unfortunately.

[Evan]

Not surprised, I bet he hasn't been happy about the direction the character has been taken in, to the point of no return.

And I won't condemn the guy if he's got a personal or moral objection to doing a gay SL!

Y&R were surely going to kill Adam off in the next few months, and Engen knew the writing was on the wall?

[Ann_SS]

This does make me feel like a fool for thinking that MAB appreciated the darkness in Adam and was taking the character into a complicated place. Instead it does look that like Adam was being writing like a straight villain was going to be killed off. When will I ever learn?

I would be surprised if quitting Y&R kills Chris Engen's career. I'm sure he can get work in prime time or elsewhere if the soaps don't hire him.

[Rakesh]

Ellen Wheeler will hire him! lol j/k

Back to the topic - I'm disappointed that CE walked out. As an actor, you're supposed to be ready for whatever material the writers throws at you. From the looks of it, it look like Maria never spoke to Chris about the storyline. I really hope she did because this will show that she doesn't give a [!@#$%^&*]. Ellen Wheeler spoke to her girls about playing lesbians and they were okay with it. Am I mad at CE for walking out? No way. He's entitled to have his own feelings and opinions just like the rest of us.

[Sapounopera]

Y&R has become this year's DOOL with all this backstage drama.

I will be very sorry to see Chris Engen leave and I am afraid TPTB have no idea what they are doing with this character. I really hope he stays.

[Evan]

Brad Bell will probably hire him for B&B.

Actually he could be Bill Spencer Jr's son.

[MarkH]

Well, it looks like Engen has been unprofessional for a while. So, that is one thing.

Also, ANY IDIOT could see where the writing was heading (how long ago did I first put up my Adam-Rafe avatar??). So, I do think he had lots of time to discuss it...and also, as an actor, to do the internal work to make it work on screen.

Now, if he has a moral objection to homosexuality...well...that is tougher. Clearly, he has to live by his principles. But then he needed to have a professional conversation with his show about that. And, I fear, if his show said "Chris is not gay...but Adam sleeps with Rafe....", then he needed to suck it up and do it.

But again, we don't know the facts. Many of us speculated that Adam was USING Rafe's sexuality. In other words, Rafe discovered something...and to keep him quiet, Adam chose to PLAY BISEXUAL in order to keep Rafe quiet. Maybe Engen didn't like the "play bisexual" part...he felt like his character had become so morally adrift, even toying with the emotions of a young gay man...that THAT is what he didn't want to play.

In my mind, I keep coming back to "an actor has to play what he or she is given", though.

No. Quitting mid-contract will kill his career everywhere. Especially in this economy. He's done.

I am not mad. I am sad. I am sad if Engen's personal beliefs caused him to take this career-killing action. I am sad for Engen's fans, who really enjoyed what he was doing with Adam.

[MarkH]

In Hollywood, I think, open homophobia + breaking contract = career killer.

Also, there is more. He probably, as a newbie, had a 4-year contract (of which he has worked a little more than 1 year). IF he breaks it (and they can sue him), he STILL owes them another 3 years.

In the past, what that has meant is that a show like Y&R says he cannot sign another contract until this one is done. And THAT is iron-clad.

So, Engen would have to work as a non-actor for the next 3 years. In the prime of his career...he's that "perfect age". THAT is a career killer.

But it can work out. Jacob Young up and quit on B&B...and the Bells LET him go...and it has worked out for all of them.

[detroitpiston]

What an idiot. I understand his reasons for not wanting to do the kiss scene(if they didn't tell me until the scene was about to be shot I'd be pissed too), but quitting while still under contract will kill his career.

[Ann_SS]

So in other words, Engen may not be done. Look none of us know what can happen. Engen may yet resolve things with Y&R and find work on a cable network show that does not give two hoots that he quit Y&R. There are lots of homophobic people in Hollywood who might just sympathize with Engen. This idea that his career is over is all dramatic, but may in fact, not be true.

[Cat]

My feelings exactly. I thought that as the son of TGVN -- perhaps the son that most closely resembles the grumpy old bastard -- he was somehow protected from, you know, outright death for a while.

I hope CE did not quit because he doesn't want to kiss another guy. I have the feeling that most of the quitting is due to the irredeemable corner into which TPTB have painted him.

What a shame. What a shame! He is the first newbie in ages (read: YEARS) that I was getting truly psyched about watching. To the point where I was thinking of sending letters to the show.

[Ann_SS]

I am glad someone shares my frustration. Adam was the perfect vehicle to create a younger incarnation of Victor. Engen was perfect in the role. But if Adam is seducing both Heather and Rafe as well as gas lighting Ashley, it seems more likely that he was being set up for death than anything redeemable. How can Y&R's audience which exists mainly in the conservative south root for Adam's redemption.

I can't help wondering how much of this is Sheffer. It reminds me of when Sheffer made my beloved Marshall Travers on ATWT a rapist. It was a line that no black male character could ever come back from. Sheffer insisted that it did not mean that Marshall was gone. A few months later Marshall was turned into a standard villain and killed off.