Characters who's personalty/screen time changes when re-casted

[DRW50]

I think the big ones for me are Vicky/Marley AW and Brad ATWT.

Vicky/Marley AW, Ellen Wheeler really got Marley's heart. Her Vicky was more of a caricature, from what I've seen. Anne Heche, on the other hand, played everything of Vicky, she seemed to make her fly. She was also good as Marley (Marley's rape aftermath scenes were a particular highlight), but it took her several years to make Marley more than Vicky's boring sister with a bad wig. Jensen Buchanan seemed to be a caricature as Vicky and barely there as Marley. JB had little interest in Marley or a dual role, and in the long term this had a debilitating effect on Vicky's character. Marley disappeared and Vicky basically BECAME Marley.

ATWT Brad. Geez louise, talk about changes. Nick K's Brad was a rough around the edges guy who didn't mind taking the morally questionable way but was generally a decent man with scars. John Loprieno's Brad came across as a scuzzy con artist. Austin Peck's Brad was a goofy kid and at other times a self-righteous shouter.

Others...

Sarah Roberts OLTL. She went from being a "punk" and "edgy" scarred young woman to a dreary ingenue who instantly forgave her mother for years of neglect. The only thing they had in common was singing.

Cassie Callison OLTL. This was a big issue for longtime fans when I started watching OLTL 15 years ago. They would complain every time anyone mentioned the Holly Gagnier Cassie. They said she stole Dorian's boyfriend and she went around with her boobs hanging out a lot of the time.

Joey Buchanan OLTL. Chris McKenna's Joey was very earnest. Nathan Fillion was much more humorous, at least until he began to lose his personality. Don Jeffcoat's Joey was a wimp, and a punching bag, the GV Lucky of his day. Bruce Michael Hall's Joey was back to being extremely earnest, and...he had nice nipples. That's about it.

OLTL Todd Manning. This would take all day.

OLTL Tina Andrea's Tina was ditzy but had a strong will and could do anything. Karen Witter's Tina was slightly quirky but much more mainstream. Krista Tesreau's Tina was very weak and dumb.

[SFK]

I think what also hurt KT's Tina is that she didn't really sell ditz to me like AE and KW. Krista reminds me of the lady at the end of the bar in a tight pastel leather skirt set drinking Jack and Diet Coke smoking a Capri.

I suppose examples like this one aren't what we're really after, but there's also the matter of Carlotta. She went from a petite dayplayer to a sleeker actress on contract who had romantic interests like Hank and Clint, and of course two sons who got plenty of story in the late '90s and '00s.

[DRW50]

Poor Krista She just seemed out of place. She did play ditz as early Mindy Lewis but even then Mindy was always a bit harder-edged, and it's really not the same seeing a woman who is in her mid/late 30s playing this type of role. The only way it works is if she has history in the role, as Andrea did. I wish they had just played up the harder aspects of Tina when KT was there.

I don't think Malone liked Tina very much (especially after that brutal trashing she got in his 2003 return), and seeing her wither on the vine was sad.

[Paul Raven]

The first Victoria recast (Sarah Aldrich)on Y&R had none of Heather Tom's fire and bitchiness,and after a few weeks was backburnered until written off to pave the way for Tom's return.

Although her airtime remained the same,Brenda Epperson's Ashley was much softer than Eileen Davidson.

[Cheap21]

GH's Gia is another good one. She was a spitfire bitch when played by Marissa Ramirez. She was a superficial model, but when recast she became a mature pre-law student and the edge she had was gone.

[DeeeDee]

Emily Quartermaine from flawed young heroine to Natalia Livingston.

[DRW50]

GASP smirk GASP smirk. That was about it with her as Emily.

[Michael]

The Gia on GH one was weeeeeird. I actually liked things about both incarnations of the character, but I still have trouble reconciling that Ramirez and Pearson's characters were supposed to be the same person.

[AllMyDaysatGH]

Another one, the most recent recast on GH, Brianna Brown as Lisa Niles. We have seen her on our screens 10 times as much as the previous actress.

[applcin]

OLTL

Clint - from Clint Ritchie to Jerry verDorn. I think the differences are too obvious to need description.

Jessica - BW has more of a "sexpot" air than ET ever did.

Cassie - Cusi Cram was the first and just a teen. Ava Haddad came next and Cassie was a likeable young woman. When Holly Gagnier took over, Cassie did indeed become sluttier, crasser and louder. More of a Crassie.

Max - With J DePaiva, Max always seemed more the ladies' man. With Nicholas Walker, he just seemed more serious

Ryan's Hope had quite a few glaring ones:

Joe Novak - Richard Muenz's Joe wanted out of the mob but was torn between his love for Siobhan and his love and loyalty for his uncle. For a long time you didn't even know how extensive his involvement was because they focused more on the romantic story, where he came off somewhat boyish and charming. When Roscoe Born took over, the writing for Joe turned more sinister. His was a slimier Joe.

Frank Ryan - Michael Hawkins was wooden and almost his father Johnny's age yet he was reasonably good looking. Andrew Robinson was a better actor but a miscast as the handsome young politician. Daniel Hugh-Kelly brought the looks and the acting ability to the role. In this case it seemed the character of Frank was written pretty consistently all along and it was more a question of how successfully the actors pulled it off.

Siobhan - Sarah Felder's was more of an in-your-face, rebellious, unglamorous type. Ann Gillespie's was more watered down.

Faith - Faith Catlin was gawky and not beautiful. Catherine Hicks was cute/pretty and girlish. KMG was ice-Faith and hated her sister.

And the famous Mary Ryan recasts were so unsuccessful, they finally killed the character off. By that time, the strong-willed heroine had morphed into more of a workaholic shrew.

[DRW50]

I do think Bree was cast as a sexpot but it's so hard to take her Jessica as a serious woman, she has been so victimized and most of her sexuality has been passed off to Tess, where it's cartoonlike. I thought that had changed with Brody but apparently not.

The RH recasts were often jarring.

Pat Ryan:

Malcolm Groome Pat was goofy, edgy. John Blazo Pat was much more quiet and serious, and droll. I liked them both. Then we got the third Pat, briefly, who was just awful, like some Brady sibling with a bad attitude. Then the fourth Pat, who seemed to just be a generic hunk.

Delia Reid Ryan Ryan Coleridge:

Ilene Kristen's Delia was more of a strong force, whereas Randall Edwards's Delia was ditzier and more vulnerable, at least when the show bothered to write for her.

I have never really seen Robin Mattson's Delia.

[DaytimeFan]

DAYS

Kate Roberts under Deborah Adair was very much a lady of dignity who took herself very seriously. She worked hard to create a life for herself and she worked to maintain the image, she was careful and smart and confident. That Kate lasted 2 years...Lauren Koslow's Kate is far more sexual, fun, devious and fiery. Koslow's Kate knows what life on the skids is like, loathes the idea of going back to it and will be damned before she hits the skids again.

Essentially, Adair went for understated while Koslow has gone for aggressive. I feel Koslow's interpretation is why Kate is still around...I feel Adair's Kate would have developed into Marlena 2.0 and would have been killed off ages ago. I mean, could you ever believe that Deborah Adair's Kate could have been a hooker? I can't. I remember Koslow having to do a flashback to Kate working as a stripper and she pulled it off perfectly.

Y&R

Jill Abbott changed radically when Jess Walton took over from Brenda Dickson. The magic of Dickson's first run as Jill was long gone when she came back in the mid 80s...she played Jill like a midwestern Alexis Carrington and it just didn't work. Walton's Jill is angrier, harder, sadder, more ferocious and above all wiser. Her Jill is a far more layered character and I found the writing reflected that. Jill was still Jill, but the angles changed.

[All My Shadows]

AMC's Nina became a damn fool when Taylor Miller went on break in '84.

[quartermainefan]

Edward Quartermaine on GH. I love both but have to give the nod to the original and still the best, David Lewis. His Edward was sneaky, a bit of a grouch, capable of scheming and always with an agenda, while comedic at times but never a buffoon. John Ingle's Edward is a lot of a grouch, a curmudgeon, buffoonish and ineffectual--a blowhard who is all bark and no bite. He is still great, just it is a different great.

[quartermainefan]

This had to be one of the strangest recasts ever. Clint from from Clint Buchanan to basically Clint Lord. There is just nothing cowboyish on Clint anymore, and he now is better suited to drawing rooms than saying "draw!" The actor is perfectly capable, but the person he is playing just isn't Clint.