ATWT: First look at actress' return

[Soapsuds]

Sabrina Hughes She was portrayed by Julianne Moore from November of 1986 through June of 1988 and by Claire Beckham from September of 1990 through January of 1994.

Sabrina Hughes is the daughter of Robert "Bob" Hughes and Kimberly "Kim" Sullivan Hughes. She is the sister of Christopher "Chris" Hughes II and half-sister to Thomas "Tom" Hughes, Frances "Frannie" Hughes, and Andrew "Andy" Dixon.

Sabrina was conceived from an affair between Bob and Kim back in 1965; Kim was told that the child was stillborn. However, unbeknownst to anyone, the child was sold to the wealthy Fullertons and was raised in England. The Fullertons died in a train wreck two years later.

Sabrina was introduced on the show as Sabrina Fullerton. She was studying at Oxford in England. When she was spotted by Frannie Hughes, Sabrina bore an uncanny resemblance to her and Frannie was determined to find out exactly who she was. At the same time, Sabrina found herself being trailed by a man named Howard Lansing. Bob and Kim Hughes, Frannie's father and stepmother, came to England to help Frannie, and when Bob came face to face with Lansing, he soon figured out the truth.

Sabrina then moved to Oakdale to get to know her biological family; while there, she undertook two romances, with Seth Snyder and Tonio Reyes.

She currently lives in Montega, South America, where she runs a clinic.

[All My Shadows]

Frannie and Sabrina are both sisters and cousins. Same dad, different moms (who were sisters).

And I am highly disappointed in the both of you for even having to ask that question

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Yep, cousins and sisters.

Frannie's biological mother is Jennifer, who is Kim's sister.

Frannie's also the only living link between the Hughes and Ryan clans, as she's Barbara's half-sister.

[Soapsuds]

The article mentions them as only cousins that's what threw me off.

AMS..this one is for you!

[Y&RWorldTurner]

Nancy and Lisa do look great!

I wonder if Eileen Fulton still wants TPTB to kill off Lisa.

I found it pretty hilarious when she came out to the press wanting to be killed off not long before ATWT's cancellation was announced.

[Soapsuds]

How about Helen Wagner giving Oscar Nominee Julianne Moore acting tips???...LOL

[DRW50]

They're going to do a special episode for Lisa, or part of one at least, her 50th anniversary. I don't have high hopes but at least they're going to pay a tribute (I wish they could bring a few people back, Grant at least). The underuse of Lisa over the past ten years has been sad -- Lisa would not work as a major character but she worked very well as a supporting player for a long time.

It's nice to see most of the vets there. Julianne's Frannie was often surrounded by vets, I think that this method used back then is one of the reasons younger characters back then became so popular with viewers.

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I hope Scott Eldridge returns for the anniversary.

Julianne was a hit because she was a great actress with great writing as well. Nowadays you are lucky to have at least one.

But Dammit..where is Andy Dixon??

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http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2010/03/first-look-julianne-moore-back-on-as-the-world-turns.html

[Chris B]

I hope people tune in for this! I do like the cast assembled and that they (well based on what Moore said) remember that Frannie and Barbara are sisters. Barbara is so neglected these days. I just hope that Andy and John Dixon return before time is up. These fools should've brought on MJ, John and Iva's son, before the show ended. Maybe they could've done it for Reid. It would explain his hatred for Oakdale. Of course he couldn't be with Luke, but that's no loss IMO.

[DRW50]

I'm not expecting to see John, although I live in hope, but there is no reason for Andy not to return at some point.

Julianne's interviews on this are so classy, like when she says she wanted to thank those who gave her her first big job and created such a positive atmosphere for her.

I wish we were also seeing Sabrina but at least they're going to mention her. I guess she will just be sick somewhere.

[Soapsuds]

Bob and Kim celebrate their wedding anniversary with their family and friends next week and on

Monday, April 5th - Julianne Moore returns as Frannie Hughes. Not sure if Julianne will be a Friday cliffhanger on the 2nd.

Tuesday, April 6th - Jack and Carly make love

Dusty digs for info on Rocco.

Luke stands up for Reid.

Holden, Lily and Faith try to come together as a family.

[Khan]

I'll bet! ;-P

[Leia]

Frannie! I remember Frannie!

[Limenade]

I'd like to echo with you all my elation over Julianne's upcoming return by sharing with you the following article on her.

I found the article about 2 years ago at this URL http://allstarz.hollywood.com/~moore/entrevistas/atwt.html --this page no longer exists on the web.

Based on the opening para, it's probably from 2002/3, when Moore received 2 Oscar nominations. The only thing that confused me was that casting director Vince Liebhart stated Julianne Moore screen-tested for both Calhoun and Marland, but Wikipedia states that Moore began her stint as Frannie in April 1985 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frannie_Hughes). Didn't Marland begin his HW duties on ATWT later that year? All the same, lots interesting tidbits here on Moore's ATWT tenure.

As the World Turns

by Leona G. Barad

Soap City

"I think Julianne is just the most talented person," shares former ATWT co-star, Christian LeBlanc (ex-Kirk McColl; now Michael on Y&R). "She had the gift of being adventurous and of listening. There's something very special about her." It looks like Hollywood agrees, because on Feb. 11, Julianne Moore received two Oscar® nominations for her work in the films, Far From Heaven and The Hours. Moore is no stranger to awards. Early in her career, she won a Daytime Emmy® (beating out fellow nominees Lauren Holly and Robin Wright) as Outstanding Ingénue for her work on As the World Turns, playing half-sisters and cousins (long story!), Frannie Hughes and Sabrina Fullerton. While she didn't spend a long time on the soap, the actress certainly left an impression on her co-workers.

Vince Liebhart was the casting director who brought Julianne Moore to ATWT, and the two are still good friends to this day. "I actually met her socially," shares Liebhart. "My brother was an agent who represented her then-boyfriend [ex-husband John Rubin], and we all went to a party together. Julie and I just stood and talked for most of the night and as the night was winding down, I said to her, 'If you're ever interested in being seen for a contract on a soap, get in touch with me.' So that's where it started, and I just brought her in on everything that I thought she was anywhere possibly right for, including Sierra, which is the role that Finn Carter got. And Frannie Hughes ended up being a really good fit. [Then Executive Producer] Bob Calhoun and [head writer] Doug Marland both flipped over her." It seems that Procter & Gamble needed some additional convincing, however. "Doug Marland created Sabrina for her," continues Liebhart. "I'm not sure, but rumor had it that he created Sabrina to prove to P&G that Julie was really who they wanted. Because I guess they weren't convinced that she was right for the role; they didn't find her attractive enough or whatever. I don't know. I have never actually talked to her about this, but that's why Doug created the Sabrina character."

Frannie and Sabrina were an integral part of ATWT, since they were members of one of Oakdale's main families -- the Hugheses. Although he didn't share much time with Moore on-screen, Gregg Marx, who played her half-brother, Tom Hughes, still took notice of her. "In terms of just as an actor watching her, what I was most impressed with were the scenes that she did with Steven Weber [ex-Kevin Gibson]. I thought that they had a pretty amazing dynamic. I'd watch them work and find myself getting really involved in what they were doing and forget that they were acting. That, to me, is an indication that something really magical is going on."

ATWT stage manager, Meryl Augenbraun Jaffe, was a production coordinator when Moore was on the show. She recalls then head writer, Douglas Marland's fondness for the actress. "Oh, Doug loved Julianne Moore! The people he adored he wrote for, and he definitely wrote for her. He loved that Hughes family," shares Jaffe. "Julie was very professional. Her work habits were great. She was very prompt. She'd come to the set very prepared. If there were changes, she'd write them down. She cared about her role and always gave her best."

Marx concurs. Watching Julianne Moore at work gave him a deeper understanding of her. "We would be sitting in the rehearsal hall doing scenes, and in between doing her scenes she'd be reading the paper, reading reviews of plays," says Marx. "She was always very involved in theatre. I was struck by the fact that she was a very driven, serious actor. It was about the work. The impression that I got very early on was that she was very focused."

One former cast mate, Margaret Reed (ex-Shannon), recalls Moore's kindness. "One snowy cold night, we were both working at the same time. I was living in White Plains [a New York suburb] at that point, and she had a place on the Upper West Side somewhere. Those were the days you worked late, 9PM sometimes. She offered to let me stay on her couch. We'd never really been terribly close, so because of that, I thought it was really quite generous of her to let me spend the night -- how warm and wonderful. What an offer, because it was too dangerous for me to drive home. I remember her saying to me as we were driving up there, 'You know, this is really -- it's a difficult job.' And I was thinking, 'Are you crazy? This is one of the easiest jobs in the world,' laughs Reed. "I was thinking, you go in, you get your lines, you do your work and there's nothing you can do about it. They've got to shoot it, that's it. Then, you know, you think on the way home, 'Oh my God, I could have done that -- I could have done this.' But you can't do anything about it, as opposed to movies where you can have a little more time. Depending on your relationship with the director, you can do other takes. You do five lines in a day and on the soap, you do what we do. So, I just found that really interesting. Of course, her character was much more complicated. I think she was doing both characters at that point, so of course it was very difficult. It just showed how dedicated she was, even back then, doing that work. She was obviously putting in a lot of homework, and it paid off for her."

Moore, herself, exposed some tidbits about her time on the soap when she appeared on Bravo's The Actors Studio. "They wanted to bring me on and make Frannie Hughes bad for the first time," tells Julianne. "It didn't fly. People got really upset, and I had to do a major character shift. There was a wonderful, wonderful writer named Douglas Marland, who is a very famous television writer. He spun her off into her half-sister, Sabrina, who was English. I wore a wig and glasses. I did scenes with myself. I was kidnapped, I had amnesia, I slept with my own boyfriend, you know, because he said it was dark and couldn't tell the difference. That was my favorite line. Lights are off -- how can you tell?" she laughs.

Though she makes it sound like there were a lot of laughs on the show for her, good friend Liebhart reveals how hard the actress worked and how dedicated she was to her craft. "She said the first year is learning, the second year is performing and the third year is your payback. Julie wasn't one of those actors who said she didn't want to be there. She was willing to serve three years without complaint. It was hard work, and they used her relentlessly but it taught her a great deal."

Marx adds, "If you had said to me in 1985 or 1986 or 1987, 'Who's going to be a big star coming out of As the World Turns?' -- I don't know that I would have said Julie. Because as beautiful as she is and as good as she is, I feel like it was sort of a developing thing, a very logical unfolding. There are certain people that come out in a blaze. And there are certain people that burn really slow and then suddenly just PSSSHHH. You know, supernova. To me, Julie was like that."

Additional reporting by: Diane Brounstein and Michael Maloney