Characters That Were Re/Cast with Perfect Actor, But Fizzled or Flopped

[DRW50]

Daphnee Duplaix as Rachel on OLTL. That still makes me angry.

Joan Collins as Alex on GL. It was such a blast to have an Alex I recognized again (nothing against Marj Dusay, who had bad writing for about 98% of her tenure at GL). I wish that had worked out.

[SoapDope]

I thought Andrea Evans and Stacy Haiduk were horrible as Patty Williams. Lillibet Stern will always be Patty to me. Someone like Krista Teserau might had been an option if they insisted on bringing that character back.

Victoria Mallory was a jarring casting choice after Janice Lynde as Leslie Brooks on Y&R.

Shari Shattuck as Ashley on Y&R was beyond bizarre.

[MrQuartermaine]

Jed Allan as Edward on GH. A lovely actor who is a legend in Daytime, but he just wasn't Edward Quartermaine, and throwing him into a ridiculous marriage with Heather didn't help. If Allan had been cast in a similar GH role, even a brother of Edward, it would have worked.

[DRW50]

I thought the thread was about the right actor in the right role, but it failed for other reasons.

[SFK]

Good call!

[SoapSurvivor]

Krista Teserau as Tina, her character on GL was a basically a Tina rip off. I believe she actually could worked in the role if they had written a little more EDGE to go with her ditziness we would have HAD Tina. But she was just dumb, she wasn't written as a lead, she was more of a forgettable "B" character named Tina.

[Chris B]

I agree with both of those choices. I'd like to add Jennifer Landon as Heather on Y&R and Lesli Kay as Lois on GH. I think Lesli Kay is an even better actress than Rena Sofer and she was ready to WORK, but they gave her nothing to do. With Jennifer Landon, she is just a really strong younger actress and seemed to have chemistry with most of the cast.

I also agree that Krista Teserau was a good Tina. I found her better than Karen Witter.

[DRW50]

I cringed at all of Krista's scenes. They just seemed way off, and most of her co-stars blew her out of the water. I'm not sure what happened. I think she was hired without an audition, which was, IMO, a mistake.

[Vee]

I couldn't stand Krista Tesreau as Tina. I'd seen Karen Witter's when I started watching, her Tina I'd liked, but Krista made me write off the character for years, and she was a faint echo of the monolithic character that was once was in the '80s. Malone clearly had no idea what to do with her.

Jennifer Landon seemed quite good on Y&R but the character had no purpose. Looking at her there I thought she'd make an ideal Sarah Webber on GH.

[SFK]

My issue with Joan Collins, who I love on gp, is that I don't agree that she was a perfect Alex recast. (That's like saying Carmen Duncan was a "perfect" Iris recast, and YouTube videos to come, btw.) If they were going for a "name", I think a Faye Dunaway would have been more on point.

Andrea Evans was the Tina of my hazy childhood, and I recall bits and pieces of Karen Witter, but it was Krista Tesreau who played Tina when I was a full-fledged fan so I don't really have the "hate" that others do. Krista has a rougher edge though, she couldn't pull off the ditziness of Andrea or Karen quite as endearingly. When I think of Krista, I think of a woman sitting at the bar wearing an early '90s tight pastel leather skirt and jacket, smoking a Capri and sipping a 7&7.

[DRW50]

I think part of the issue with Tina was the writing. I don't think Malone's writing for Tina was ever that fantastic, Karen Witter just played it better, she was warmer and funnier, and a little naughtier. Once Krista was in the role, Tina was just dumb and loud.

Dunaway as Alex would have been interesting, although I loved Joan in the role. I guess Conboy probably would have enjoyed working with her.

[SFK]

IIRC, Rauch rehired Dusay after Collins quit. Then Dusay and Conboy were reunited when he came on as EP. Conboy adored Dusay. He hired her for Capitol when he could have gone in a more predictable direction. He adored McKinsey too so it's an interesting coincidence that Dusay would replace her.

[JackPeyton]

Julie Pinson as Billie on Days.

She had great chem with her family (LK, BD, RM), Had romantic chem with BB and SN (Nick, Steve), worked well with KA & PR, and really could have popped with JS/EJ. But they basically went nowhere fast with her and just made her char look awful by sleeping with Nick and refusing to let Billie/Steve become anything because of SUPERCOUPLE PAYLA needing to reunite even though it would have far more interesting for him to remain with billie.

[Vee]

Not really. I think people (mostly fans) were just so desperate to make Julie Pinson happen as a lead, when that was never going to happen anywhere but on PC, where she was wonderful. They tried too hard at DAYS and at ATWT and neither worked - she just was a supporting player type on an hour show. But I happened to think she felt too out of place on both shows. She wasn't Billie to me, beyond physical resemblance - it was like a woman too current for that program play-acting - and she was too immediate and visceral a performer for ATWT. She just didn't seem to work anywhere but in an ABC soap type of environment.

[DRW50]

I mostly thought she was boring on DAYS, from the bits I saw of her. ATWT was an awful role with hammy overacting - she seemed to be lost on her way to GH's never-ending Bensonhurst clown car. I hate that PC ruined her when they made Eve into a heroine. The spikier Eve at the show's start is what I always miss.