'Do I know you?': Soaps’ strangest recasts!

[SFK]

Add me to the chorus. Marj's charismatic work drew me into GL, she was rather divine in the role upon Alex's return, the stuff with Roger, Alan, Tangie, Nick, Mindy... She is a very different actress than BM, Jay Hammer described her as a muralist, Beverlee, a miniaturist. But beyond their differences in style, Alex seemed to be written differently practically from the start of Marj's run. They really didn't give her many of those quiet, reflective solo scenes like they'd give Beverlee. They were content keeping her in the meddlesome, haughty, rich bitch box, which she was so good at, as seen by her Myrna on Capitol. But that's how Alex became superfluous and Marj was let go. Paul Rauch said she basically did things Alan could do, just in a feline way. I think this was in part the sort of writing on the wall Beverlee saw, she could sense the future or lack thereof of the character on top of her present unhappiness and quit.

[BetterForgotten]

Marj has sort of a hot mess acting style, and while I think that worked for Vanessa on AMC, it never quite sat right for me as Alex.

Her Alex was not the same character McKinsey had created, and I think Joan Collins played the camp factor of the character to much better effect than Marj ever did. With McKinsey and Collins, you could believe they were born rich and privileged, with Dusay, she's much better playing a social climber or someone who marries rich or blackmails her way to the top of the social ladder. She lacked that refined class Beverlee had and what once defined the role.

[cuzIsaySo]

The role of Laurel was recast? I thought that Felicity LaFortune (i hope i have the name right if not sorry) was the only one who played her

[Paul Raven]

Kristen Jensen was the first Laurel.blonde Nordic type, complete opposite in appearance to La Fortune.

Jennifer Garies as Donna Logan as compared to Carrie Mitchum.

[P.J.]

Yeah, IA, I don't quite get knocking MD as a recast. Just because you're not a legend, doesn't mean you're a bad. Marj brought a different vibe, because no one could pull off the Warrior Ice Queen the way Bev could. It would have been suicide for Marj to try. It's not her fault the writing for Alex strayed into the ridiculous.

And I'm sorry---anyone who thinks Collins was better is whack.

You want to talk strange recasts----going from quirky Justin Deas to heartthrob-ish Gregg Marx as Tom Hughes HAS to be in the Top 10 WTFery of recasts. It was like going from Jim Nabors to Tom Selleck.

[John]

Yeah B&B made Donna a sex pot bombshell dummy with JG in the role of Donna. CM was more classical.

Joan was basically playing a toned down and not but much Alexis Carrington

[robbwolff]

Don't forget that Jason Kincaid played Tom after Deas left and before Marx assumed the role. All three actors were so wildly different.

[slick jones]

Walt Willey as Joe Novak. He grew a foot and had blonde hair. I know he was in witness protection but WW dwarfs RB

[DeeeDee]

Adrienne Leon was a great recast.

She gave Colleen maturity & depth without sacrificing the sweetness & optimism Lyndsy brought to the character.

All those qualities went out the window once they cast Tammin.

[Vee]

I just couldn't take Marj Dusay seriously on GL. Granted, I came to her GL tenure very late after her post-Collins return, and I'd watched her as Vanessa on AMC for years (and loved her there), but she always seemed to be doing off-brand, breathy camp imported from her other show. And at that time YouTube was already making plenty of Beverlee McKinsey material available, and I mean, by comparison I found so much of it just embarrassing.

I love Marj Dusay, she's a treasure but as an admittedly latter-day fan I had very little time for her Alex.

[SFK]

Marj is a comedienne at heart, her background is in improv/sketch comedy, and she has a very long list of primetime guest star credits. It's arguable if soaps are ever where she truly belonged. Monica Warner scratched the surface, but to reference one of my earlier posts, she would have truly soared in roles like Susan Sullivan's on Dharma and Greg or Holland Taylor's on Two and a Half Men. That's why I think her Myrna (her favorite soap role, at least before Vanessa) was so vivid and entertaining, because she brought an almost sitcom sensibility to it, she was hilarious yet appropriately daytime drama rooted at the same time. As a John Waters fan, I take issue with the way the word "campy" is tossed about inappropriately. "Fabulous", "glamorous", what have you, is not "campy". Remember, by definition, camp does not know that it is camp. Marj stuttering and stammering over her not perfectly memorized lines while taking noisy wheezy smoker's breaths, now that's campy.

[P.J.]

Honestly, I can't keep all the Toms straight. I have no recollection of a Tom between Deas and Marx whatsoever.

It probably makes a difference, I saw her originally take over the role (IIRC, GL recast the role pretty quickly and pretty much on-the-fly) and thought she fit into the role seamlessly.

Speaking of a radical recast, going from Jones to Dusay had to be one. From what I remember, Jones' Myrna was much more flinty and Machiavellian, and Dusay's much more of a social climbing golddigger, to the point of being almost cartoonish.

[titan1978]

Before she went back to OLTL, Strasser was probably going to be cast as Alexandra. I don't think she would have been right either.

I wonder what Constance Towers could do with Alexandra.

I guess part of my problem is once you have seen Beverlee and Sherry Stringfield as Alex and Blake, it's hard to enjoy the peopl that took over their parts.

I have a hard time with recasts anyway. GH was my show in the 80's, and Monty just didn't recast as often as other shows, certainly not with a story driving character. For good or bad.

[SFK]

Jones' Myrna was obsessively invested in Trey's political career and having Clegg power and influence. I was so little when she was still living, and very little of her Myrna pops up online, but I actually find her Myrna campier than Dusay's. There's sort of a drag queen, Mommie Dearest quality about her. The part definitely felt younger with Dusay taking over (coincidentally, JFP spoke with Robin about plans to youthen Alex with her in the role). Marj was less threatening than crazy-eyed Carolyn, and she usually functioned as meddling socialite mom until the final storyline where she gained partial control of Clegg Industries.

[SFK]

Robin said she was having dinner with Michael Zaslow when he suggested she meet with JFP about replacing Beverlee. As awesome as it would have been to see those two go at it onscreen once again, Robin is totally not a believable Alex recast.