Chad was introduced as a minor plot point in the baby switch story on DAYS.  He was Teen Mom Mia's baby daddy who created some conflict when he began questioning what happened to his child.  Cut to a decade later, I don't believe Maggie could pick Mia out of a lineup, but Chad has become a romantic lead and now is part of one of the legacy families.  We can tell it was unplanned because Chad is such an un-Dimera name.

Who else played a minor part and became a lead?

I don't mean a b-story that made it to center stage for a small period of time, like when Paul's secretary Lynne on Y&R got married.  Or, someone like Marco Dane (OLTL), Shane Donovan (DAYS), or Billy Clyde (AMC)  who was such a hit with fans that they found more stories for him over time.  But, an actual blip of a character, almost an extra, like Tiffany Hill (GH) that suddenly became the focus of the show.

Extra points if you can recall the context of how the character was introduced.

Edited May 24, 20232 yr by j swift

As surprising as this sounds, you could say that Marlena falls under this category to some extent 😂

Edited May 24, 20232 yr by AbcNbc247

Maybe Bambi Brewster (LOVE OF LIFE) would qualify for this award, lol.

Evangeline Williamson on OLTL. 

Marcie (Kathy Brier) on One Life to Live. 

Mimi (Farah Fath) on DAYS. I figured she'd just be another Jamie Caldwell, Sami Brady's sidekick. 

I'm curious what AW's initial intentions were for Felicia Gallant. I mean, did they ever think she would have stuck around for 16 years? I know Felicia was brought onto the scene as a novelist for Cory Publishing. I don't really remember if there was a specific story they were using Felicia for at the time. 

I guess the same could be said for Cass. Neither had any initial ties to Bay City. 

 

While nobody has earned extra credit so far for recalling how the character was introduced, Mimi is a perfect example.  Yes, she was cast for the summer story with the other teens, but her family expanded and lives on in Salem to this day.

I'm not really sure if I'd call Mimi a "lead" character though; yes, she became a main character but she was clearly always kind of pushed aside imho. 

Guiding Light 

AC Mallet 

Josh Lewis (At least I don't think Doug Marland had the plans to make him the ultimate leading man of GL for much of the 80s and late 90s)

I'm on the fence about Mindy Lewis. Once Phillip/Beth/Rick/Mindy quad was over and went their separate ways, Mindy had several romances apart from the Four Musketeers (and scandals...Roger)

I feel like Liam Spencer falls in this category, he was initially a minor character and then suddenly BAM was leading story 

For GL, I think AC Mallet was destined for main character status from the time he was introduced, given the exit of other stars and the amount of screen time he was given from the start.

Josh may have been planned as more of an antagonist, and certainly, his character traits evolved into a romantic lead once Billy was introduced, but there were signs from his introduction that he was going to change the focus of the drama away from the hospital and the Bauers.

On the other hand, I would have considered Harley to be a very minor character upon her introduction.  One would certainly have predicted that Cam would have more of a lasting effect.  But, she evolved, got a family, and slid right into the main character set.

Edited May 24, 20232 yr by j swift

Sonny Corinthos.  He was a 6 month baddie and here we are.

Fücking Spinelli.

5 minutes ago, Darn said:

Fücking Spinelli.

Would you consider him a lead though?  Even with all the Maxie stuff I consider him more supporting.

GL:   Jenna Bradshaw.  She was only intended as a 3 month role as a jewel thief with prior ties to Mallet... but she became a lead for while in 1993/4 (where she managed to take Spaulding E away from the Spauldings for several months).

AW:  Lorna Devon:  Was just a spoiler for Matt/Jenna and even was going to be written out in late 1991/early 1992 before she was revealed as Felicia's long lost child with Lucas.