ALL: Popular Actors playing Unpopular Characters

[Contessa Donatella]

I liked Warlock's AJ, also, although there were times when it was just not gonna be an AJ day.

[Khan]

I agree!

I don't expect every actor on daytime to be as great as Michael Zaslow or Beverlee McKinsey, but I've always believed that if you just put in the work, you'll win me over.  I'd rather watch an actor who isn't great but who doesn't phone it in over one who IS great and does.

[Taoboi]

Same.

 

And then that moment when they nail something perfectly...especially when they tried it before and failed and you see the growth from that failure...can feel great to watch. 

[Planet Soap]

Y&R: Maura West as Diane Jenkins. I actually didn't mind her as Diane, she was just a lesser of the three. Fans really didn't seem to like her in that role compared to GH's Ava or ATWT's Carly. SB: I wish Michael Park would make a guest appearance on GH to see Jack and Carly together again one more time. 

GH: Roger Howard as Austin & Franco. I can understand why writers thought it  make sense on paper to have ex Todd Manning play a reformed Franco. It did not work out. Franco did too much to be reformed.

GH: Michelle Stafford & Cynthia Watros as Nina. Both women were popular in their roles on their respective soaps (Michelle was popular when she could act) But Nina is just unlikable.

Edited January 14 by Planet Soap

[Liberty City]

I'd love to see Michael Park pop-up back in daytime but I just don't see it happening at this point. Beyond the Gates might be the one glimmer of hope at some point. As for Maura West as Diane; I agree she was miscast, but she worked the HELL out of that role. They were recasting/de-aging the role, she was out of a job and CBS wanted to keep her in the family, so it just happened.

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[Khan]

That's what I love about Maura West: she will commit 110% to whatever she's asked to play, even if what she's playing ain't worth the recycled paper it's printed on.

CBS and Y&R handed MW the rawest of raw deals by asking her to take on a role like Diane Jenkins, a character that was (IMO) impossible to recast after Alex Donnelly and Susan Walters.  As I've said upthread, I think Y&R would've been better off bringing her on as Sharon's long-lost half-sister, because Sharon (again, IMO) needs a family outside of the Newmans.

[Liberty City]

She can turn shït into gold unlike any other. That's a masterclass in acting that I feel is missing in new, upcoming talent today.

Her hiring was all CBS. Even West admitted her hiring was CBS; Sony/Y&R were recasting Diane (and de-aging the role), CBS wanted West to stay on the network and she accepted the role as it was offered to her. If I remember correctly: it was reported Maria Arena never wanted West on the cast, and found her untalented. 

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[Vee]

I always angled for Michael Park or a few other names like him to play Daniel Wolek to Kassie DePaiva's Blair had OLTL gone on, reconceiving the character as a charismatic and scheming new love interest who was not a twin rapist post-MeToo, a sort of antidote to the Todds. But I don't think Park would ever do daytime again today, he's had such success in major theater and streaming TV like Stranger Things.

[Khan]

That would be my advice to every halfway decent actor who's been on soaps: DON'T COME BACK.  I know it's scary out there, especially with Los Angeles now reduced to ashes.  Trust me, though, you're better off no longer being a part of this industry.

[Vee]

Listen, my apartment's still there! Today.

[Khan]

That's good to know, because I think Eric Braeden and Tom Eplin are gonna need a place to crash for awhile.

[Vee]

I'll pass.

[Khan]

And I don't blame her for taking the role.  (Work is work!).  I just blame MAB for not setting aside her feelings.  Instead of figuring out how to MW's Diane work on the Y&R canvas, she just wrote her into such a corner that they had no choice BUT to kill her off.

I don't blame ya, lol!

[Vee]

I think the Sharon thing you mentioned would've worked. But I'm also reminded of the rumors in the mid-late 2010s (which may be entirely bullshit) that JFP supposedly approached Laura Wright to play Nikki's new long-lost sister or niece or something. This is in a time when Laura's contract at GH was coming up, and rumors (again, unsubstantiated) were that FV intended to place Tamara Braun back in the role of Carly rather than play hardball.

Ultimately LW (wisely as always, IMO) did not trust the role at Y&R could last and re-signed as Carly, which led to Tamara being slotted in at GH in a thankless new role. But it did make me think that Maura could've done well with a similar character. It's just that everything JFP at Y&R put in place back then was ultimately weak and transitory.

[Khan]

I don't know whether that rumor was just that.  When it comes to JFP, there's a grain of truth to every rumor about her; and frankly, I can see her approaching LW with that kind of offer.  But I think I would've approached LW about succeeding Jessica Collins as Avery before tying her to MTS/Nikki.