Daytime soap opera casting directors: Greg Salmon (The Young and the Restless) Marnie Saitta (Days of Our Lives), Christy Dooley (The Bold and the Beautiful) and Kim Coleman (Beyond the Gates) discussed the process of casting for a daytime drama series from contract players to under-fives along and their expectations for auditioning, plus behind the scenes casting tales at their recent panel from the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.

The entertainment industry event helps actors receive inside intel from leading casting professionals and took place just over a week ago at the Meryl Streep Center for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles.

Moderated by noted journalist Jim Halterman, one of the more intriguing moments of the panel discussion occurred when the subject turned to the challenges of a recast on a soap opera and replacing a popular actor with another in a very key role. Each of the four casting directors were able to put a spotlight on such an occurrence and all were leading men on their respective soaps.

Photo: SAGAFRAFoundation

For Marnie Saitta at Days of Our Lives, she was tasked with finding the new EJ DiMera. James Scott had become amazingly popular in the role from 2006-2014. Then, enter Dan Feuerriegel, who had the right stuff for DAYS to finally pull the trigger and cast the new EJ. The character returned on-screen in 2021 after 7 years.

RECASTING EJ DIMERA

“I do know now how to best approach a recast, like I’m casting a new character,” explains Marnie. “I feel like the actor just has to come in and make it their own. You can’t even try, looks-wise, to be quite honest. Obviously, EJ DiMera is kind of a focal point (of DAYS) and Dan was such a champ. I swear to God, I think I brought him in maybe six times. I would bring him in for other characters, but I kept thinking he’s really good for EJ and it didn’t go. Then, I brought him for something else, same thing. I knew that the role of EJ was going to be really difficult to find, and it finally clicked. He took EJ in a different direction. He has a totally different vibe, but equally as effective.”

RECASTING ADAM NEWMAN

For Greg Salmon, he discussed the pivotal role of Y&R’s Adam Newman, who was previously by Tracker star, Justin Hartley and what he looked for to be able to find the right actor to be the next black sheep of the Newman clan.

“We had Justin Hartley playing the role of Adam Newman before he went to This Is Us, and now Mark Grossman has been playing him,” explained Salmon. “So that was a really tough role to recast. Before Justin, there were two other people (Chris Engen and Michael Muhney) who played the part. Adam Newman is central to the show. This is Victor Newman’s (Eric Braeden) son. So, it’s an incredibly important character to the show. But now, Mark Grossman’s been playing the role for several years now. He’s completely made the role his own.”

Photo: JPI

Salmon added the key attributes that Mark Grossman or someone like him brings into an audition for the role of that is being recast, “I really think it just comes down to the person’s energy and what they’re bringing to the character,” explained Greg. “You can’t think, ‘Well, I know Justin Hartley looks like this. And the guy before him looked like that,’ because then you’ll just get trapped. You’re not trying to find another Justin Harley. You’re trying to find another Adam Newman. I just remember Mark came in and I think he read with Eric Braeden, and he read with a few other people of the Newman family, and his energy was just off the charts. You know, this is how Adam should feel. Eventually, I think the audience really accepted him.”

RECASTING RIDGE FORRESTER

In a little-known casting story, The Bold and the Beautiful’s Christy Dooley shared how Mark Grossman almost became one of the Forresters! “He tested for us (at The Bold and the Beautiful). Mark came in and read for the role of Thomas Forrester and he was my choice for the role,” says Dooley. “The role wound up going to Matthew Atkinson, but then he came down to read for The Young and the Restless.”

Dooley was also tasked with one of the biggest soap recasts in history when Ronn Moss exited The Bold and the Beautiful in his signature role of Ridge Forrester which Moss played from 1987-2012. Eventually, Thorsten Kaye took over the role at the end of 2013.

Photo: JPI

“When Ronn Moss left the show, Brad Bell (executive producer and head writer, B&B) said, ‘I can’t recast him right now, he’s just too familiar.’ So he waited. The character was always talked about because he is one of the Forresters. Brad finally said, ‘We need to bring him back. We got to find somebody.’ Then to get Thorsten Kaye, who’s so different than Ronn, and he made it completely his own. He’s just amazing at it, so I think time helped (between bringing on a new Ridge.)”

RECASTING DR. TED RICHARDSON

For Beyond the Gates, Kim Coleman, she has a soap opera that is now building a new legacy only in its second season. However, in season one, Maurice Johnson became the first recast in series history when he was replaced as Dr. Ted Richardson with Keith D. Robinson and at a critical point in the storyline.

Coleman explained, “I think it was a transition and everyone was in agreement that it was the right thing to do. And then fortunately, we brought in an actor that the audience knew. They knew his face. He was great. Keith made it his own and there was not a lot of controversy and it wasn’t complicated. Keith D. Robinson is on the show now and everyone loves him. So, it was a very smooth transition.”

You can check out the full conversation with daytime casting directors, Greg Salmon, Marnie Saitta, Christy Dooley and Kim Coleman below.

Now let us know which of the four recasts noted do you think was the most successful? Were you surprised to learn Mark Grossman was a favorite of casting director Christy Dooley for Thomas Forrester before landing his role as Adan Newman? Weigh-in via the comment section below.

CBS has released its first promo for the upcoming crossover event between Beyond the Gates and The Young and the Restless. The four-episode multi-arc story will begin next week on Tuesday, June 9 and run through the rest of the week with a dramatic cliffhanger on Friday, June 12.

Viewers can now get their first glimpse of the storyline that will unfold. The episodes were taped earlier this year when the six participating cast members from Y&R traveled from Los Angeles to Atlanta where Beyond the Gates tapes all of its show from Assembly Studios.

In the video teaser, a tornado rips through Barrington Country and smack dab at the Fairmont Crest Country Club in the middle of the political fundraiser for Congressman Martin Richardson (Brandon Claybon), putting major characters in peril.

Courtesy/CBS

VERNON AND VICTOR OLD FRIENDS

As the story unfolds, longtime friends and patriarchs Vernon Dupree (Clifton Davis) and Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) come together for this special event. Victor has backed Vernon’s political campaigns over the years, while Vernon has championed legislation which benefitted Newman Enterprises, The two titans have built a longtime alliance built on loyalty, influence, and mutual gain.

Vernon has asked Victor to serve as the keynote speaker at his grandson’s fundraiser, and seen in the promo, he greets the mighty Victor Newman at a helicopter pad to whisk him away in a limo to Fairmont Crest.

None other than Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) and Diane Jenkins (Susan Walters) arrive at Fairmont Crest and run into Dani Dupree (Karla Mosley) and Andre Richardson (Sean Freeman). Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) is also in tow and is revealed as a longtime friend of Martin’s from their college days.

UNEXPECTED ALLIANCES

In the steamy moment from the promo, it looks like Kyle and Hayley (Marguita Goings) end up making out. Could this be the crossover romance we never know we needed? But what happens if the wrong person sees them locking lips? Then, it appears that Bill (Timon Kyle Durrett) and Dani will be trapped together due to the tornado, will this be a turning point for the exes? The event is filled with a room full of reporters, who are itching for a scandal. What will they dig up before and after the rubble from the tornado?

DANGER LURKS AT FAIRMONT CREST

In addition, an uninvited guest makes their way into the fundraiser, but it’s not someone viewers might expect! Genoa City’s Devon Hamilton (Bryton James) and Abby Newmanv (Melissa Ordway) are also attending the political fundraiser and get into the thick of the action.

Beyond the Gates executive producer Sheila Ducksworth teased to TV Insider, on what viewers are about to see “What happens in these episodes is so compelling, and then what happens as a result of what happens in these episodes is epic. That is all I can say. It is epic.”

Ducksworth, along with series cast members: Tamara Tunie (Anita Dupree), Clifton Davis, and Sean Freeman, also talked about the upcoming episodes when they visited the Michael Fairman Channel for a livestream chat, where Clifton Davis exclaimed, “We’ve got dynamite in the can,” referencing the banked episodes that soap fans are about to see unfold.

Take a look at the Beyond the Gates and The Young and the Restless crossover event promo below.

Now let us know, what do you think of Kyle and Hayley making out? Do you think Bill and Dani will do the same? What will be the shocking ramifications when all is said and done? Weigh-in via the comment section.

 

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As The Young and the Restless’ Nick Newman continues to be in the throes of his fentanyl dependency, actor Joshua Morrow has been given one of the most harrowing stories of his over three decades on the top-rated CBS daytime drama.

Last week, viewers saw Nick’s life almost come to an end when he OD’d, in front of the entire Newman family, no less, and in the ironic twist is he was brought back to life by an amnesiac Matt Clark (Roger Howarth) and given CPR by his ex, Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford).

Coming up, Nick will attend some semblance of an AA meeting to try to get the help he needs to face his addiction. “That was very difficult. In fact, I told them, ‘I can’t rehearse it. This is a one-shot deal, because after it, I’m gonna have to go and sit in a dark room. We got it in one take,” shared the actor with TV Insider.

THE PATH TO RECOVERY WON’T BE EASY FOR NICK

Today on June 1, in Soap Steph’s Daytime TV Dish newsletter, another piece of the conversation with Morrow was shared when he was shooting on those scenes where it was clear it had not been smooth sailing.

Joshua said, “The day that I shot this sort of AA meeting scene (coming up), that kind of hung around me for a little bit. But I can leave it at the door now pretty easy. There’s this koi pond with these fish as I leave, and I walk out the building and I say bye to the fish, and I leave everything with them.”

Morrow also shared that Nick’s journey back from addiction is nowhere near done, and its ramifications on the nucleus of the Newman family huge. “OD seems pretty rock bottom-y, but the fans will just have to stay tuned. There’s still more runway here to go. This isn’t going to be a quick fix for him.”

As viewers know, Nick is obsessed with vengeance against Matt Clark but will he ever get it now that Matt “seems’ like a whole other person due to his memory loss? Stay tuned.

So, are you looking forward to Joshua’s upcoming scenes as Nick goes to an emotional AA meeting? How do you think this story should come to a conclusion, or will it now that Nick will always be an addict? Weigh-in via the comment section below.