“And, Almost Starring….”

[Carrie Fairchild]

I’m talking about the actors and actresses that were either cast, or in the running to be cast, in one of the nighttime soaps but for whatever reason, didn’t make it to the final cut. George Peppard as Blake Carrington, and Clu Gallagher and Samantha Eggar as Chase and Maggie Gioberti are probably some of the more well known examples of stars that were recast after the pilot. Or the fact that Sophia Loren was in talks to play Alexis Carrington but was looking for too much money, is an often mentioned story.

But who are some of the more obscure examples of this that you know of? I’ll start the ball rolling with pop queen Kylie Minogue. She read for the role of Rachel Dennis in Central Park West, and was very close to accepting the part, but the schedule of a potentially 22 episode a year TV series didn’t fit in with the demands of her pop career, so she passed. She talks about it here at the 9min 50sec mark.

 

[Monzo]

But who are some of the more obscure examples of this that you know of? I’ll start the ball rolling with pop queen Kylie Minogue. She read for the role of Rachel Dennis in Central Park West, and was very close to accepting the part, but the schedule of a potentially 22 episode a year TV series didn’t fit in with the demands of her pop career, so she passed.

I find it hard to picture Kylie Minogue as Rachel. Perhaps the character would have taken a different direction with her, but I would still love to see a US primetime soap—even a short-lived one—on Kylie’s résumé.

I once read in Soap Opera Digest that Sela Ward was considered for the role of Fallon in The Colbys but turned down the offer, though I’m not sure if that’s true. Sela Ward guest-starred on Hotel in the fall of 1986 (when The Colbys was already in its second season); would Aaron Spelling have given her a part there—even just for a single episode—if she had previously turned him down? Still, it would have been fun if Luke and Fallon had played a couple in Once and Again years later.