“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.

 

[Willie Oleson]

There was a Dutch actor - don't remember his name, and I'm not sure if he's ever acted in anything - who became "interesting news" for a while because there was a strong possibility that he was going to play Jeff Colby's brother in Dynasty (not The Colbys).
In hindsight it all seemed rather delusional but he appeared in several TV programmes talking about his Dynasty audition adventure or maybe the audition hadn't happened yet but "they" were interested anyway.
I believe he kinda looked like Michael Praed so maybe he was meant to play Prince Michael, but again, nobody had ever heard of him.
And I'm sure that Jeroen Krabbé, a Dutch household name long before Dynasty, only got the part of Jeremy Van Dorn because of his work in international productions, most notably the 1987 Bond film The Living Daylights.
If Jeroen's Dynasty-appeal was noticed because of Paul Verhoeven's 1983 filmThe Fourth Man (which was quite successful in the US) then he would have played Peter De Vilbis. Hence why the connection with James Bond makes more sense.

Anyway, this Jeff Colby brother-wannabe may have been the ultimate, most physical form of fan fiction. At that time we believed it was possible and of course I was super jealous because I also wanted to be in Dynasty.

 

[Carrie Fairchild]

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

Sela was the standout star of the one season wonder that was Emerald Point NAS, so I could see her being in demand after that. I’d imagine she would’ve played the role of Fallon closer in style to Pamela Sue Martin, than the wet rag version that we initially got when Emma Samms took on the role.

In relation to other Carrington sibling castings, I remember reading that Italian actress Ornella Muti (Flash Gordon) was being considered for the role of Amanda.

There was a Dutch actor - don't remember his name, and I'm not sure if he's ever acted in anything - who became "interesting news" for a while because there was a strong possibility that he was going to play Jeff Colby's brother in Dynasty (not The Colbys).

This is interesting to read because I’ve read a lot about who was in the running to play the roles of the older characters like Jason and Sable, but next to nothing about who was up for the roles of the Colby children, bar the three that ended up being cast.