Best And Worst Soap Opera Recasts
signy-coleman-annie-dutton
Worst Recast No. 5: Signy Coleman as Guiding Light's Annie Dutton
Too late, the soap realized that it wasn't Reva Lewis' foil that was so popular, it was the way that future Finding Carter star Cynthia Watros played the cuckoo character that made her so popular.
nicholas-walker-max-holden
Worst Recast No. 4: Nicholas Walker as One Life to Live's Max Holden
The Capitol alumnus was so wrong for this role that, when James DePaiva was brought back just months after he left, no mention was made of the plastic surgery that had given the rogue his new face.
darius-mccrary-malcolm-winters
Worst Recast No. 3: Darius McCrary as Y&R's Malcolm Winters
The surest sign that a recast has gone over badly? The replacement being replaced by the actor he replaced — a la Criminal Minds' Shemar Moore (briefly) reclaiming his role from the Family Matters grad.
jamie-luner-liza-colby
Worst Recast No. 2: Jamie Luner as All My Children's Liza Colby
Not even a love triangle with future American Horror Story eye candy Finn Wittrock could make viewers buy the Melrose Place vixen in the role that Marcy Walker made (in)famous.
roseanne-barr-jennifer-smith
Worst Recast No. 1: Roseanne Barr as GH's Jennifer Smith
The only thing sillier than letting the sitcom star step in for PYT Lisa Marie as Luke Spencer's ex-fiancée would have been letting Sally Struthers do it. Oh, wait, the soap did that, too.
greg-vaughan-eric-brady
Best Recast No. 5: Greg Vaughan as Days of Our Lives' Eric Brady
Supernatural fans would say that Jensen Ackles is irreplaceable. And on that show, he is. But on Days, soap-hopper Vaughan fits Ackles' old role as snugly as the priest's collar in which he made his Salem debut.
justin-hartley-adam-newman
Best Recast No. 4: Justin Hartley as Y&R's Adam Newman
After Veronica Mars' Michael Muhney was shown the door mid-backstage scandal, the soap took its sweet time picking a successor — and it paid off. Revenge hunk Hartley is as at-home in the role as Victor's mustache is on his face.
nathan-fillion-joey-buchanan
Best Recast No. 3: Nathan Fillion as OLTL's Joey Buchanan
Puberty shmuberty. As soon as the future Castle star was tapped to take over for Chris McKenna (State of Affairs), Viki's younger son went from being a cute kid to a bona fide leading man.
anne-heche-vicky-hudson
Best Recast No. 2: Anne Heche as Another World's Victoria/Marley Hudson
Ellen Wheeler had been so good as the twins that she won an Emmy. But Heche — in her big-time debut — was so much better that she not only won her own Emmy, she made it damn near impossible for anyone to accept her replacement.
peter-bergman-jack-abbott
Best Recast No. 1: Peter Bergman as Y&R's Jack Abbott
After Terry Lester quit in a snit, no one thought that anyone would buy a recast — and certainly not Bergman, who was coming off a long run as AMC good guy Cliff Warner. More than a quarter of a century and three Emmys later, the show has earned the right to say, "We told you so."