What’s the deal with Passions casting? I only see that show once and awhile when I don’t change the channel after Days. I still see it at least a few times a month, enough to know what’s going on if they ever had a storyline I felt like watching. It seems like they have a different person playing main character roles every few months. It’s only been on a few years, but they’ve had at least 3 different girls playing the part of Kay, the scheming sister. Now I leave Passions on after today’s Days Friday cliffhanger, and there’s a strange man I don’t recognize in Theresa’s room, finally she calls him Ethan and I discover there’s been yet another main character casting change.
Does nobody want to stay on this show because of it’s crappy ratings? At least it isn’t Port Charles. None of these actors/actresses who’ve left are really hot stuff anyways. And when an actor leaves, you don’t have to recast. These things are filmed a month or more before they air, you can do a quick rewrite and kill the character off, or shuttle the character out of the main storylines for awhile. Send the character to Africa, that’s practically like killing them off in soap-world. Days does this all the time, and generally only recasts parts by bringing back actors who played the part before (i.e. Lisa Rinna, Melissa Reeves, Matt Ashford.) In general, they recast with much reluctance, and often they give an explanation for the change in appearance of the character.
It’s strikes me as sloppy beyond belief to have such poor planning and contract management as to have the type of disruptive casting changes Passions has gone through. It’s not like the characters are so well-developed that you can plug any actor into the roles. Constantly throwing different actors into the roles of weak, two-dimensional characters is the easiest way to make sure a soap stays down in the 2.5 area in ratings. No wonder this show is only a notch above the cellar.
Personally, I think that what happens is that people get tired of the Passions rut. Not just the fans, (I’m a former fan who hasn’t watched in months) but the cast as well. If you think that you’re tired of HEARING the same lines repeated ad nauseum, and circular storylines that never end, imagine being one of the cast members and having to actually SAY such dreck, through countless takes, and pretend to mean it.
Nearly all of the former cast that left said that they were leaving to pursue other interests. I’ve always felt that those with a modicum of talent would get off this train wreck before it damaged their career beyond repair. Which would leave us with those who can’t act.
But don’t you see that this is exactly why they CAN throw any two-bit actor into a role. Because they’re such flat characters it’s hard for any one actor to make a character their own. (With the possible exception of Theresa) And the reason that Passions is always in the ratings basement can be blamed squarely on James E. Reilley’s shoddy writing. Granted the acting is barely a notch above what you might see in an elementary school play, the actors are still only saying what JERk has written for them.
And yes with Passions if someone leaves, then they MUST be recast, otherwise, there’s a gaping hole where that character was. It’s become painfully obvious that JERk doesn’t know how to wrap up a story, or start a new one for that matter. All of the main storylines that we started with 3 years ago have yet to be resolved.
If you don’t watch often, then you’re in for an even bigger surprise in the next few months. SPOILER SPACE******
Don’t scroll down any further if you don’t want to know…
O.K.
“Chad” (Donn Swaby) is leaving the show “to pursue other interests” (Read: Better gigs)
He has been recast.
Also, “NuGwen” (Natalie Zea) is leaving.
She’ll be replaced by the ORIGINAL “Gwen”, Liza Huber.