Recasts: The Good, The Bad & The Annoying

As a long time soap viewer, I've seen a lot of recasts. I just wanted to write a little bit about dealing with them.

Whenever someone is hired for a soap whether it is for a new role or to replace someone else as a recast there is an adjustment period for the audience. Sometimes the new person is accepted quickly, but in other instances they have to face some obstacles. Occasionally even years after being hired, an actor can still deal with the "curse" of being a recast as people still love the prior portrayer.

The Good:

The character already has a built-in group of fans. These fans may continue to support the character because regardless of who is playing the part they want to see the character's story continue. A new person in a role if they have previous experience may get people to sample that soap. If there is a couple involved this can be good in a sense that the couple can continue, but bad if the chemistry is so different that they decide to go in a different way.

The Bad:

Depending on the direction that a show is taking, and the decisions with the writing a character may change. If the character does start to deviate from what people expected in the past, this may alienate viewers. Also sometimes soaps will slightly shift focus away from that character to others in the same story in the adjustment period, which sometimes works. Very few couples survive long term, when there is a recast. If you are a fan of a pairing this can be a very scary thing, but I wonder if it isn't partly so the new performer gets something on canvas of their very own that isn't overshadowed by the previous actor.

The Annoying:

To me the annoying is when anyone tells people who like a recast, that they aren't fans if since they don't like the recast and also the opposite when anyone tells people who hate a recast how dare you dislike the new person. We all have our favorites and those we like more or less than others on screen. If the story isn't favorable to a character and a newer person is in the part, they may not be given as much leeway when it comes to the behavior.

I used to joke that recasts were the bane of my soap viewing existence. If a soap has to recast too many parts in a short amount of time they may lose alienate their audience. When a recast happens things aren't the same, and depending on the story it can make or break my interest in the character and any on screen romantic pairings. Some of my favorite performers in soaps are recasts, but for every one that works there are some that fail.