Two Faces, One Soul

"Wilson is the new half on WilSon!" read the Soap Opera Digest headline.

With a heavy heart, the fans bid farewell to Chandler Massey, who brought life to Will Horton for nearly four years and single-handedly transitioned the viewers into DAY's gay storyline.

Many fans are sad to see him go, but still support the show and are excited to see Guy Wilson take on the role. Others are swearing to never watch the show again because apparently "there is no WilSon (and no show) without Chandler."

Um...no!

Yes. He was a big asset. But the show must go on. The storyline must go on. And after all, this isn't the first character to switch actors in the middle of a storyline. And this won't be the last.

Characters like Cameron Davis and Taylor Walker lost their actors without notice and had to be replaced immediately. Characters like Gabi Hernandez and Will Horton were switched to accommodate   a different storyline and to take the character in a new direction.  This is where Chandler Massey got his break.

Some actor switches are the result of a character coming back and the show is unable to get the original actor. Abby Deveraux was on in 2006 and came back as someone else in 2011. Philip Kiriakis left in 2002 and returned as a different face in 2003. (And then the reverse happened in 2006 and 2007). Brady Black was one actor in 2004 and then another in 2008.

To see a chart of these recasts view my Tumblr posts Here

And Here

The famous couple, Shelle, was played by four different combinations of actors. Originally, at Salem High it was Kirsten Storms and Jason Cook. Then, Storms left and Charity Ramher stepped in for two seconds. Then, they cast Martha Madison as Belle alongside Cook. These two were the ones who were involved in the infamous year-long paternity secret regarding their daughter Claire. Jason Cook played the man in love with his best friend's wife and secretly wishing Claire was his. Until..the secret came out. He was!

Unfortunately, that's all Cook got to play. He found out he was the father, had a fight with the step-father, Philip (the replacement, Kyle Brandt), and then was recast!

Brandon Beemer was thrown into the middle of a love triangle and a custody battle. And then started the last version of Shelle, Madison and Beemer.

Interestingly, the custody battle included another recast. When Philip reappeared for the hearing in 2007, Jay Kenneth Johnson, the original Philip, returned to the role.

So, the award for most recasts in a storyline goes to...this one!

If Brandon Beemer can transition into a 7-year supercouple role in the middle of a paternity reveal and still carry the story with the support of the fans... then, I think Guy will be fine.

The key to a recast is keeping the character true. If the new actor doesn't have the same motivation in the scenes, or the same demeanor, or the same chemistry with their scene partners, then the recast fails


The transition must be seamless, so much so that it doesn't seem like a different person.

If the fans don't like it, then it tanks. In the world of soaps, this kind of thing happens all the time, and the fans deal with it. We pretend it has been the same person all along. Like nothing has changed.

Within the two actors, the characters themselves stay the same. Although they may have two different faces, they have one soul.

The Magic of SORAS

SORAS- the acronym. What does it mean? Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome.

In the magical world of soaps, the writers cannot wait for characters to grow up to put them in storylines. Children who are born are more exciting if they are of "drama age." Therefore, the solution: make them older.

This is why a character can go from age 4 to age 16 in one year. And why it's weird that people's kids seem to be too old to be born to their parents.

And this is why the current Brady-Kristen match up is SUPER awkward. Let us dive into the magical world of Rapid Aging Syndrome.

Fun Fact: who holds the record for the most SORASed character? Answer: ......E.J. !!!! Elvis was born in 1997 onscreen (as John Jr.) to Kristen and John Black. However, he returns to Salem in 2006 as a grown adult. He should have been 9 years old, but he's SORASed a full 12 years!!!

Coming in second is a tie: Philip Kiriakis, born in 1995 and SORASed from 4 to 15 in 1999, and Brady Black, born 1992 and SORASed from 8 to 19 in 2000.  (both 11 years)

Right behind them in 3rd are Belle Black, born in 1993 being SORASed 9 years in 1999, and Chelsea Brady from age 7 to age 16 in 2006 (also 9 years).

Other notable SORAS characters are Shawn Douglas Brady who went from age 12 to age 15. And Will Horton who went from age 13 to age 15.

Let's focus on Brady and EJ for the moment, because they are both relevant with the Kristen storyline.

EJ, who was born to Susan, is Kristen's former adopted son. Now he's her brother. Is it weird for Kristen to be helping him with his love life and at the same time be thinking, "hey, I used to be your mom,"? Or "I took care of you when you were a baby,"? If Susan comes back, (which I hope she does) that conflict with Kristen will be revisited and will be really awkward because  John Jr./ Elvis is now a grown man.

With Brady, the weirdness comes into play regarding his father and his relationship (or current lack thereof) with Kristen. Miss DiMera was his stepmother when he was 5. Now, she's sleeping with him?!?!?! Kristen was sleeping with John 15 years ago and now she's doing it with his son. If we guess that she was in her 20s then, then she'd be in her 40s/50s now. And Brady is supposed to be 20, but is currently 31. This could only happen with a SORASed character!

So be prepared for when the Brady-Kristen affair becomes publicly known, or just known to John, for it to be extremely awkward and confusing. How could this even happen???

Well, this program is brought to you by the magic of SORAS! SORAS... bringing you rapidly aged Days of Our Lives characters for the past few decades!

A Black who's fallen through the Cracks

Where has Brady been?
He has not been seen on screen in his own independent storyline since the debacle with Ian. And before that, the only stuff he was involved in was the Madison drama and the transfer from Titan to Basic Black.

Has anyone noticed that Brady has not had a stable relationship since his marriage to Chloe? And we all know how that turned out. Drug addiction. Suspected murder. Secret Rehab. Divorce.

And his post-Chloe relationships in the "Eric era" (as opposed to the "Kyle era") have not lasted long enough to count.

There's Ariana Hernandez. She and Brady had a wonderful beginning, but their story ends with  Nicole interloping and a secret under-cover drug deal with the cops. They were engaged and were in the middle of eloping when a storm blew in. (literally and figuratively: a rainstorm and Nicole). Unfortunately, his ex-fiance did not live to see the end of that year.

The reason for Brady's distance with Ari was primarily because of Nicole's dramas with EJ and her miscarriage. Being a good friend, Brady always dropped what he was doing to help Nicole. However, to Ariana this was an obsession with his ex that interfered with their relationship. Actually, Brady corrupted his with Ari and Nicole's with EJ. At this time, he helped Nicole with her rouse about hiding the miscarriage, although he certainly opposed it and reproached her often.

After she was released from prison and she discovered his secret about Vivian in the coffin, they began seeing each other again. However, she dumped him like yesterday's trash once EJ offered her a better deal.

Once this storyline was over, Brady really didn't do anything. For the longest time he was simply a background character occasionally having scenes with Melanie or Maggie.

Then, the war erupted between the Kiriakis's and the DiMeras. Here Brady got some screen time. After this was settled, Brady again fell into the background.

Here comes a change with new writers and new location and old characters. His father returned to Salem and he was brought back. Madison James then entered on his radar. Their relationship (buisiness and personal) was scattered over a long period of time. Their scenes only aired occasionally and as one of the "filler" or less important storylines.
Even the drug using storyline was put on the back burner. Those scenes were not as prominent as others.

After Madison's tragic demise at the explosion, Brady is alone again. And he only appears in scenes as a secondary or supplementary character. For example, alongside Daniel, Jennifer, Maggie, Melanie, Nicole, John. The man needs his own storyline (other than his mourning Madison).

What Brady needs is a real woman. A nice, stable, long-term relationship. Maybe he'll get engaged and actually marry her before she dies for once.

Eric is one of the nicest people in real life. He's also ten times more handsome in person! He combines drama with humor. And his delivery is real. Whenever you watch a scene with Brady, you laugh or at least smile. He deserves a good solid storyline. I'm sure that we all wish that we could see him more often.

Let us all hope that once the current ones end, Brady's new storyline will highlight his entertaining and engaging character.