Monday, March 8, 2010

The Recast That Didn't Work

Well one of them anyway. Popular Kate Collins (left) left the show as Natalie Dillon in 1992 and was recast with Melody Anderson (right). During Melody's time on AMC, Natalie was struck blind during an arson fire set by a vengeful Carter Jones. But when Christmas rolled around, the Dillon tradition of making a wish on the Angel at the top of the tree brought about Natalie's vision. It soon became very clear that the recast wasn't going to be working out in the long run. Natalie's fate was set when, after learning her accountant Laurel Banning, was embezzling money from her organization the Mason Foundation. She went to Adam for help and on their way to confront Laurel, they were in a car accident. Natalie's injuries were too severe so Trevor made the difficult decision to have her taken off life support. Melody Anderson last aired as Natalie in 1993. Kate Collins did return, beginning in 1997 and continuing on through the years as first Natalie's ghost and then Natalie's sister, Janet Green. Kate played the dual role of Natalie and Janet for awhile during her run, then Janet was recast with Robin Mattson (IMO, one of the recasts that worked very well!). For more information on the history of Natalie or any other AMC character, check out the PVB Quick Guide.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

One of the best recast in the history of the show, IMHO, is Jill Larson's Opal. I loved Dorothy Lyman, but JL has truly made the part hers.

David said...

Kathy,

Thank you SO MUCH for the pictures. That picture of Kate Collins is one of my favorites of her, and that's a great picture of Melody Anderson as well! I am an AMC FANATIC and this is by far the best AMC site I have found, and the only one I visit for all the latest news. I wish they would bring back Kate Collins OR Robin Mattson as Janet. She'd certainly protect Amanda from David! From what I understand, Robin Mattson and Vincent Irrizary were a couple on Santa Barbara, so it'd be cool if she came back and Janet would start dating David as a way of keeping him from Amanda.

Kathy said...

@Kenneth, I agree. Jill is amazing!

@david, you're welcome! Thank you so much for the kind words :) Glad you enjoy the PVB. We work really hard to bring in the latest news, but also keep true to the roots and honor the shows history.

I adored Robin Mattson as Janet. She was so amazingly wonderful. And truth be told, when AMC decided to bring back Kate Collins as Janet a few years ago, I was actually a little disappointed. Until I saw Kate work and then I remembered how great she was too! I would love to have either of them back too!

Anonymous said...

Melody did good when she confronted her kidnapper Carter Jones, "I've been to hell and back, since Janet put me in the well!"

But when she was not blinda anymore, it was 'who is that?'