Thursday, April 30, 2009

Byrne Gets Political on General Hospital


As the World Turns fans might want to tune in to General Hospital this summer. One of the soap's most popular actresses, Martha Byrne (ex-Lily/ex-Rose), has just been hired by GH for the recurring role of Andrea Floyd, the first lady of Port Charles. Andrea's husband, Mayor Garrett Floyd, is played by John Bolger (who had a run as Phillip Spaulding on Guiding Light after Grant Aleksander exited the role the first time).

ATWT recast beloved heroine Lily Walsh with Noelle Beck when contract negotiations fell through with Byrne. Byrne had wanted a guarantee to appear in the same number of episodes as her previous year on ATWT. Not too much to ask for, but apparently the show didn't feel the same way. Recently, Byrne started a trial run as a scriptwriter for The Bold and the Beautiful, a job that allows her to stay on the East Coast with her family. The GH role is recurring, so she will have a bicoastal commute for now.

As a longtime Byrne fan, I can't wait to see if Andrea is more like Lily or like Rose--Lily's spitfire, big-haired New Jersey twin. Let's hope it's a little of both.

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