Meet the Llanview Newbies
Summer in Llanview means rising temperatures, less clothes, and new faces — and we’re not talking of the nipped and tucked variety.
In one long heat wave, ONE LIFE TO LIVE welcomes Tika Sumpter‘s Layla Williamson, Josh Casaubon‘s Hugh Hughes, and Forbes March (ex-Scott, AMC) as Nash.
Of Layla, OLTL costume designer Susan Gammie says, “For me the fun part is having a character who’s a wannabe actress. She’ll be a little bit more of a free spirit than her sister [Evangeline],” she muses. “What I don’t want to do is make Evangeline’s character look stuffy in order to make Layla’s character look free-er. I think Evangeline is a very complex character and I don’t want to oversimplify her look.”
Head writer Dena Higley adds that Layla “will be feisty and spunky” and “instead of it being good sister and bad sister, it’s just sisters who push each others buttons — which is more realistic.”
New assistant district attorney Hugh Hughes has already made his appearance. “Hugh, at this point, we don’t know so much about,” says Gammie. “I mean, we just see him in his professional life. He’s kind of movie star handsome, old-fashioned movie star handsome, 1950s matinee idol handsome.”
And Higley certainly agrees with the description. “The actor that is playing Hugh was [at the Emmys] and I just went, ‘You made such the right call.’ He’s so cute. He’s really adorable,” she raves, adding, “He’s going to be coming on as Nora steps up into Daniel’s job. He’s so multi-faceted. And that’s how he becomes involved with Marcie. Not only is she being championed by a really nice guy, but he’s a really nice guy that looks the way he does. There’s nothing wrong with that!”
What about Mr. One Name, Nash? “He’s coming on with a bang,” promises Higley.
“I think he is great looking also,” says Gammie. “And I think we can dress him [accordingly]. We don’t really know very much about him, other than he’s clearly a striver. He obviously wants to make a lot of money but isn’t there yet, but desperately wants to fit in. And I think he’s trying very hard to look like he fits in.”
It appears that fitting in and getting fitted properly go hand-in-hand in Llanview and according to Higley, “The casting process is tricky but I think we did really well.”
And now it’s up to the viewers to see if this trio of newcomers will be more than just a summer fling.
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