Thursday, July 23, 2009 10:37 PM ET | By Scotty Gore
(SoapOperaNetwork.com) — With “One Life to Live’s” much anticipated gay storyline about to take flight, the soap casts the parents of one of the characters involved, but with a suprising twist.
Soap Opera Digest broke the news earlier this evening that “OLTL” has cast the recurring roles of Barbara and George, the mother and father of Officer Oliver Fish (Scott Evans), who shares a past relationship with Kyle Lewis (Brett Claywell).
While George Fish will be potrayed by actor J. Tucker Smith (“Law & Order,” “Third Watch,” “Cupid”), “One Life to Live” decided to look a little closer to home when casting Fish’s mother Barbara. Despite releasing an audition script more than a month ago for the role, and auditioning several actresses, “OLTL” Executive Producer Frank Valentini ultimately chose to give the role to Scott Evans’ own mother, Lisa Evans.
The younger Evans reveals to SOD that, “She came to the set a couple of weeks ago, and I wanted to show her around and she met Frank. My mother is very personable and I’d mentioned to Frank that she was a dancer growing up and we’ve done plays together. When I was a little kid I’d say, ‘Mom, come do this play with me,’ and she’d say, ‘Ok.’ It was easier for her, instead of just driving me to rehearsal, she could be in the show.”
“She runs a children’s theater, and Frank was like, ‘Would she want to do it?’ She didn’t audition or anything. He put his trust in me, I guess. It’s incredible! I get to work with my mother. We have some really fun scenes coming up where it’s just us two talking and it’s really just us two talking. When I say, ‘Mom’ it’s definitely not acting, it’s absolutely real,” Evans goes on to say.
Perhaps now “OLTL” will hire Scott Evans actor brother Chris Evans as Oliver Fish’s brother to make it a true family affair.Â
Look for Lisa Evans and J. Tucker Smith to first air as Barbara and George Fish on Wednesday, September 16th.
“One Life to Live” airs Weekdays on ABC. Weeknights on SOAPnet. Check local listings.
Discussion: ‘One Life’ Casts Mama and Papa ‘Fish’