In the wake of overcoming his son Duke's untimely death and the infidelity of his wife Kelly who is now carrying the baby of his dead son, it seems that focus groups have turned a deaf ear on the character of Kevin Buchanan, played by Dan Gauthier. The network places so much faith in the results of the focus group research, that they have given Gauthier his walking papers.
Soapdom has learned that Gauthier, who has played the often conniving, manipulative, substance abuser Kevin Buchanan since 2003, was taken by surprise by the firing when he learned of it on Wednesday, August 23. According to our sources, he was told that the character of Kevin would air until November, and the network has no plans to recast. Sounds like they plan on killing Kevin off during November sweeps. It also would seem that they wrote the character into a deep hole and see no way to get him out of it.
Gauthier's cast mates are beginning to weigh in on their co-worker's dismissal. "Dan is an amazing actor and friend. I feel, and I know that many others feel the same way that he is one of the best actors on One Life to Live," posts Kristen Alderson (Star, OLTL) on her message board. "They are making a huge mistake if they don't change their mind. I hope that all the e-mails, letters, and calls will make them rethink their decision. I'm sure that all of my other co-stars including myself, will be very upset to see him go."
"So very rarely re-cast really works and OLTL was so lucky to have found Dan," posts Kassie dePaiva (Blair) on her official boards. "I feel he is one of the most outstanding actors on our show and I find it hard to believe that these focus groups do not like the character of Kevin Buchanan. He is dysfunctional, self destructive, powerful, and strong. Dan was able to pull all of that off beautifully. And this year he was able to do some his best work. I'm so saddened by this and the canvas of One Life has just lost a huge splash of color."
Trevor St. John (Todd) is also saddened by the news and is getting behind a fan campaign to contact the networks and producers on Gauthier's behalf.
After the initial shock, however, Gauthier is taking the situation in stride and looking forward to expanding his horizons. When a poster on his message board suggested that he consider doing a comedy, he replied that he'd "love to do a comedy."
Members of the Dan Gauthier fan club are mounting a campaign and a "quiet and peaceful" rally at ABC Studios in NYC. They are reaching out to other OLTL fans to join in the movement to keep Gauthier on the show. Visit Gauthier Online for more info.
ABC was unavailable for comment at press time.
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