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Guiding Light Discussion Group
Another star is out at GL. Digest has learned that Michelle Ray Smith (Ava) has finished taping her final scenes and is on maternity leave with no plans to return. Smith, who joined the soap in 2005, was set to renegotiate her contract this month. “I’m up to consider staying and seeing how things go,” the actress told Digest in February after announcing her pregnancy, which Executive Producer Ellen Wheeler agreed to write into Ava’s storyline. Smith was due to give birth to her first child on July 8. Her final air date is July 28.
Smith’s departure is yet another casting blow for GL, on the heels of the exits of Ricky Paull Goldin and Beth Ehlers.
What’s next for Ava, who finally gives birth to baby Max with her new hubby, Bill and Remy by her side this week, is still up in the air. Viewers can expect a not-so-surprising plot twist to unfold for Smith’s last week, but a setside source reveals that an upcoming Springfield tragedy is no way related to Ava’s storyline or possible demise.
Other GL stars including Marcy Rylan (Lizzie) and Chappell, whose year long contract expires in September, have also recently been linked to exit rumors.
About time. I find Ava to be the least tolerable character on the show, and that's even considering that I HATE, HATE, HATE both Josh and Cassie.
Actually, as awful as it sounds, I look forward to "uncasting spoilers" these days. For so many years GL had far and away the best cast in daytime, but I find the current ensemble very unimpressive. I love Justin Deas, Marj Dusay, Kim Zimmer, Gina Tognoni, Ron Raines, Beth Chamberlin, and Marcy Rylan. But aside from these seven, there is not another actor on the show that it would bother me in the least to see go.
I saw an interview with the actress who plays Ava, and I liked her.
With Ava and Harley gone, I hope TPTB give Olivia a big story -- CC deserves something good.
This is no loss. Ava has been a worthless character since the beginning and nothing ever changed. She should have been gone years ago.
She's a beautiful girl and I found the changes in her appearance brought about by her pregnancy to be charming and endearing. She got so full faced and softly rounded -- she looked alive and lovely.
I wish her all the best with her new baby.
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Ava, as portrayed by Michelle Ray Smith, should never have surfaced in Springfield anyway. Since her introduction in 2005, I have not witnessed one iota of improvement in Smith’s “acting” skills (note the quotation marks). Her departure from Guiding Light is a good thing, in my opinion.
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Honestly, I'm surprised she lasted this long on the show without being recast. I never thought she had the acting chops it takes to make the character of Ava believeable. I'm hoping for a more capable recast. They should tap the actress that played young Olivia in flashbacks.
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