As the World Turns (Page 18)

As the World Turns fans have finally accepted the news: Scott Bryce has been fired from the show.

An outpouring of support for the actor has followed this announcement, but the man who has portrayed Craig Montgomery for years is taking it like the professional he is.

Bryce recently chatted with TV Guide about the shocking development:

TVGuide.com: Your followers, and they are legion, are having coronaries over this!
Scott Bryce: I have to say an enormous thank you for their love and support. I'd started thinking to myself, "Wow, maybe I stink" but the response from the fans has been so amazing and overwhelming that it's helped soften the blow. It's touching and affirming and it means the world to me.

TVGuide.com: Word is, your peeps at As the World Turns are pretty bummed.
Bryce: The response from the cast and crew has been equally unbelievable. Hugs and kisses and shock and disbelief. This is a real drag because I've never been fired from an acting job before. In fact, the last time I was fired I was flipping burgers at the Big Top Shop in Westport [Connecticut], so this is kind of stunning.

TVGuide.com: You created Craig in 1982, played him off-and-on into the '90s, then came back to the show just last April. It should have been a triumphant return. What went haywire?
Bryce: I've had dozens of relationships with executive producers and this one, with Chris Goutman, was odd and very disconnected. I think we had an inherent disagreement or a different vision of who Craig is. The plots on the show are so much darker than they used to be — dead babies, pornography, methamphetamines — and maybe I didn't fit into that vision.

It's not the As the World Turns I remember from those many years ago. Chris would say to me, "This is your character, run with it." But when I did he never seemed pleased. Craig, as I understood him, has a need for family and love and fulfillment, and at all costs, which is what creates all the mayhem and madness in his life. Yes, he's a villain but he doesn't know that.

Bryce will appears on the series for the final time on February 21. Read his full interview with TV Guide now.

Want a look at a few As the World Turns spoilers? Here you go!

• Emily comes face-to-face with an angry Chris (Dylan Bruce).

• Lucinda (Elizabeth Hubbard, pictured) suffers through the consequence of her actions.

• Carly doesn't listen to Parker's warnings.

• Sofie puts baby Hallie in danger.

• Lily learns the truth.

Here's a look at one major As the World Turns story line for sweeps period...

The "Who Killed Dusty?" whodunit takes a weird twist when the killer decides to get revenge against the prime suspect, Lily, and her estranged hubby, Holden, who has taken the blame for the murder.

But chaos is good for a broken marriage: before sweeps is over, the couple share a kiss!

On As the World Turns next week, Emily struggles and Brad takes advantage of his injury. Read more spoilers now...

• Emily (Kelley Menighan Hensley, pictured) struggles to put Dusty out of her mind.

• The Hughes' celebrate when Bob opens his eyes.

• Carly questions Sam's odd behavior.

• Barbara prepares to reveal her secret to Gwen and Will.

• Brad (Austin Peck) uses his injury to get close to Katie.

Casey Hughes returns to As the World Turns on Tuesday.

This time, of course, the character will be portrayed by actor Billy Magnussen. He's an alumnus from the N.C. School of the Arts and was recently featured in the Winston-Salem Journal.

Magnussen is the sixth actor to play Casey since the character was born in 1991.

“This is a character that just got released from jail, who’s had gambling troubles and who’s stolen money,” he told the newspaper. “There’s scandal and intrigue happening. It’s a fun plot line to play.”

Magnussen, 22, got into acting when he was a high-school student in Cumming, Ga. “I was a big jock,” he said. “In wrestling I tore a hamstring and couldn’t take gym classes. So I took an acting class, and I fell in love with it.”

Read the full article now.

We could tell you what happens this Friday on As the World Turns... but if a picture if worth a thousands words, you're better off seeing for yourself:

Before Scott Bryce leaves As the World Turns - the actor has, sadly, been let go from the series - he sat down with Soap Opera Digest to discuss the transformation of his character.

Specifically, the fallout from Craig's recent misdeeds.

"It was tough to play, because I had to play the ambivalence of him and not the monstrosity," said Bryce, noting the awful twist of Craig slipping Meg a miscarriage drug. "What was driving him insane was not so much that she was pregnant by somebody else — which would drive any man insane — but that it was Paul, his arch-enemy."

Not that anything excuses what Craig did.

"When I first heard about it and I didn't know that he knocked the glass out of Meg's hand, I was thinking, ‘This is irredeemable,'" said Bryce. "If he had actually gone through with it... forget it. There is never any coming back from that."

Overall, Bryce noted: "Craig doesn't know he's a bad guy, so he gets obsessive-compulsive and it's like a freight train. It's very hard to stop before there's huge damages."

Will you miss Bryce on the show? Visit our FORUM now and let us know!

As Days of Our Lives fans deal with the firing of two popular actors from that show, As the World Turns followers have this news to digest:

An insider has told soapcentral.com that Jennifer Landon (Gwen Norbeck) and Jesse Soffer (pictured, Will Munson) will exit As the World Turns sometime before spring.

Soffer joined the show in September 2004, portraying play the downtrodden Will Munson. He's the fourth actor to play the part, but the first to take on the character as a teenager and young adult.

Meanwhile, when Landon first appeared on As the World Turns in March 2005, her work as Gwen was originally expected to be a one-shot deal. But fans took to the character quickly and show executives liked Landon so much that the actress was given a long-term contract.

Scott Bryce has also recently been let go from the show.

Tala Ashe has been cast as Ameera on As the World Turns. She'll be involved in Luke and Noah's storyline.

We don't know much else about the part of Ameera, but the casting notice for the character asked for a "18–20-year old Middle Eastern female. Ameera is visiting from Iraq, and this young, bright girl very much wants to make a new life in Oakdale. No accent needed."

Ashe is a relative unknown, but will be appearing in the 2008 movie Waiting in Beijing.

Let's take a look at next week's As the World Turns episodes. Here are few spoilers for the upcoming few days...

• Holden (Jon Hensley, pictured) goes to every length to protect Lily.

• Emily and Chris (Dylan Bruce) strike a deal.

• Rosanna makes a last attempt to hold onto Paul.

• Margo makes an arrest in Dusty's murder.