Will Kassie DePaiva Succeed as Eve Donovan on 'Days of our Lives'?

Kassie DePaiva

Emmy-nominated actress Kasssie DePaiva has been starring in soap operas since she joined the cast of CBS' Guiding Light in 1986 as Chelsea Reardon. She became a daytime superstar in 1991 when she took over the role of Blair Kramer, a character previous portrayed by an Asian actress. She stayed on the show until the end of its ABC run in 2012, continued the character on sister soap General Hospital, and reprised the role in Prospect Park's online reboot of One Life to Live in 2013. On June 18, DePaiva brings her talents to NBC's Days of our Lives in the role of Eve Donovan, a character previously played by Charlotte Ross from 1987-1991. Ross was in talks to play Eve again but the timing did not work out with her schedule so the show needed a strong actress to take the part. On paper, and based on Eve's first run in fictional Salem, the character did not seem like a logical fit for DePaiva. Was this a case of casting a "name" actor over finding just the right person? Or is DePaiva the perfect actress to play who Eve is in 2014? Fans have been discussing this since the casting was announced in January. Daytime soaps have become notorious for miscasting stars from other shows onto new series, despite the fact the character/actor combo did not pass the smell test (Maura West as Diane on The Young and the Restless comes to mind - right actor, wrong part).

Here's what we know about Eve:
Eve was a spitfire, gloriously vicious one moment, and painfully vulnerable the next. During her tenure in Salem, Eve became a teenage prostitute, fell in love with her pimp Nick Corelli (George Jenesky), came between Salem super couple Kim (Patsy Pease) and Shane (Charles Shaughnessy), and caused grief for Jack (Matthew Ashford) and Jennifer (Melissa Reeves). Eve entered into a marriage of convenience with Jack. Although it tortured Jennifer, Charlotte Ross's comic timing as Eve was brilliant opposite the equally talented Ashford. When last seen, Eve left town with Jennifer’s ex-boyfriend, Frankie Brady (Billy Warlock).

It has been 23 years since Eve has been in Salem, and although her half-sister Theresa (Jen Liley) is in town, she doesn't have any history with much of the current cast of characters. She did run down Maggie Horton's (Suzanne Rogers) daughter Sarah with a car once. She also made life with miserable for Jennifer, which is a plus for me as a lifelong viewer. But the question remains, will DePaiva be able to make the role her own? There are a couple of challenges.

At 53, she is 8 years older than her predecessor, and is only 5 years younger than the much missed Charles Shaughnessy. If Shane returns, will it be believable that they are father and daughter? Is Days setting up DePavia for failure by casting her in a role that was more popular because of Ross's portrayal than for the character itself?

Once Eve left Salem, she was rarely mentioned. Without Charlotte Ross returning, is there a point to Eve? Days obviously felt like they had an important story to tell with the character, with or without Ross. Kassie DaPaiva has a legion of fans, and can be feisty, funny and fabulous all at once. I have no doubt she will give it her all, and and make it work as best she can. As a fan, I'm rooting for her and hoping for the best, but the ghosts of miscast soap characters are lingering in my head. Emmy Winner Maura West as Diane Jenkins on The Young and the Restless, creating magic on General Hospital right now as Ava Jerome, is just one example of an amazing actress forced into a role that was wrong for her from the start. But since we know so little about Eve's life in the past two decades, what should our expectations be? How many viewers were watching the character's first time around?

In case you missed it, or to see it again, below are some classic Eve moments from the past: