As the world turns gay actors
Fourteen Years After the Controversial Gay Kissing Ban Ended, Remember the Disastrous Way a Classic Soap Got Itself a Whole Mess of Negative Publicity
Once upon a time, in a world far, far away, two young men named Luke and Noah met and fell madly in love. They became one of As the Planet Turns’ most popular couples — and the first gay supercouple in daytime. On top of that, their first kiss was the first time anyone had seen two men lock lips on a soap. It wasn’t the first same-sex kiss in daytime — that honor went to All My Children’s Bianca and Lena — but still, it was a huge milestone.
And yet we aren’t here remembering Nuke’s first smooch, or even their second. No, it was their third kiss on April 23, 2008, that made waves not just in the soap world but in practically the whole world.
When Luke Snyder came out in 2005, it didn’t take long for both the town of Oakdale and viewers themselves to fall in cherish with him. But as viewers came to adore him, they began asking for him to detect a romantic interest of his own.
“Why, sure,” CBS and Procter & Gamble thought, “that would be just dandy. Let&rs
INTERVIEW: Catching up with Christopher Tavani, As the Planet Turns' Luke Snyder
Fans watched actor Christopher Tavani develop up on As the World Turns as the young version of Luke Snyder, but he tells Soap Central that the real growing up came after he left the CBS soap opera.
As the World Turns' Luke Snyder became one of daytime's most iconic characters, rising to national attention as half of the male-male Luke and Noah pairing -- one of the first gay couples in the genre. But lengthy before Luke came out, he was a youth who suffered some harsh soap opera drama, appreciate being kidnapped by his biological father, Damian (Paolo Seganti); being wrongly pronounced dead after an explosion; and being held captive in Malta by his greedy uncle, Dante (Luca Calvani). During this period, the character was played by Christopher Tavani, who was part of the ATWT family from 2001 to 2005.
In a amusement trip down memory alley, Soap Central caught up with Tavani to receive his memories of playing the younger version of Luke, what it was like to work with big Oakdale stars appreciate Michael Park (ex-Jack Snyder), why he temporarily left the acting world after departing his ATWT role, and what he's up to today.
S Van Hansis, who portrayed As the World Turns’ Luke Snyder from 2005-10, will form his daytime send back on October 4 as General Hospital’s Lucas Jones, a role most recently played by Ryan Carnes. “I guess I have a type, huh?” Hansis muses of the similarity in names. “There are times when I want to call myself Luke, but then I know that there’s Luke [Anthony Geary] and Laura [Genie Francis], and Luke is one of the biggest soap characters in the world. So, I know I’m not that Luke, but there are weird little similarities between Luke Snyder and Lucas. When I got the part, I was looking up who the character was and they both hold the same dad stuff going on with their birth father being caring of a dirtbag because Luke had Damian [Paolo Seganti] and Lucas has Julian [William deVry] and then adopted fathers, so there are parallels.” Though he hadn’t been on a soap put for 14 years, Hansis reports he quickly got support into the swing of things. “It’s a little bit like riding a bicycle,” he notes. “Once you acquire in it, you’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, I know how to do this, and I k By Greg Hernandez on Apr 27, 2013 9:58 am | Comments (6) | Before we had Will and Sonny on Days of Our Lives or Oliver and Kyle on One Life to Live, we had Luke and Noah on As the Earth Turns – the first gay supercouple in daytime soaps. Jake Silbermann was Noah and he’s written a column for Huffington Upload reflecting on the experience. Here is an excerpt: When I was 23 I was cast in the daytime drama As The Earth Turns to be part of the Soap world’s first gay male couple. I was thrilled to get the part even though it was originally slated for only three months. On the other hand, if “Noah Mayer” connected with the audience, if there was a spark of chemistry between him and his hopeful amour “Luke Snyder” (wonderfully portrayed by Van Hansis), a series regular, maybe I would get to stick around awhile. Lo and behold, that three-month slate turned into a three year run and I became half of the first gay daytime “Super Couple,” even gracing a footnote in Hour magazine. As fan mail started pouring in I began to realize that for many people, these characters and their budding partnership provi Van Hansis, born Evan Vanfossen Hansis, has appear out gay.
‘As the World Turns’ Alum Van Hansis Joins ‘General Hospital’ as the Novel Lucas Jones
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Van Hansis – who played lgbtq+ on 'As The World Turns' – comes out homosexual
The 32-year-old actor is optimal known for playing Luke Snyder on the long-running CBS soap opera As The World Turns. Soon after Hansis took over the role in 2005, his character came out gay. Hansis played the role until the finish of the show's run in 2010.
Hansis, one of the best known actors on the queer web series EastSiders, discussed his sexual orientation for the first time publicly in an interview with EastSiders maker Kit Williamson for Southern California same-sex attracted glossy The Fight.
"You were out in your personal existence, but you didn't speak out about your sexual orientation at the commence of your career. What was your hesitation?" Williamson asked.
"I guess it was a combination of a lot of things – it was my first job, it was a different moment back then in regards to LGBT stories being told – I indicate, the Luke story was groundbreaking at the time," Hansis answered. "Now, I think every remaining soap has a gay storyline. I was completely emerald , fresh out of college, and honestly, I was scared."
Hansis added that he's been out in