User:Livelikemusic/Cassie Layne Winslow

Princess Cassandra Elizabeth "Cassie" Layne Winslow  (née Rae, formerly Lewis, born Danni Shayne) is a fictional character on the popular CBS Daytime soap opera, Guiding Light. When she first appeared on the show, she was an exotic dancer who went by the name "Shady Lane." The character is the daughter of the late Sarah O'Neill Shayne whom she gave up for adoption as a baby and half-sister of series vixen, Reva Shayne. Originated by actress Laura Wright, she was last portrayed by actress Nicole Forester from 2005 to the character's exit in 2008.

Casting and creation
The role of Cassie was originated by actress Laura Wright, who was known for her role as Ally Prescott on the ABC Daytime soap opera's Loving and The City. The actress premiered in the role on August 1, 1997. Actress Laura Stepp briefly stepped into the role for three days on January 8, 9 and 10 in 2001 while Wright was on maternity leave.

In September 2005, it was announced that Wright had decided not to renew her contract with the soap, calling it something she needed to do. She wrote on her official website (now defunct):

""This was such a hard decision. I can't believe that I'm saying goodbye to my Guiding Light family. It has been 8 great years, but this is something I need to do. I didn't leave because of pay cuts. I didn't leave because of any kind of drama. I left [...] because I want to try another part as an actor."

Days later, it was announced that Wright would join the ABC soap General Hospital as the fourth actress to portray character, Carly Corinthos. Guiding Light announced their decision to recast Cassie, following Wright's exit in the role.

On September 29, 2005, it was announced the newcomer Nicole Forester would replace Wright in her role as Cassie. It was said that soap actresses Cynthia Preston (ex-Faith Rosco, General Hospital) and Jensen Buchanan (ex-Marley/Vanessa, Another World) were also considered for the recast of Cassie, with Forester beating both actresses out for the role. Forester previous has guest-starring roles on such series like Monk and Two and a Half Men.

Wright's last airdate as Cassie was November 3, 2008 with Forester premiering in the role the following day on November 4, 2005. In September 2008, it was announced that Forester decided to vacate the role of Cassie in favor of starting a family with her then soon-to-be husband. Forester released a statement, saying:

Yes, it's true! I am getting married in October, and I am expecting a baby in February! I am so happy and excited about embarking on these two most wonderful adventures, and I'm so grateful to have some extra time now to embrace them fully. Working at Guiding Light, with everyone in the cast, crew, and production sides, has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. I couldn't ask for a better work family. And to the fans: A huge THANK YOU for cheering me on and embracing me as your Cassie! I wish you all the warmth and joy that you have shared with me over these past three years!

Forester's last date as Cassie aired on November 4, 2008, exactly three years after stepping into the role.

Backstory
Cassie Layne, given up by her mother at birth, grew up in Chicago with her adoptive-parents, the Raes. When she was 18, Cassie married her high school sweetheart Rob Layne and gave birth to a daughter, Tammy. Must like her childhood, Tammy was put in foster care when Social Services felt as if Cassie was an unfit mother due to Robert's involvement in drug use. Forced with insufficient funds for a lawyer, she became a stripper under the name "Danni Shayne" to make enough money to regain custody of her daughter.

1997–2008
Cassie came to Springfield, Illinois under the alias of "Shady Lane" and was discovered at Teasers by a woman named Annie Dutton and a man named Alan Spaulding. Alan paid a man to harass Cassie and then to play the hero by "rescuing her." As payback for his help, Cassie agreed to act as a corporate spy for Spaulding at its rival company, Lewis Oil. Promised that she'd earn enough money to be able to fight for custody of her daughter, Alan arranged for her to gain employment at Lewis Oil, where she would gather information about the company's finances and report back to Alan. Cassie's plan was to seduce Billy Lewis and Joshua Lewis, brothers, to pit brother against brother. However, Alan's plan backfired when Carrie started to feel guilty for betraying the Lewis'. Cassie then meets and falls for Hart Jessup, who was currently engaged to Dinah Marler, who ended up destroying Cassie's exit plan to a social worker, forcing her to continue to play against the Lewis brothers.

Cassie gave birth to a stillborn child before adopting Will with Richard. She would then discover that she was still fertile when Edmund and herself suffered a surprise miscarriage in 2004. In early 2005, Cassie and Edmund decided to try to conceive via IVF but when she found out about Edmund's involvement in the Jessup barnfire that would have taken R.J.'s life had he not been rescued (by Dinah Marler, ironically), she separated from Edmund and found solace in her friendship with Jeffrey O'Neill. Desperate for a child with Cassie, Edmund took up on Dinah's offer to be a surrogate mother for Edmund. When Cassie found out about Edmund's deception, she kicked him out of the house and took in her archrival instead. She would later break up with Edmund officially when she saw him holding a shovel over Dinah's head when the latter faked an abduction (with help from Jonathan Randall).

In June 2005, Dinah revealed to Jonathan that she'd miscarried Edmund and Cassie's child weeks ago when he found an apparatus in her room that she had been using to simulate pregnancy. Cassie had no idea that Dinah was no longer with child, though the latter had revealed this to Edmund, who convinced her to continue the charade. In a stunning plot twist, Edmund hatched a plan to dupe both Cassie and Michelle Bauer by stealing Michelle Bauer's baby, passing it off to Cassie as their baby, and telling Cassie that Dinah, whom he had locked up, had run off after giving birth.

After the death of her daughter Tammy in 2007 and her marriage and then divorce from Josh, resulting from her brief and disastrous affair with Cyrus Foley and her adopted troubled son Will being sent away to reform school, Cassie moved to Hawaii with her son RJ to start a new life near the end of 2008.

References and notes

 * 1. The marriage between Cassie and Richard was consistent from 2000 until his death in 2002. However, the pair married twice in 2000.