User:Livelikemusic/Lily Walsh Snyder

Lily Walsh Snyder (formerly Mason, Grimaldi and Santana) is a fictional character on the CBS daytime soap opera As the World Turns. Originated in 1984 with actress Lucy Deakins, the role is most widely recognized with actress Martha Byrne, who portrayed the role for 21 years from 1985–89, and then again from 1993 until her highly-profiled exit in 2008. Two other actresses portrayed the role of Lily following both of Byrne's departures from the series; Heather Rattray from 1989 to 1993, and Noelle Beck from 2008 until the series finale on September 17, 2010.

Under Byrne's portrayal, the character and actress were labelled as a "superstar" of soap history and was one of the most-recognized faces in the medium. Byrne's portrayal of Lily opposite Jon Hensley (Holden Snyder) helped launch the couple in supercouple status under the pseudo, Lilden.

Casting and creation
The role of Lily Walsh was originated by a then-teenage actress Lucy Deakins, who debuted in the role in July 1984. As the daughter of an acting coach, Deakins also entered the field and was cast on the show following her appearance in the play So What Are We Going To Do Now? as part of the Circle Repertory Company. Ten months later, Deakins exited the role and the role was recast with actress Martha Byrne, who originally auditioned with Deakins to originate the role and made her debut in May 1985. Byrne remained with the series until her decision to depart in October 1989. On her exit, Byrne told Soap Opera Digest, "I've gone as far as I can go with Lily [...] The character needs a break, and so do I." Following Byrne's departure, the role was recast with actress Heather Rattray. Upon Rattray's debut in December of the same year, the character was described as "cold" and "cynical", however it was her portrayal that lead to the first marriage between Lily and Holden Snyder. Rattray admitted she got the role by chance, deciding to move to New York City instead of Los Angeles after graduating with honors from Skidmore College.

In 1993, four years after debuting in the role, Rattray was dismissed from the series. Rattray's co-star and on-screen love interest Jon Hensley (Holden) remarked, "We didn't have that underlying chemistry that you need to make it work day in and day out" as the reason for her dismissal. Then-head writer Douglas Marland lured Byrne back to the series to reprise the role. Marland called Byrne's return a "gift" to the fans, a remark he made to the press before he passed away. Several cast members expressed their happiness to have Byrne returning to the series and the role she once called her own. Her co-star Hensley remarked, "It's nice to have Martha back. [...] If they had recast the role after Heather Rattray left, I would much rather have Martha back than anyone else, it's just too difficult otherwise." He also called Rattray's arrival in the role as a "good experience, but a hard adjustment to make." Byrne back her on-screen return on April 24, 1993. Byrne remarked that part of her return was the play opposite Hensley, remarking it "what I'm all about."

In 2000, Byrne took on another role with the series, the role of Lily's then-unknown twin sister Rose D'Angelo. In 2003, the series made the decision to kill off Rose. Byrne continued making guest appearances as the character until her departure in 2008.

Byrne's departure
In February 2008, after nearly twenty years of portraying Lily Walsh Snyder, Martha Byrne announced her decision to depart the series following an impasse during contract negotiations between herself, the series and executive producer Christopher Goutman. In a statement, Goutman remarked, "We made Martha an incredibly generous offer in hopes of that she would remain a valuable member of the ATWT cast. [...] Unfortunately, Martha has decided to leave despite our best efforts to keep her." While some sources claimed the shows offer was more than generous, some debated that Byrne wished for more concessions from the series in order for her to sign a new contract.

Weeks later in March, Byrne opened up about her decision to depart the series on her official website. While she rebutted claims that she wanted more storyline control, remarking "no one gets that", Byrne did confess that her breaking point was about the number of episodes she'd been offered for the subsequent working year. She admitted that when she was given a new, a casting call was put out the same day to recast her character. Byrne also refuted claims that her decision to decline a contract was over money.

In an interview with TV Guide, Byrne explained that her final days on the show were emotional, stating: "Thank you. That means a lot. I've spent 21 years of my life at ATWT and have loved every minute of it, and that's what's so hard about this. On my last day on the set I cried like a baby. Ellen Dolan [Margo] brought in the bagpipe guys from the NYPD to play when my last scene was done. The cast, the crew, everybody was so incredible. That show was my life! I met my husband [retired NYC police officer Michael McMahon] and had my three children while doing ATWT. I had my very first kiss in my life on that show, with Brian Bloom [the original Dusty]. I had my first crush ever on Jon Hensley [Holden], and I probably now still have a crush on him!" Byrne explained her decision on opening up, saying: "I have never commented on contract negotiations with 'As the World Turns' throughout my 23-year association with the show. [...] It was always a private and personal business matter. I decided to comment now to clarify the statement the show chose to release about my departure."

Byrne made her final on-screen appearance as Lily on April 22, 2008. Following Byrne's departure, it was announced that former Loving actress Noelle Beck had been hired to take over the role of Lily, beating several actresses including Dedee Pfeiffer (sister to actress Michelle Pfeiffer), Susan Haskell (Marty Saybrooke, OLTL) and Tracy Melchior (Kristen Forrester, B&B). Beck made her on-screen debut on May 8, 2008. Beck opened up to Michael Fairman of On Air, On Soaps about replacing Byrne, saying, "When I met with Chris Goutman about taking over for Martha, it did not dawn on me that I was going to have this tough task. I thought, 'Oh, she does not want to stay. And, you are finding somebody new?' Well, I did not realize it wasn’t as kosher as everybody made it out to be."

In April 2009, Beck was taken off contract and was dropped to recurring status. The change sparked interest in Byrne possibly reprising the role. However, a show spokesperson confirmed that Beck would remain in the role until the series finale. In December 2009, following the cancellation announcement of World Turns, soap columnist Carolyn Hinsey remarked that losing Byrne in the role of Lily, which she remarked as "particularly damaging" also contributed to a decline in ratings. She remarked, "You lose the heart of the show and people walk."

In September 2010, Beck revealed she offered to step aside so that Byrne could return to the role prior to the series finale. She remarked, "" Byrne admitted in an interview with journalist Nelson Branco (then of TV Guide Canada) that she was aware of Beck's offer, calling it "a very unselfish act on her part." Following her World Turns departure in 2008, Byrne landed a part in the Broadway musical. She also had a three-episode stint on The Bold and the Beautiful as a script writer after sending in sample pieces to head writer Bradley Bell. Byrne stepped back into the soap world when she was cast on ABC's General Hospital as the ruthless mayor's wife, Andrea Floyd. In 2013, Byrne announced she was cast in the NBC primetime series, Crisis. Beck continued making several guest appearances on several primetime dramas, including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2011, and The Carrie Diaries in 2013.

In March 2020, Byrne opened up to Soap Opera Digest about her exit. She revealed, "I knew I couldn't stay. I couldn't stay there anymore and that was painful to come to that realization that I can’t come back here anymore. And yes, does it come down to a contract? But that's how it started; it didn't end that way…. I look at it now as like 99 percent of my time there was perfection and the one percent, the end sucked. And I have to focus on the 99 percent because what I’ve decided in my life [is] that if you focus on the things that person did that were the positives as opposed to what that negative was, you'll feel better…. And I've kind of gotten to that kind of peace about that a long time ago."

Development
During Byrne's early portrayals of the character, she was described as a "sweet girl" who simply went by picking the wrong men. When Rattray took claim over the role, she described Lily as "closed off" and "real hard", saying she felt the writers were trying to make a difference between the old (Byrne) and the new (Rattray). She also felt that following her arrival, she felt that Lily was "softening up a bit". Rattray went on to confess she was happy the plan to fully develop Lily as a younger version of her on-screen mother, Lucinda Walsh was dropped. She remarked, "When I first joined they wanted Lily to be a little Lucinda -- cunning, deceitful, vengeful. I'm glad that idea was dropped. I think Lily has survived a lot."

Reception
Following Byrne's dismissal, Michael Fairman of On Air, On Soaps listed her dismissal as the Worst Decision Made By an Executive Producer of a Soap as part of his Best and Worst list for 2008.