As the World Turns' Terri Colombino Moves to Llanview

Fan fave and Emmy nominee Terri Colombino is headed to One Life to Live after 12 years as the eternally adorable Katie on As the World Turns. She's been cast as Aubrey Wentworth, the secret sweetheart of Joey Buchanan (Tom Degnan) and will first be seen November 29 while flying to Llanview to meet the parents. The timing of Aubrey's arrival couldn't be worse for lovelorn Kelly Cramer (Gina Tognoni), who is suddenly intent on going after Joey but has no idea he's already taken. TV Guide Magazine spoke with Colombino about her cool new gig and what's sure to be a very hot triangle!
TV Guide Magazine: Congrats on landing a job on the last New York soap standing. No relocation necessary!
Colombino: I know! You ask and you shall receive.
TV Guide Magazine: It's that simple, is it?
Colombino: If it's in God's plans, it is that simple. 
TV Guide Magazine: Yeah, right. Tell that to all the starving actors out there!   
Colombino: Yeah, I know... I'm so grateful and really excited and still kind of in shock about going to OLTL. When I started on ATWT,we still had Another World and Guiding Light and All My Children in New York. There were all these great soap parties and events and so many actors in the soap community. Now it's all changed. I feel very blessed to get a place on the one soap left.
TV Guide Magazine: Did you consider saying no and holding out for primetime? 
Colombino: My agents wanted me out in L.A. but I didn't want to move there until I got something. I like the daytime lifestyle and the schedule. I'm going to holistic nutrition school on the side, learning dietary theory and all about the politics of the food industry and how we market bad food to children, which is really upsetting. Someday I'd like to make a career of it. I like the life I have in New York. I wanted to stay here.
TV Guide Magazine: So tell us about Aubrey. 
Colombino: I love the name! It sounds so mature. I'm excited to play someone other than Katie, not that I didn't love her but I did play her for 12 years. It's time to spread my wings and try a different kind of character. Katie was so perky and I could never get away from that. Even toward the end they'd be going, "Could you make her a little bit more...you know...Katie!" They never really let me grow up.
TV Guide Magazine: Joey tells his family that he has a surprise for them, which turns out to be Aubrey. How serious is this romance?|
Colombino: I assume it's pretty serious, since he's bringing her to town to meet the relatives. I love that I'm getting thrown right into another amazing soap opera mega-family. I've gone from the Hughes to the Buchanans! 
TV Guide Magazine: Will Aubrey and Kelly become arch-enemies? Say yes. 
Colombino: Oooh, I hope so! I love triangles, and I love Gina! I did my very first scenes with her. Kelly and Aubrey meet on the plane and start chatting it up, girlfriend-style. Kelly says there's this guy in her life she's finally realized is her true love and she's going to tell him. And Aubrey talks about her man and how she's going to Llanview to see him. Neither ever mentions the name Joey — but of course they're both talking about the same guy!
TV Guide Magazine: Was this in the works for a while?
Colombino: Just a couple of weeks. They called my agent and asked me to test. At first things weren't working out. My agent was, like, "Why didn't they just offer it to you? Why are you auditioning with 10 other girls who've never done anything before?" Nothing against them, but I did put in some solid years at ATWT, not for nothing. But everything's changed in the business. You can't go by the way things used to be, so we worked it out and I tested with Erika Slezak [Viki] and David Fumero [Cristian] and they both went totally out of their way. I really appreciated their kindness.
TV Guide Magazine: So, then, this test wasn't about you having chemistry with the new Joey? It was just to see if you could act? Wasn't your nose outta joint? 
Colombino: No. I didn't really see it that way and I didn't mind. I was, like, "Whatever you need, I'll prove I'm it!" I think Aubrey is going to be very different from Katie and they didn't know me at ABC — they needed to see what I could do. I don't have a problem with it.
TV Guide Magazine: Before we sign off, let's discuss the outrage over the death of Reid [Eric Sheffer Stevens] on ATWT. A lot of fans were furious that he had to die in order to save Katie's boyfriend Chris [Daniel Cosgrove]. It's like they'd rather have had your man dead. Care to comment?
Colombino: I had no idea about the controversy until after the show was off the air. I didn't know people were upset but I can certainly understand it. They loved Reid and latched right onto him, and Eric is an amazing actor. I think they're making it a sexual orientation issue — why does the gay guy have to be the only one who is not happy at the end? — but I don't believe it was that at all. Chris's heart condition and Reid's death provided a huge and important story for the whole Hughes family. Look at the work Kathryn Hays [Kim] did — she's going to win an Emmy! It's understandable that people want everything tied up with a nice little bow. Everybody wants everybody happy, and Luke and Reid had developed such a great relationship. They were just starting out in life. I understand the disappointment, but I was surprised at the depth of it.
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