Passions - NEWS ROOM

Since we took a look at the original Charity last week, this time we'll follow the actresses who have played both her and her numerous doubles over the years. Perhaps more than any other character, Charity has had the habit of reappearing in false or evil variations of herself. After Zombie Charity, a succubus created by Kay which wreaked havoc on the town, there was also the Charity disguise which Kay used to deceive and seduce Miguel, a common trick with women on Passions. When the character returned to the series after several years of absence, another deception was at work. In late 2006, Fox decided he would bring her back to Harmony in a bid to halt the impending reunion of Kay and Miguel. Although this certainly disrupted things, the real Charity decided to leave rather than ruin anything and this left Fox forced to hire an actress to impersonate her. After setting up Miguel to kiss her, and setting up a sex scene between fake Charity and a fake Miguel which Kay witnessed, the ruse seemed to be working perfectly. It was later revealed, thanks to Jessica and others, what had really been going on.

The role of Charity was taken over by Kristina Sisco Romero in November of 2006. The actress was already a soap vet after spending several years on As the World Turns where she earned two Daytime Emmy nominations. She appeared both as the actual Charity and as the false Charity whenever the actress donned her mask. Although a successful actress, appearing in films such as the Sands of Oblivion and The Flock, Kristina has spent most of her time and energy building a career as an author. The former Miss Teen Maryland and one time singer finished her Masters in Professional Writing at the University of Southern California this year. Since graduation, she has written award winning plays and is currently working on a historical novel for young readers. Entitled Calling Extra, the novel follows a young girl in turn of the century New York as she struggles to look after herself while her father is being held on murder charges. You can read more about it on its official website.

Then there was the down-on-her luck actress who worked so hard to play Charity, donning the face and personality of another person, but never quite registering with anyone; she was, perhaps, a metaphor for what all soap replacement actors go through. She was portrayed by Tess Alexandra Parker, who had already cut her soap acting teeth when she appeared on Days of Our Lives. After leaving the world of Harmony behind, the actress wound up appearing on the sitcom How I Met Your Mother in an episode that aired earlier this year.