Vanatics

Van in the Iron Mask

2006-10-25T03:44:00.000-07:00

O HAY BOI:

That's Van/Luke (is it Batman, or is it Bruce Wayne?!) dressed up as Lord Byron for ATWT's upcoming costume ball fiesta extravaganza party. Hee on the choice of character. All the costumes look pretty cool, actually, from what I saw. Except that Emily-as-Marie-Antoinette has some kind of mohawk do-dad, but I'm sure it was borne of tears and guilt and remorse for all her many many sins and OH PAUL HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!!!

Er, back to Van. I've not been very into ATWT for months, probably because Days has actually been getting good. I don't really know what ATWT wants me to care about lately. Am I supposed to be excited that Dusty is emotionally abusing another, even younger woman just a few short months after his beloved "Red" turned in for her extended dirt nap? Am I supposed to care about Mike/Katie/Simon, round 487364 (even though I don't mind CarlySimon at all, actually)? Also -- SPOILER ALERT, kind of, even though it's just casting news and it's in the mainstream press --

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I find it rather amusing that both Mark Collier (Mike) and Paul Leyden (Simon) are leaving by year's end. No idea if they'll recast Mike, though I don't see the point; I'm sure Simon will take off again, though. I like both actors/characters well enough, except this Katie-go-round feels so pointless and boring. Katie-and-Mike is just not a very interesting pairing, except that both actors look nice and they're sort of pleasant together. And they don't seem willing to commit to another real go at Skatie, so whatever. Go away, please, and let Katie get her spunk/brain/soul back. How did one of my favorite characters turn into my favorite substitute for downing a whole bottle of Sominex?

Anyways...

I'm bored by Luke's role as of late, too. I'm not a demented Luke/Kevin shipper -- *~LUVIN~* omg!!!11 -- but I'd like to see some real momentum to that situation. I thought they were done with it, and then they were really heavy on it for, like, two weeks during the Raven Lake stuff, and since then... nothing, really. Have I missed something? Because it seemed like there was more to that story, whether it was Kevin actually having some attraction to Luke or just them re-opening a friendship and Luke struggling to keep his feelings to himself, but maybe that was just the way the actors played it. I don't know, it just didn't feel like, "Bye Kevin, we'll never see you again!"

Meanwhile, Luke is inexplicably friends with Jade. I don't get what they are going for with that character, seriously. I like Elena Goode just fine, and I might care about Jade if I had some clue what the hell the writers thought of her. Is she good? Is she bad? Is she anything? This whole Jade-is-really-Rose's-daughter bit seems like such an afterthought, and now we get that sanctimonious idiot Lily running around like the Patron Saint of Orphaned Sociopaths. "Oh, Gwen, my niece has just been in a Very Dangerous Accident involving falling books! Will, how can you speak ill of my niece?" I half-expect Lily to throw a coming-out party for Jade and recruit Gwen, Will, and Maddie to be her attendants, carrying the train of her dress and feeding her grapes.

P.S. Ghost of Rose? If you were going to appear to someone and be all omniscient about Jade, it might've been helpful if you'd done it back when she was suspected of being a serial killer a little while back. I know Lily was in a coma, but really.

Vanorexia

2006-10-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

On December 1, Van will take part in a reading of the play "The Laramie Project" to commemorate the 30th birthday of Matthew Shepard. The reading is being put on by the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which was founded by Shepard's parents after his 1998 murder, and will be held in Times Square, NY. Other participants will include Judith Light, Cyndi Lauper, and Chad Allen. If you happen to be in the area, you can purchase tickets here.

No silliness in this post. This is actually a worthwhile cause, so kudos to Van for his participation.

V'Day

2006-09-25T22:57:00.000-07:00

Today Van turns 25 years old!

From all of us, but especially our good pal Beyonce:

HAPPY B'DAY!

May you be rockin' chinchilla coats and skiing through the lawn in stilettos with your pet alligators for many more years!

He's the VAN!

2006-08-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

I don't even need to take credit for that title, because Soap Opera Digest came up with it. The link is to a nice interview with Van from a few weeks back. But, in the name of marking our territory: Step off, ho (TV Guide), or we'll piss on you!

Meanwhile, cool trivia. Despite being VANatics, we didn't know this. Yes, yes, we're not very good VANatics, and we should be drawn and quartered and have our corpses dust-bustered by Carly and Lily, but still. Van's full name is Evan Vanfossen Hansis. How cool is that? Very regal.

Vancing with the Stars

2006-08-10T21:04:00.000-07:00

We'd be remiss if we didn't offer apologies for being such poor Vanatics. But the truth is, ATWT has been kind of a snoozefest this summer. Jen's two-week death scene had its moments, but I'm fairly certain they could've been condensed into, like, one episode; this Maddie crap smacks of rewrite (of a six-month-old character!). The show just hasn't held our attention much these last few months. We've been making an effort to watch the show more often, and we promise to update this thing more often than every two months, too.

Van's CBS blog has been updated a few times, though it seems he's been suffering from the same sort of heat-induced lethargy that we have. The latest entry is particularly cute, as it deals with all the younger cast members going out for Alex Chando's 20th birthday. There's also a terrific one a few entries back regarding the parallels between soaps and comics, something I've always found intriguing. Definitely worth a read.

Also noteworthy: a short film in which Van starred at NYU is available on YouTube. It's cute and rather well put-together for a student short.

More snark coming soon.

Vanity

2006-06-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lag in posting. Things have sort of calmed down at Vanatics HQ (read: our computer rooms) since Luke came out and the story settled into a regular rhythm.

But line of the day, nay, week clearly goes to Luke. In today's episode, he told Lucy that he has no fashion sense: "I like stripes." If that ain't an internet shoutout, we're ham sandwiches.

Luke and Lucy pal-ing around? Could be fun. Spencer Grammar is an appealing actress, stupid accelerated medical program aside. Not quite the Maddie/Luke BFFship for which we've hoped and dreamed, but it'll do.

VAN of the hour

2006-05-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

AfterElton.com has a new interview up with Van, talking about his storyline and the coming-out episodes. It's a great read; they actually discuss the issues in some depth. Best part:

AE: [Luke]'s just a typical teenager.
VH: Yeah. And that's a very important thing. He's probably the worst dressed kid on the show.

But the stripes! All the stripes! Stripes are high fashion in Oakdale!

At least they haven't shoved him into something like that clown-pee shirt that Henry keeps wearing over and over.

No longer a VANtasy

2006-05-08T17:58:00.000-07:00

(Good grief, these titles are becoming impossible.)

For those who caught today's episode: what'd you think? We here at Vanatics absolutely loved it. The way that Luke and Holden danced around the truth without having to speak it was amazing; Holden actually wanting to hear the words from Luke's mouth added an element of support to the scenes (rather than saying, "I know" and then just dodging explicit mention of the issue). Van and Jon Hensley both rocked those scenes. There was also an interesting quality to the segment where Lily walked in on them -- like she was in a totally different scene than Luke and Holden. In her mind, she was in a different scene. She thought she was walking into one thing, and it turned out to be something else entirely. The way it was acted and directed really underscored that feeling and how hard it had to be for Luke to actually say, "I'M GAY" to her.

Of course, only Lily would be ME!ME!ME! enough not to have at least suspected this... but that's nothing if not consistent with her character.

From the look of the previews, Lily might not be as immediately accepting or supportive as Holden. It's brave of the show to take that tack with a long-running, "good" character. It'd be easy to make a one-dimensional bigot out of a recurring player who would never be seen again. But the truth is, no matter how much a parent might love a child, finding out that child is gay can still be a big blow to the parent's expectations for that child's life and the family's future. I don't expect Lily to be beating the shit out of Luke for being gay, but being uncomfortable with it... I'm interested in seeing how this plays out.

Tomorrow, Van and Martha Byrne will appear in a PSA after the episode, on behalf of GLAAD. Some folks apparently find this horribly offensive. Those bastions of fairness are worried that they are being discriminated against by CBS's decision to present such a one-sided view of the issue. I can't even imagine what kind of alternative viewpoint they would like this PSA to include...

Current E-VAN-ts

2006-04-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

Van has posted a new entry in his blog, and it's especially noteworthy for anyone in the NYC area. He'll be appearing in a production called "Bloody Mary: A Comedy of Tragic Proportions," which opens today, April 21st, and runs through May 13th.

If any of y'all are able, you can purchase tickets at http://www.smarttix.com/. Alas, those of us on the West Coast won't be able to make the show, so we'll be relying on others for the secondhand scoop. Van won't be appearing in the shows on the 27th and 28th, though, because of the Daytime Emmys. Which are being held in Los Angeles. Hmm...

VANda Bears

2006-03-30T12:01:00.000-08:00

A bear signed by Van is being auctioned off by the Matthew Shepard Foundation's "Bear to Make a Difference" campaign. Not only is the bear signed by Van, but it's wearing the requisite Luke Snyder Striped Sweater! This Vanatic had brief thoughts of bidding on Van's bear, but the bidding is up to $239.50 as of this entry's posting time. Here's the eBay page in case any of y'all have that kind of moolah to throw around.

Here's a pic of Van with his bear:

Yes, I know what you're thinking: Van Hansis was arrested for smuggling drugs in a teddy bear?! But no, that is not a mug shot.

What's with the dark circles around his eyes? Boy looks like he's two steps away from being hospitalized for "exhaustion." Let's hope he just needs some sleep and he hasn't been hitting up the local meth labs with Jen Munson.

Have you gotten LADE?

2006-03-24T08:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, those headlines are getting a little tough. Thank God for couple combo-names! (I thought about working with JUKE, but LADE was just calling out for some attention, y'know?)

Boy, Jade sure turned out to be a manipulative bitch, huh? I feel a little betrayed. I was all attached to her and Luke as close friends, but I guess it's not meant to be. On the plus side, this does open up the eventual possibility of my dream scenario -- Luke and Maddie becoming BFFs -- actually coming to fruition. Plus, we could call them Laddie. There's also Muke, but that makes me think about vomit, so no. My fav, actually, would be using their portrayers' last names. Chando + Hansis = Chansis. Then we could make a fansite called "Second CHANSIS" or some nonsense, and we could send envelopes of white powder to the ATWT studios whenever they made it look like Luke and Maddie might have a fight.

Okay, enough about that. My point? Jade's a bitch. The writing has surprised me on Luke's side of the issue: he did something impulsive because he was scared, and he immediately recognized that it was a mistake, but Jade's really got him now. I'm not exactly sure what Jade hopes to accomplish, though. She still wants to be a part of this family even though they now hate her? She and Carly should start a club: Queens of the Illogical Plans That Cannot Possibly Turn Out Well. Seems like it might've been more practical to just, oh, become friends with Luke and have the family at least like you... That said, Elena Goode (Jade) is sort of rocking the bitch role. I'm impressed.

First VAN on the moon

2006-03-17T21:16:00.000-08:00

Look, Van, I'm gonna lay it on the line here. I really like you. Your acting has impressed me. I think you're a great performer, you've held your own with some pretty seasoned soap actors, and you're not doing that annoying thing that lots of theatre folks do when they switch to television (shouting and projecting as though the camera were 10,000 yards away). And actually, I kind of think you're hot now, and I might not be opposed to making out with you. And by "might not," I mean "absolutely wouldn't." But that cliffhanger with you and Jade in bed together (which, by the way, WTF? But I'll get to that in a different post) was all kinds of shocking:

I'm not talking about the fact that Luke is, ya know, gay and yet somehow was convinced that it would be a good idea to be caught in bed with the girl he's supposed to believe is his cousin. I would be talking about how it's nice to see you without a shirt, but a) we really didn't get a very good view, and b) I'm afraid of being blinded.

That's right. You're lookin' a little pasty there, buddy. I say this with the best of intentions; I say this as someone who is the furthest thing from naturally tan without actually being an albino. While you're not quite at Jenpire levels of paleness, you could certainly use something to take the edge off.

So, for now, the only coming-out I want to see Luke doing had better involve emerging from a tanning bed after a good, long session inside it.

Out of the frying VAN and into the fire

2006-03-07T20:38:00.000-08:00

Pretty much every scene in Luke's storyline from Thursday and Friday's episodes was grade-A soap. Awesome stuff. Holden airing his concerns to Jack and Jade? Luke and Kevin meeting up one final time? Luke confessing his feelings to Jade? All absolutely terrific. This show is almost golden right now. (I say almost because this Carly/Nick stuff is so stupid that it makes me want to drop dead and have someone dustbuster around my corpse.)

I can't stop raving about the Luke stuff, though. Jon Hensley, Van Hansis, Michael Park, and Elena Goode all hit it out of the park in those two episodes. I also love how they're tying in Jade's story with Luke's. Van made a comment in his most recent blog entry that Jade might not turn out to be such a good influence on Luke after all, and I'm definitely starting to see how he might become overly indebted to her.

Oh, but I love Lily's logic: If a stranger waltzes into your home and claims to have been given up for adoption by your dead twin, by all means, invite her to move in with you, your husband, and your children. Refuse all suggestions to have a DNA test done. Take a bizarre conversation with your DEAD TWIN as enough evidence. Then again, St. Lily is never wrong, so this is about par for the course.

But I'm trying not to focus on the negative right now. Because the Luke stuff is so good that I don't want it to end. I might have even teared up a little during the scenes where he told Jade how he feels about Kevin. There was something real about those scenes that's sorely missing in today's soaps most of the time.

I'm LUVIN' it! (Get it?)

2006-03-02T20:29:00.000-08:00

I'd call this a spoiler, but really, if you didn't figure out where this was going by today's episode, you deserve to be blown up in an exploding boathouse and horribly charred and condemned to lurk around a creepy estate whilst still managing to meddle in your grown children's lives.

Anyway:

TV Guide has a blurb and a video clip of tomorrow's (Friday March 03) ATWT episode, in which Jade gets Luke to admit that he has feelings for Kevin. It's-- wow. This is real soap opera stuff, and from the looks of today's episode and this clip, ATWT is to be commended for telling Luke's story so well. Here's hoping it stays this good.

Upcoming E-VAN-ts

2006-02-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

SPOILER ALERT, y'all!

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(That means: Stop reading if you don't want to know what's going to happen.)

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The Feb. 20 edition of the ATWT Newsletter is all about Luke's storyline. It previews: "Next week is the big one! Luke Snyder admits his true feelings for his friend, Kevin, in a series of heart-wrenching scenes unique to daytime."

Which, on one hand, is awesome. It's nice that ATWT is going for this in the context of Luke having a crush (who I'm pretty sure will turn out to be straight/"straight") and not just some theoretical, "Mom, Dad, I'm gay. kthxbye." But, on the other hand, this seems sort of fast to me. I know we've had a LOT of Holden and Luke tussling over whether Luke is hiding something, etc., but for Luke to admit his feelings to Kevin seems awfully quick. Let's hope that something specific happens to incite this declaration.

Still, I'll be tuned in for this. Good thing the Olympics are about to end. I can only devote my attention to so many homos at once.

Stand by your Van

2006-02-15T08:57:00.000-08:00

We here at Vanatics admit that we're a bit bummed that the Luke storyline has been pretty quiet for the last two weeks, but we are enjoying the introduction of Jade so far. Luke needs a friend and a confidante (a la Golden Girls!), and even though we were hoping it would be Maddie because Alex Chando is so cute and totally has this Katie-Holmes-before-she-got-Cruised thing going, it'll be nice for Luke to have his cousin as a support system.

Meanwhile, a few other Van-related updates of note:

-- There's an interview with Van in the new (March '06) issue of Out magazine. In particular, there's a comment from ATWT head writer Jean Passanante that makes it seem as though the show really is committed to this storyline. We shall see! Update: Roger of the Van Hansis Fan Page has scanned the article. Thanks, Roger!

-- Van has updated his own blog with a cute little interview... of himself. Seems like he's settling into things nicely on the ATWT set!

Jumping on the Vandwagon

2006-02-02T22:06:00.000-08:00

He was a H8ED BOI, she said, "See ya later, boy"...

Okay, I can't have been the only one who started singing that in my head when Luke's username was revealed, right?

Meanwhile, the ATWT writers' attempts to incorporate modern technology have made it abundantly clear that they haven't even the foggiest notion of how it works. Let's review: Holden figures out Luke's username and logs in under it; there is no password, which should be the difficult part; once he's in, he immediately arrives at a screen containing Luke's most intimate writings. And it can only be accessed from Luke's computer. Yes, that sounds precisely like how a blog works. Why, I'm going to be shocked if anyone but ME reads this entry! None of you will ever... guess my log-in name!

Now I'm waiting for, say, Lily to make coffee by dumping the beans on her head and pouring water all over the floor. That would make about as much sense as this blog business.

While we're on the subject of Luke's blog, this would be an excellent opportunity to direct you to a real-life version of it, which can be found here: http://lukesnyder.blogspot.com/. It's off to a good start so far -- two entries, one of which is the full version of what Holden found this week. (The other is Luke tracing his hilariously twisted genealogy, though he doesn't mention that Holden isn't his biological father and, therefore, some of the connections are in name only.) If you check the comments section, you'll notice responses from Kevin and even Luke's cousin Lucy. It's unclear how far the "official" aspect of this tangled web reaches -- the Kevin and Lucy ones might just be pages made by fans -- but it makes for an interesting read nonetheless.

Taking ad-VAN-tage of the situation

2006-02-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

Lots and lots to catch up on, Vanatics! Apologies for the dry spell -- we know that this blog has been deader than Rose D'Angelo after a swig of wedding-day mouthwash, and for that we're truly sorry. But now we're back, and boy, is there a lot of news.

First up: that backrub. Woo-ee! Is it getting hot in here? Look at these boys:

With the slo-mo and the porny close-ups of Luke's hands, I was waiting for a shot of Luke licking his lips. And you're looking pretty intense there, Kev! He's about two muscle twitches away from an O-face. I can't be the only one who saw an ulterior motive in Kevin's request for a backrub, can I? The way he was whining about how Luke had better get to it, because "tomorrow my arm might have fallen off"... Bitch, please. You're more transparent than an entire roll of Saran Wrap beside a freshly-Windexed window pane.

I have to hand it to the ATWT writing team for the way they've handled this storyline so far. It doesn't seem that Luke is drinking because of his family problems or his sexuality; I think he's drinking because of Kevin. His pal, to whom he's obviously attracted, is constantly pressuring him to hang out and party, plying him with all these promises of "It'll just be the two of us." Of course a 16-year-old with a crush is going to respond to that. So I'm on the record as saying that Luke's drinking, right now, is primarily a by-product of trying to get close to Kevin in a "safe" way.

And then there was the scene Lucinda (which, by the way, can we remark how much we enjoyed Big Lu's entrance into this storyline? More please!) came upon in the poolhouse the following morning:

So Luke's sleeping on the couch, right? Kevin couldn't, like, stretch out on the floor? He had to lean his head against Luke? Iiiiiinteresting...

VANITY (An Aside)

2006-01-18T10:58:00.000-08:00

Now, we all know ATWT's hair (have you seen Meg's mullet?), makeup (oh, any Carly appearance, really...), and wardrobe departments are wack beyond words, but they've really outdone themselves lately! First, Van is stuck wearing the same stupid jacket in every single scene, now this? They must've really been dipping into the crack! Behold, Lily's beige monstrosity of a wedding gown! Warning: Not for the squeamish!

Isn't it so flattering? No wonder Martha Byrne is in tears. I doubt much of the crying was faked in that scene. Luke Snyder's been hitting the booze pretty heavily lately, but at least he has an excuse now! Anyone in their right mind would have to be blacked out or totally comatose to be seen in public with that.

Man-on-VAN Action!

2006-01-17T19:17:00.000-08:00

Probably old news to all the true Vanatics out there, but worth a mention nonetheless!

It looks like our remarkable recast isn't a stranger to hobnobbing with homosexuality in television or on the stage. We all knew Van could act, of course, but Talkin' Broadway's review of his performance in the Laramie Project (an exploration of the community where Matthew Shepard was beaten and killed for being gay) gives us all the more hope that his upcoming storyline will be something truly special. The reviewer, Ann Miner, says, "Standouts in the cast include Van Hansis and Georgia Prussell, who really impress with their portrayals of Doc O'Connor (limo driver in his 50s) and Reggie Fluty (30-ish policewoman), respectively."

You don't need to tell us twice, Ann! Van's been holding his own with the best of the vets on ATWT, and we know he'll continue to blow us away with what's in store!

Upcoming E-van-ts

2006-01-16T15:35:00.000-08:00

Previews regarding Luke's storyline on ATWT for this week. Don't proceed if you don't want to know what will happen. And don't complain about being spoiled--we warned you!

***killing space***

***no turning back down***

Spoiler
This week, Luke's friend, Kevin, asks Luke to give him a backrub after they play basketball. Holden comes upon the scene and is concerned by what he sees--especially when Luke stops abruptly. Later, Holden voices concerns about his son to Lily and Jack.
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Seems like ATWT is getting right to the, er, meat of this story. At least they're not shying away from the physical stuff. What's with that reaction, though? Hey, Holden, word of advice: having a gay son might mean your hair won't be so f'd up all the time!

A Van of his word

2006-01-15T20:25:00.000-08:00

Can't believe we forgot to post this earlier!

CBS.com's Daytime section premiered a special feature last month: a blog penned by none other than our favorite daytime newcomer, Van Hansis! There are only two entries so far, but this should prove to be a fun and entertaining insight into the mind of this up-and-coming actor.

Some choice excerpts:

Van admits that when he was cast, he "had no idea who Luke was, and I had no idea who Lily and Holden were. [He] had never seen the show." But he dove right into viewing and, within a few weeks, was fully immersed in the world of Oakdale.
He rode to the studio with Alex Chando (Maddie) on his first day of taping. He writes, "When the driver picked her up I thought, 'Wow, I’m riding in a car with Maddie, this is the coolest thing.'"
Van marvels at the efficiency with which ATWT's cast and crew works: "We rehearse each scene when we get first get to the studio in the morning, then right before shooting we do one more rehearsal in front of the cameras, and then it’s time to tape. Wow."
He spent Christmas at home at his parents' place in Massachusetts, but not before making a detour out to California to visit some friends. "I really like California. It seems that New Yorkers aren't supposed to like L.A.," he writes. L.A., huh? Too bad there were no sightings!

Keep checking out Van's blog and VANATICS for more updates on Van Hansis!

VANtastic!

2006-01-13T16:20:00.000-08:00

It’s been a month since Van Hansis took over the role of Luke Snyder on As the World Turns. The previous actor to play Luke, Jake Weary, made quite an impression during his year on the show. As the son of staple ATWT couple Lily and Holden, Luke is a pivotal role, and we were worried that the show wouldn’t strike gold again. After all, ATWT’s casting has been a little spotty in recent years. (Alyssa Diaz, anyone?) You can understand why we weren't entirely confident that this recast would work out so well. But we've had enough time to evaluate this new actor, and our verdict is: VANtastic!

Hansis has stepped with ease into this key role, despite some hackneyed writing. He sold the Lily/Keith marital mess just as well as soap veterans Martha Byrne (Lily), Kin Shriner (Keith), and Jon Hensley (Holden). He even pulled off that scene in which a drunk Luke offered Keith a knife and insisted that he cut out Luke’s newly implanted kidney! Color us impressed.

TVGuide.com recently confirmed that ATWT will proceed with the long-rumored Luke-is-gay storyline. We can’t wait to see how Van handles it. If his work so far is any indication, we're in for something special!

Vanity

2006-01-04T20:26:00.000-08:00