Few characters in daytime television are as iconic as Phyllis Summers on “The Young and the Restless.
Phyllis is always in the middle of controversy or nefarious schemes regardless of who is playing her.
In 2013, writers took Phyllis' storyline in quite an unexpected direction.
For the next year, she would lay unconscious in a long-term care facility.
The next time viewers saw Phyllis; she looked quite different.
Stafford was no longer the woman behind the role.
Instead, there was another daytime television veteran on the other end of a jarring recast.
Gina Tognoni of “One Life To Live” fame was the new face.
The door was left open by “the powers the be.”
However, everything involving the character of Phyllis changed when the May 1 edition of “GH” aired.
Nobody knew it was happening until the moment it aired.
During this time, Phyllis was still in a coma at a Georgia medical facility (viaSoap Central).
However, this surprising casting decision left an inconceivable void for “The Young and the Restless.”
There was now nobody to play Phyllis.
Would she remain in a coma forever?
Her character interpretation differed from Michelle Stafford’s, but Tognoni received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 2017.
Phyllis found herself in bed with a different Abbott man, Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson).
The underlying chaotic vibe of Phyllis wasn’t as readily present under Tognoni’s portrayal.
Instead, she became more cerebral and levelheaded.
Eventually, the character was almost unrecognizable, with Tognoni at the helm.
However, in 2019, things began changing for Phyllis’s character.
Her bad girl roots were resurfacing, and traces of the Stafford version were peeking.
The reasoning became apparent when the news broke that Tognoni was out and Stafford was back in.
Another Phyllis switch went down to accommodate Stafford’s acting desires.
