News Round-up: Santiago, Johnson, Keifer, Freeman

ONE LIFE TO LIVE welcomes back Saundra Santiago
Saundra Santiago will return to One Life to Live—but not as Isabella Santi, the mafia mom she played five years ago. This time around, the actress is an emergency recast in the role of kindly diner owner Carlotta Vega. Patricia Mauceri, who has played Carlotta since 1995, refused to perform a story twist (airing September 3-4) in which her character mistakenly thinks her son Cristian (David Fumero) is gay and reacts in a positive and supportive manner.

"I’ve been avoiding talking about it because I thought anything I say will offend somebody. It’s such a touchy subject. But I was very excited to go back to OLTL—I’ve loved that show since way, way back when Tommy Lee Jones was on it!

"I had absolutely no problem with the content of the scenes. My problem was that, when I got the call from OLTL, I was out for the evening with friends and had just finished a vodka gimlet and was about to have another. That was at 9pm. At 10pm the show sent me 20 pages to memorize and I had to be on the set the next morning at 6am. But somehow I pulled it off. Either I’m a real pro or just nuts."

INTERVIEW: GL's Elizabeth Keifer (Blake)
"Blake is starting to own her own power, and actually help people - something that no one would have predicted about this character back when I started on Guiding Light. Losing Ross has had a profound effect on her. She's really come into her own. She's looking at life, and at the different types of relationships that life has to offer."

Morgan Freeman in talks to star in Red
Former ANOTHER WORLD star Morgan Freeman is in talks to star alongside Bruce Willis in Summit Entertainment's espionage thriller Red, based on the WildStorm/DC Comic. The three-book series, published in 2003 and 2004, tells the story of a former black-ops CIA agent now living a quiet life in retirement until the day a high-tech assassin shows up intent on killing him.

BBC to air interactive thriller series, THE WALL, targeted at teens
Entitled THE WALL, the new show is slated to air in the fall on BBC Switch's programming block on BBC Two (Saturdays, 12:00-2:00PM), and will be supplemented by an extensive interactive presence on the BBC Switch Web site (bbc.co.uk/switch). According to the BBC, the show's Web presence will allow viewers to immerse themselves further in its story by, among other things, exploring a multi-level game that the corporation bills as "a spookily atmospheric recreation of the main drama location." By engaging with "The Well" through a series of tasks and challenges, the BBC says, viewers will be able to unlock hidden content that reveals the show's backstory.

Mayor of London Boris Johnson to appear on EASTENDERS
Mayor of London Boris Johnson is to make a guest appearance on BBC soap opera EASTENDERS later this year. e will appear in a scene set in the show's famous Queen Vic pub where he has a run-in with its fiery landlady, Peggy Mitchell, played by Barbara Windsor.

Mr Johnson said: "EASTENDERS is a true London icon and I was delighted to highlight to its huge audience the part the mayoralty plays in the city's rich tapestry. It was, of course, a tremendous honour to step inside that most venerable of London landmarks, the Queen Vic, and share a scene with another of the capital's icons, the fabulous Barbara Windsor."

Indonesian soap opera starring Manohara starts tonight
While her estranged husband files a $29 million suit against her, Indonesian model Manohara Odelia Pinot makes her Indonesian television soap opera or sinetron debut tonight over a local channel. The 17-year-old is the main star in PT Rajawali Citra Televisi Indonesia’s (RCTI) Mega Sinetron RAMADHAN MANOHARA that will be on air from 6pm local time (7pm, Malaysian time) six days a week from Monday to Saturday.

She fled from her husband, the Tengku Temenggong of Kelantan Tengku Muhammad Fakhry Sultan Ismail Petra, last June complaining of sexual and spousal abuse after a 10-month marriage. The Kelantan prince today filed the defamation suit against his wife and mother-in-law.