MovieChat Forums > North and South, Book II (1986) Discussion > Why was Isabel played by a diffrent actr...

Why was Isabel played by a diffrent actress?



Im sorry if this has been addressed in a previous post but i just wondered why in North & South : Book Two, the character of Isabel Hazard is played by Mary Crosby rather than Wendy Fulton, who played her in Book One?
I heard somebody mentioned on a fan-site that Mary Crosby was filming " Jackie Collins' Hollywood Wives " at the time of filming of Part One which is why she wasnt available? Is this true?
I know its a random question but When i watched it recently with a friend who had NEVER seen either Book One or Book Two she said " why is Isabel diffrent? "

" well..i almost had to wait! " Joanna Stayton - Overboard

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From what I understand audiences didn't particularly like Wendy Fulton's portrayal of Isabel so they replaced her with Mary Crosby in Book II. Mary was MUCH better suited for the role than Wendy was anyway, at least in my opinion. Wendy had absolutely NO charisma or on screen presence and the chemistry between her and Frakes was sorely lacking. Mary, on the other had, has charisma and screen presence out the wazoo, but her chemistry with Frakes wasn't that much better than Wendy's.

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the chemistry between her and Frakes was sorely lacking.


I completely agree, but find it worth mentioning that Wendy Fulton had already played Frakes' screen wife in a previous mini series called BARE ESSENCE from 1983 (and in the 1982 pilot-film for the mini series).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083620/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084981/

Incidentally, Frakes and Fulton's roles in BARE ESSENCE were extremely similar to their roles in N and S.

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Fulton took a role in Knots Landing and wasn’t available for N&S bk 2

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