Starr Manning - Casting and Creation

Casting and Creation

The role of Starr was originated by child actors, Ariella and Natalie Jamnik who appeared in the role from in January 1996 upon the character's birth onscreen. The Jamnik sisters departed from the series in January 1998 and Meghan Rayder briefly appeared in the role throughout February 1998. Kristen Alderson first made her debut in the role of Starr Manning on March 20, 1998 on One Life to Live. After a 3 year stint, in April 2001, Alderson signed a 5 year contract making her at the time the youngest performer in daytime television to appear in a contract role. In the spring of 2009, rumors began to circulate that Alderson was about to leave the series due to her not getting along with co-star, Brandon Buddy who played Cole Thornhart. However, Alderson later revealed in an interview that both rumors were completely false.

Upon the serial's cancellation, it was announced that production company, Prospect Park would continue production of the series, along with ABC's other cancelled soap opera, All My Children as web series. In late October 2011, it was reported that Alderson was in negotiations to continue with the soap online. However, Soaps In Depth later confirmed that Alderson and her brother, Eddie, had declined the offer to continue with the series, and would be relocating to California. Two days before the airing of One Life's series finale on ABC, the network announced that Alderson, and several other co-stars including her onscreen parents, Kassie DePaiva and Roger Howarth would be reprising their roles on the last remaining ABC soap, General Hospital. Alderson began taping her first scenes on January 27 and several days later revealed through Twitter that she had signed a three-year deal. It was then announced that Van Hughes would briefly reprise his role as Cole. Alderson would make her first appearance during the week of February 20, with she and Hughes first appearing on February 24.

In January 2013, news broke that Alderson and other One Life to Live co-stars who had been airing on General Hospital were to depart or "at least temporarily exit". One Life to Live is in the process of being brought back by Prospect Park's The Online Network, and according to Zap2it, "Prospect Park realizes these three characters could initially help draw fans to the new One Life There are ongoing talks between ABC and Prospect Park about the characters returning to General Hospital at some point, which could be fine with as they eventually want to go much younger with their soaps." However, Starr will not appear on either soap opera until a contractual agreement is signed.