Kassie Wesley is making a dramatic switch from sweet young thing to Llanview's bad girl BLAIR, but she's not daunted by the challenge.

"I'm so excited about this," Kassie tells SOAP OPERA MAGAZINE.

"My character CHELSEA REARDON on GL was so squeaky clean, while Blair is on the dark side. I'm so used to playing the girl next door. It's like night and day. But it's definitely going to be fun."

The young actress left GL in January 1991 after five years as Chelsea, then moved to California with her husband Richard Hankins, GL's former art director. This is her first soap role since then, and also the first time she's taken over a part held by another actress. Devious Blair, who shares her Aunt Dorian's scheming genes, was previously played by Mia Korf.

Kassie, whose first airdate was December 15, admits it could be tough taking over a role when another actress is so closely identified with that part by the audience.

"There will be people saying 'Kassie's better,' and others saying, 'She's never going to be the Blair we know.' It takes awhile for people to warm up to you, but even more so when you're recast in a role," Kassie explains. With quiet confidence, she adds: "I can do the acting and play the part, but I cannot believe that out of all the actresses they had to pick from, they picked me. That's not to say I can't play the bitch--just ask my husband!" It's easy to be confident when you're as multitalented as Kassie. Besides her acting credits, she's a superb singer and songwriter. She was featured as a backup singer with Bobby Womack and other country music stars, and she performed solo at Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Still looking to further her musical career, Kassie is now sending her demo record to recording companies, hoping to land a contract.

Born in Morganfield, KY, Kassie first got interested in acting in a high school speech class. Then she attended Indiana University and completed her studies in theatre at UCLA. After getting a few small TV roles and commercials, Kassie signed on with GL in 1986. When she quit and headed to California with Richard, she admits it was tough finding work, but never regretted her decision to move there.

"You have to go with your gut feeling and my gut was telling me it was time to try other things, and I did," Kassie says. "I had a great time, and I thought: 'If I'm going to be unemployed, I'd rather be unemployed in California where I can go out and play golf!'" she laughs.

During her two years on the West Coast, Kassie stayed busy. "I did an episode of Timetrax, which aired in November, and an episode of Melrose Place which was scheduled to air sometime in December or January. Then I've got an episode of Baywatch airing in February."

When the part of Blair came up on OLTL, Kassie got caught in a whirlwind of frenetic activity: auditions in Los Angeles, a screen test in New York, and trying to fit it all in her frantic schedule.

"They gave me the weekend to think about it," she says. "Everything was happening so fast, and I was trying to get through one job before moving on to another job. So I came to New York on Monday and did the screen test, and found out I got the role on Tuesday. That was the week of Thanksgiving, and I'd already planned to go home to Kentucky to see my family. I went home and just came straight from Kentucky to New York and began working. So it's been a little overwhelming."

Kassie, who speaks with a charming Southern accent, won't make that part of Blair's new image.

"Of course, I'm going to do it without the accent," she tells us. "I did GL without it. Once you learn lines it's much easier to control the accent. The hardest part is going to be working with all those Texas cowboys, CORD, ASA and CLINT, with their accents. I'm sure there are certain words that are going to come out only like Southerners say them, but I'll do the best I can," she concludes with a laugh.

--Sheila Steinbach