AMC's
Dimitri Returns (SOD
3/14/2000)AMC's
Dimitri Returns (SOD
3/14/2000)
"It's official! After months of speculation and ceaseless fan campaigns, Michael Nader is indeed heading back to the role of All My Children's Dimitri Marick. He will return by the end of May sweeps 'for a good, long time,' says an insider.
The actor, introduced as the enigmatic count who rescued Natalie from the well in 1991, exited last summer. When rumors persisted that the door was open for him to return, a show spokesperson responded, 'We have no plans to bring Michael Nader back at this time.' That was all the encouragement needed by Nader loyalists, who bombarded ABC with letters, e-mail and petitions demanding Nader's return.
Nader fans got a boost when Dimitri, who 'died' in August, was revealed to be alive in September. In a 10/5/99 interview with Digest, Nader explained, 'I had died. But they thought it was better for all concerned that I come back and do a couple of days so that Dimitri does leave alive and well.' The actor then returned to pre-tape the scenes that aired in September.
At press time, Nader was on a ski trip and couldn't be reached for comment. But his representative said, 'Michael didn't expect to be going back to the soap opera, but there was so much fan support that when ABC called us to see about him coming back, he was very open to it.'
Susan Lucci, who plays Dimitri's once (and future?) love, Erica, is thrilled her former co-star is returning. 'So many people stop me on the street and ask me, "Will Dimitri ever come back and will he and Erica ever get together? she says" The show is keeping mum about what his storyline will be. 'I wonder what they'll do,' muses Lucci. 'Of course, he's married to Alex... we think. Erica never full believed that, so we'll see what happens,' laughs Lucci.
'Of course, they were married,' quips Finola Hughes (Alex), adding with a laugh that the count only had to marry her once. 'I knew he was a good swimmer- but he can't have his dressing room back!'
Dimitri was last seen stricken with a debilitating neurological disease and emerging from a coma after experimental stem-cell therapy. (Whew!) When he wandered off from Seaview Hospital, it was assumed that he walked into the ocean to his death. There's no word yet on how the count's return will be written, but it's a good bet that he'll complicate the blossoming romance between his 'widow', Alex, and his brother, Edmund."