Another All My Children veteran is headed home to Pine Valley. Eva LaRue (Maria Santos) will reprise her role as Maria for a few episodes in July.
LaRue originated the role of Maria in March 1993, but exited the show four years later when her character was believed to have died. Five years later, Maria was revealed to be very much alive -- but suffering from amnesia and believing that she was a woman named Maureen Gorman. LaRue exited the show again in June 2005.
In 1997, LaRue earned a Daytime Emmy nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actress. In 1998 and 2006, LaRue was awarded ALMA Awards for her work on AMC.
After exiting Pine Valley, LaRue was hired for a role on CSI: Miami. She's appeared as Natalia on the CBS soap since 2005.
LaRue last appeared on All My Children in January 2010 as part of the show's 40th anniversary special -- an appearance that almost didn't happen. LaRue was not originally scheduled to be part of the commemorative episode, but when the actress reached out to AMC execs, they reconsidered and wrote several scenes for Maria. Despite leaving All My Children, LaRue has remained a fan of the show and spoken fondly of her daytime roots.
She is currently scheduled to appear in two episodes, though a show sources hints that LaRue could appear in additional episodes.
LaRue will first air on July 19.
Earlier this week, ABC announced that Josh Duhamel would be reprising the role of Leo du Pres.
