http://tv.zap2it.com/news/tvnewsdaily.html?26292
'Sopranos' Switches Actresses in Rerun
Tue, Jun 4, 2002 01:52 PM PDT
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Viewers who caught the repeat of "The Sopranos" third-season finale Sunday (June 2) may have noticed something had changed since the episode's original airing last year: Fairuza Balk has gone missing.
Balk ("The Craft," "Almost Famous" ) played an FBI agent who struck up a friendship with Adriana (Drea de Matteo) in an effort to get information about Adriana's boyfriend, Christopher (Michael Imperioli), and his involvement in Tony Soprano's (James Gandolfini) mob crew.
The scenes were later reshot, with Lola Glaudini ("NYPD Blue," "Blow" ) taking Balk's place. "It was a creative decision they made," an HBO spokeswoman tells the New York Daily News, which would seem to point to the character's return when "The Sopranos' " new season debuts in September.
Replacing an actor in an episode that has already aired is rare but not unheard of. When "Seinfeld" went into syndication, its producers reshot a scene from a 1993 episode that featured John Randolph playing George's (Jason Alexander) father, Frank. Jerry Stiller took over the role the following season and reshot the scene for the syndicated version.