Ryan Lavery


Ryan Lavery is a fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children, as portrayed by Cameron Mathison from 1998 to 2002 and from 2003 to 2011. He has a daughter with ex-wife Annie Lavery, a son with Kendall Hart, and is married to Kendall's best friend and sometimes enemy Greenlee Smythe.

Background

Casting

In January 1998, Cameron Mathison debuted on All My Children as con man Ryan Lavery. He remained with the series until 2002 when the actor decided to leave the series. In 2003, Mathison returned. At the time, the actor was already considering rejoining the show, but news of Megan McTavish's return as head writer convinced him. "I worked really well with and she obviously knows the character – she created him!" Mathison said.
In 2009, All My Children production moved from New York to Los Angeles. Mathison debated whether or not to move his family to California in order to continue working on the show. "At ABC and All My Children, I'm a real family member", he said. "But at the same time, I didn't want to feel like, "Without a question, I have to drag myself across the country for this show". After planning out how they could viably stay in New York without All My Children, he and his wife, Vanessa, decided to move with the show. In 2011, ABC Daytime President Brian Frons announced the cancellation of All My Children and One Life to Live. The production company Prospect Park planned to pick up the soap operas and air them online. Mathison and Lindsay Hartley were the first actors from the show to join the new production. In November 2011, Prospect Park called off plans to produce the soap operas online.

Storylines

Ryan Lavery arrives in Pine Valley in January 1998 as a con man seeking riches. After getting hired at WRCW, he begins a scheme involving kickback funds. When station manager Liza Colby discovers this, she threatens Ryan with jail time. She says that she will send him to jail unless he marries Gillian Andrassy, who is about to be wed to her nephew, Scott. Ryan and Gillian go through many ups and downs, but eventually fall deeply in love. However, their romance ends in tragedy, when a hit man takes Gillian's life while trying to kill Anna Devane.
After the death of his wife, Ryan spins out of control, causing him to drink often and take more risks. He begins to come in "contact" with Gillian via psychic Opal Cortlandt. He is unsuccessful at trying to make Opal contact Gillian from the great beyond. In despair, he goes to his and Gillian's special place, the Wildwind turret, holding a candlelight vigil for Gillian, but accidentally sets the turret on fire and is knocked out in the process. Gillian appears to Ryan as a spirit, which revives him and he manages to escape. He is found later by his long-time friend Liza and the two make love out of their shared grief, causing her to become pregnant, which infuriates Adam Chandler. Ryan meets Mia Saunders during a card game and immediately becomes involved with her. They grow closer when Mia relays to him that she and Liza are sisters and that she never knew her father. Ryan and Mia's relationship does not last, however. They drift apart.
A ghostly Gillian orchestrates Ryan to meet Chris Stamp, who is new in town, when Ryan's mother dies. Adam investigates Ryan's past, discovering that Ryan's father is a drug dealer. Ryan to leave town, but stays when he feels that he should learn more about his family's history. Liza falls down some steps and loses Ryan's baby. Ryan blames Adam for "killing" his baby. Adding to the drama, Chris tells Ryan that he killed his father a long time ago. Ryan does not trust Chris, though, and tries to keep his distance from him.

Kendall

He meets Kendall Hart for the first time at the Pine Cone Motel. They argue all of the time, but somehow seem to be there for each other during difficult moments. Ryan saves Kendall from a burning room and resuscitates her. This is the start of something more between them, as two lost souls. They enter into a romantic relationship, often bickering but loving each other deeply.
Ryan manages to acquire a disc with information about drug lord Proteus. He hides it inside of a doll that belonged to Kendall. When Kendall discovers this, she blackmails Ryan, but he later retrieves it. In a shooting over the Proteus disk, Chris takes a bullet for Ryan and Ryan learns that he is Chris's biological son. The revelation causes Ryan to wonder if this is the reason his stepfather beat him, because he knew the truth. Ryan slowly builds a relationship with Chris.
Ryan and Kendall's relationship deepens. Wanting to see Kendall happy, he tries to bring about a warmer mother-daughter relationship between Kendall and Erica Kane while he builds on his father-son bond with Chris. Erica is Kendall's mother and the two have a rocky relationship and history.
Ryan remains committed to Kendall, despite her feelings of inadequacy. Ryan and Kendall plan to leave Pine Valley together, but their plans are halted when Kendall is framed for burning down Erica's house due to seemingly circumstantial evidence. Ryan and Kendall declare that they are deeply in love with each other, and Ryan defends Kendall to the whole town. Trey Kenyon, Kendall's lawyer in the arson case, suggests that Kendall take a lie detector test to prove her innocence. Against Ryan's better judgment, Kendall takes the test and fails. Ryan believes Kendall is not telling the whole truth about the night of the fire, but despite her dishonesty, he proposes marriage to her at her grandmother's gravesite.
Before their wedding day in the summer of 2002, however, Ryan walks in on Kendall in a compromising position with Aidan Devane while, in actuality, Kendall was searching for proof that she is being framed for burning down her mother's house. Unaware of this, Ryan believes Kendall has cheated on him with Aidan. Extremely hurt, and this being one of many hits to his well-being, he decides to leave town. On his motorcycle, he looks back at a crying Kendall screaming after him. It is too late for them, he has decided and drives off, leaving Kendall to helplessly run after him in the middle of the night before giving up in despair. Meanwhile, Erica learns evidence of Kendall's innocence and uses it to clear her daughter of her arson charge.
In August 2003, Ryan shows up in the Nevada desert. He meets Alexander Cambias Sr., whose health is rapidly deteriorating. On his deathbed, Alexander leaves Ryan the Cambias fortune when he finds out that Michael Cambias raped Bianca Montgomery. He leaves the fortune with the simple stipulation that only if Alex has no living heir other than Michael, Ryan will receive the money. Ryan returns to Pine Valley and keeps his presence a secret from his old friends, with the exception of Edmund Grey. He soon reveals to the entire town that Alexander Cambias has left him in control of the entire Cambias fortune.
The announcement immediately causes conflict between Ryan and ex-fiancée Kendall, who claims to be married to Michael and thus the true owner of Cambias Industries. Michael's dead body shows up soon after. Even with these fights, the attraction between Ryan and Kendall is still there, and they have a night of passion together. After Michael's time of death negates Kendall's claim to the Cambias fortune, Ryan finds Kendall's sister, Bianca, holding a sonogram. He assumes that she is pregnant, but is shocked when Kendall snatches the sonogram and claims the baby is hers. Ryan refuses to believe the claim. He demands that a DNA test be taken to confirm what she says. Kendall passes the test, but Ryan puts various pieces of the past few months together and silently realizes that Kendall is not pregnant. He knows that she is claiming to be in order to help pregnant Bianca, who is actually carrying Michael's child. Ryan tells Kendall that he is dropping any suit against her that fought her pregnancy claim. He posts her bail when she is arrested for Michael's murder.

Triangle with Kendall and Greenlee

Kendall and Erica grow close again but Kendall continues to have trust issues. Despite her insecurities, she and Ryan reunite romantically, in what they feel is for good this time. He surprises her with a pouch that will make her appear pregnant. The two become engaged and plan to marry as soon as Kendall is cleared of murder charges. Ryan's friendship with Greenlee Smythe, however, eats away at what little security Kendall has. Her anger with Greenlee is intensified when Greenlee rips off her dress in court, revealing a fake pregnancy. Kendall believes that Ryan has allied himself with Greenlee and wants her to go to prison. Hurt by her lack of faith in him, a furious Ryan breaks things off with her. Ryan finds it difficult to be with Kendall when she does not fully trust him. No matter his anger at Greenlee's courtroom antics, he sees how truly remorseful she is and the two build a deeper friendship, much to the dismay of Kendall.
Bianca goes public with her pregnancy, and Ryan signs over the company to Bianca and her unborn daughter. Ryan is a great support for Kendall when Bianca's baby, Miranda, is presumed dead after a helicopter crash. Ryan helps Kendall cope with the traumatic loss, and the two grow closer. He is once again prepared to build a future with Kendall. But his friendship with Greenlee continues to upset her. Eventually, on Christmas 2004, it is discovered that Miranda was in fact switched with the son of JR Chandler and Babe Carey, the latter of whom was born at the same time as Miranda and given to Kelly Cramer of Llanview, while Bianca was falsely told that Miranda was dead. When the truth comes out to everyone, Miranda is forcibly taken away from a distraught JR and returned to Bianca's care.
In her efforts to keep Greenlee from being any part of Fusion Cosmetics, Kendall makes an announcement at a Cambias Industries board meeting: While Bianca was in control of the company, Kendall had a clause inserted that bars Greenlee from ever working at any Cambias owned company, including Fusion. Ryan views these actions taken by Kendall as wrong and asks her to stop feuding with Greenlee, to instead focus on his love for her. But Kendall finds that she cannot let go of her animosity toward the woman. Furious, Ryan again breaks off his romance with Kendall. He proposes to Greenlee and says, as his wife, she will be co-owner of Cambias and can work at Fusion or any other Cambias company. Ryan vows that their marriage will be platonic. Trusting Ryan, Greenlee agrees.
In May 2004, the two prepare to marry. But at the ceremony, Kendall arrives in place of Greenlee and professes her love to Ryan. She relays to Ryan that Greenlee approved the union and stepped back. Ryan is emotional, but when Greenlee appears and reveals that Kendall locked her in her hotel room to sabotage the wedding, his frustration is evident. Kendall and Greenlee fight, falling into a pool of water, as they duke it out. Ryan jumps into the pool after them and breaks up the fight. Ryan, let down that Kendall once again chose anger over their love, marries Greenlee.