Our Lives/Trivia


 * Adored by the Network:
 * "Our Lives" has been one of TV Generation's highest-rated, long-running & most-watched shows (along with the long-running medical drama series "24/7" the sports drama series, "Center Ice", the crime drama series, "Hudson Street" and the drama series, "Starting Over").


 * Actor-Shared Background
 * Like her character, Marisa Raye Lopez is skilled in dancing; her mother, Bianca is a dance teacher and Marisa used to compete in various dance competitions prior to her acting career. She also graduated from high school early when she was 16 years old due to homeschooling although her character, Karina graduated from high school early when she was 17 years old due to skipping a grade.
 * Like their characters, Marisa Raye Lopez and Soleil Renee Lopez come from a mixed-race blended family with a Caucasian mother and an African-American stepfather (although their biological father is of Mexican descent).
 * Vincent Kyle, Austin Reynolds, Zachary Pruitt, Caleb Harkins and Sierra Myles are skilled in playing ice hockey like their characters.
 * Like his character, Marcus Raye is of African-American/Mexican-American descent, and is also fluent in Spanish.


 * Dawson Casting: Averted; the actors & actresses on the show were either the same age, close in age or a year or two older than their character.
 * At the time of the show's first season in September of 2006, Vincent Kyle (Connor Watkins), Hakeem Warren (Jake Samuels) and Austin Reynolds (Owen Travis) were 13 years old. Bryant Chase (Darien Samuels) was also 13 years old, but turned 14 years old a month later, making him older than Hakeem Warren (despite his character being the youngest twin).
 * Marisa Raye Lopez (Karina Kirkland), Marcus Raye (Bradley Harris) and Zachary Pruitt (Dylan Travis) were 12 years old.
 * Meaghan Hernandez (Sable Harris) was 13 years old, making her a year older than her character.
 * Soleil Renee Lopez (Alyssa Watkins) was 10 years old; Tessa Chadwick (Finley Watkins) was 8 years old; Sierra Myles (Savannah Watkins) was 4 years old.
 * Destiny Morgan Collins was also 4 years old when she took over the role of Haylie Watkins in the second season from Cassandra & Kristina Jenkins.
 * Caleb Harkins (Trevor Kirkland) had just turned 14 years old when he first appeared on the show, making him 2 years older than Marisa Raye Lopez (who plays his wife, Karina).


 * Disabled Character, Disabled Actor
 * Hayden Grier and his actor, Jesse Simms are deaf in real-life.
 * Anne-Marie Jeffries and her actress, Lindsey Chapman were paralyzed from a hit and run accident, and use a motorized wheelchair to get around.


 * Queer Character, Queer Actor
 * Finley Watkins-Cordova and her actress, Tessa Chadwick are bisexual. When Chadwick came out as bisexual, she asked it to be a part of her character.
 * Lisette Watkins-Cordova and her actress, Lisette are both bisexual.
 * Ashlyn Barnett and her actress, Tiffany Quinn are both pansexual.
 * Lexi Barnett and her actress, Amber Newton are both bisexual.
 * Xavier Ruiz and his actor, Christian Perez are both gay.


 * Real-Life Relative
 * Marisa Raye Lopez (Karina) and Soleil Renee Lopez (Alyssa) are real-life sisters, whose age difference is two years apart (the same as their characters). Marisa has been married to Marcus Raye (Bradley) since 2017 although their characters are in different relationships.
 * Natalie Vasquez and Erick Harmon (Bradley's parents, Juanita and Darnell Harris) have been married since 2002 (although their characters got married around 1994).
 * Tori and Tiffany Quinn (Chantelle and Ashlyn Duncan) are real-life twin sisters; on the show, Ashlyn is older than Chantelle, but in real life, Tori is older than Tiffany.


 * Underage Casting
 * Averted with Kendall Avery, who was born in 1980 like his character, Royce. In the 2nd season, it was revealed that he was a second-year emergency medicine resident which means he graduated from medical school in 2006.


 * What Could Have Been:
 * Cassidy Parnell (Liv Deane) was originally supposed to be a guest-star character on the show, but she was later made into a recurring character after impressing producers with her audition.
 * The character of Sara George was originally supposed to attempt suicide by cutting her wrists with a knife from her grandmother's kitchen, but it was deemed too graphic by the producers, so it was changed to her attempting suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills.
 * Jacob Underwood (Noel Clifton) was supposed to be a main cast member in the 6th season, but due to Underwood wanting to take a break from his acting career to attend college, his character was written out towards the end of the 5th season with Noel leaving Oakridge to join the Marines in the season finale; however, he briefly returns for the 15th and 16th seasons.