Alison Barrington

Rafe and Alison
Brian Gaskill and Erin Hershey Presley as Rafe and Alison
Duration	2002–03
Introduced by	Julie Hanan Carruthers
Profile
Other names	Rali
Family Barrington Spouse 2002–03 Children Rafe Kovich, Jr.

Rafe Kovich and Alison Barrington Kovich are a supercouple from the American soap opera Port Charles. Rafe was played by Brian Gaskill and Alison was played by Erin Hershey Presley. They were one of the most popular romantic pairings on the short-lived soap. The couple was not originally scripted into a romance. Once they were, they were written as star-crossed true loves with multiple obstacles to overcome. The couple is often referred by the portmanteau "Rali" (for Rafe and Alison) on Internet message boards.

Erin Hershey Presley was cast as Alison Barrington in 2000. For the first two years of her run, Alison's love interest was Jamal Woods. The character was crafted as, at first, shallow and spoiled. She then softened to be playful and charming. The breakup with Jamal and the romance with Rafe Kovich developed her into full adulthood. Rafe was created in 2001 as a vampire slayer and an angel. Brian Gaskill, who had portrayed an angel before in the short film Higher Grounds, was cast in the part. Gaskill told Soap Opera Weekly he was excited to be playing an angel again. "There's something about having that light," he said in the interview. "Playing someone who comes from there is very freeing." Rafe was written as "unconventional," allowing Gaskill to infuse his own "offbeatness" into the role. On other programs, he was not allowed the same freedoms to make the acting choices he wanted. "I would make choices on some shows and they'd say, 'That's really quirky and interesting, but guess what? Not on this show! You've got to be the good-looking cool guy.'" Gaskill credited the role for helping him in his personal life as well as with his acting. "It has opened me up as much as an actor and as a person in ways that I never expected," he said in an interview with Soap Opera Update. "It's been a little bit of back and forth between me and Rafe. I'm bringing to Rafe, but Rafe is giving to me. That's where I'm at. Sort of a coming of age a little late."

Port Charles began dividing its storytelling into thirteen week arcs call books. Rafe was introduced in Book Three, "Tainted Love." "Tainted Love" was supposed to be the only story arc Rafe was featured in but his stay extended to the next arc, "Tempted", then through "Miracles Happen". He then became a regular character. The show's executive producer Julie Hanan Carruthers "told me that one of the reasons I'm still around is because it's been palatable," Gaskill said. "They weren't sure if an angel on the show would get too corny. Somehow, I've been able to make it easy for people to take." The character continued on the series until Port Charles was canceled in 2003.