Billy Douglas (One Life to Live)
| Billy Douglas | |||
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| One Life to Live character | |||
| Portrayed by | Ryan Phillippe | ||
| Duration | 1992–93 | ||
| First appearance | April 1992 | ||
| Last appearance | May 1993 | ||
| Created by | Michael Malone | ||
| Introduced by | Linda Gottlieb | ||
| Classification | Former, regular | ||
| Profile | |||
| Other names | William Douglas | ||
| Occupation | College student at Yale University | ||
| Residence | New Haven, Connecticut | ||
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Billy Douglas is a fictional character on the American soap opera One Life to Live. Newcomer actor Ryan Phillippe played the role from April 1992 until May 1993. The character is the first openly gay teenager featured in a television series, and Phillippe's breakthrough role is considered groundbreaking in daytime television.
In 1992, One Life to Live executive producer Linda Gottlieb hired a fresh-faced 17-year-old Ryan Phillippe to play the newly created role. Phillippe said he was warned against playing the "risky" role at the height of the AIDS crisis in the United States. Phillippe said that when he auditioned to play the character, he "had no idea Billy was gay." He initially expressed reservation to pursue the opportunity, telling Entertainment Weekly in 1992, "I thought, 'What is my family going to think? What about my friends?' But I realized that for [the character] Billy, the torment is a hundred times that."
Show head writer Michael Malone developed Billy Douglas as a popular but closeted high school senior who is jock that becomes class president. At the time, the role was regarded as "one of the longest and complex narratives to deal with a lesbian or gay character."
When playing the role, Phillippe said that he hoped to leave a positive impact, saying, "Maybe some kids will see that there are ways to deal with this positively." Years after leaving soap operas and starting his film career, Phillippe said of playing the character, "I felt lucky playing the first gay teenager on television—not just daytime, but television, period."
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