Casey Hughes

Casey Robert Hughes is a fictional character on the soap opera As the World Turns. He is the only child of Margo Montgomery and Tom Hughes. He was last played by Zach Roerig from January 18, 2005 to May 2, 2007. From January 29, 2008 to the series' last episode on September 17, 2010, newcomer Billy Magnussen played the role.

Casey Robert Hughes, is the only son of Tom and Margo, born on Valentine's Day in 1991 and named after Casey Peretti, Margo's late stepfather, to whom she was very close and Tom's father Bob Hughes. Casey was always a quiet, well-behaved boy who had a good relationship with his parents, and hated it whenever they fought. When he found out that his mother had an affair with a former football player, Doc Reese, Casey decided to go live with his father. Tom forced Casey to talk with his mother, however, and he had to live at home again. Soon after, his parents got back together again.

At age 16, Casey met a girl named Celia Ortega and despite her brother's arguments, the two started to date. Despite the fact that Casey loved being with Celia, he started to freak out whenever she was around the new waitress Gwen Norbeck. After a couple of months, Casey and Gwen had a one-night stand at a party and Casey was embarrassed by it because Celia always talked about marrying as a virgin. Things changed when Gwen turned out to be pregnant with Casey's child. Knowing this would hurt Celia, who he had a secret crush on, Casey's best friend, William Munson said he was the baby's father. Casey was shaken when Celia broke up with him and started a relationship with Will. However, only after a few weeks, Celia left Oakdale to be with her family in Montega.

Though the girl they both had a crush on had left town, a war was already started between the two. Will hinted to Casey that he was the father, and was angry Casey was lying about it. Casey, however, acted like nothing was going on and told the entire neighborhood that Gwen was a cheap girl who slept with everyone. After Gwen gave birth to her son at the hospital, her baby was given to Rosanna Cabot and Craig Montgomery, who she had chosen to adopt her son. However, Rosanna was in a car accident and slipped into a coma, while Craig was in jail for causing the accident. Rosanna's sister Carly Tenney-Snyder took custody over the boy, Rory Cabot, but that wasn't what Gwen wanted. In order to get him back, she had to prove to be stable enough and to give a father's name. She pointed out that Casey was the father and a paternity test was administered.

Margo and Tom both asked their son if he was the father. Convinced that Will was, but scared that he might be the father, Casey told them he wasn't the father; he never even slept with Gwen. Margo took him for his word, but Tom doubted his answer. However, in court, the results came back negative and showed that Casey was not the father. Confused with the results, but happy that he was "right" all along, Casey was cleared by the court. Casey told Gwen and Will that they ruined his life and that Will wasn't his friend anymore.

Casey was left alone by them, giving him his normal life back. However, Casey changed into a completely different person, dating one girl after another. He then met Madeline "Maddie" Coleman, who had just arrived in Oakdale. Both couldn't stand each other and were shocked to learn that Maddie was going to live with them. In the following weeks, Casey and Maddie tried to avoid each other as much as possible. However, when Maddie got into trouble with her boss, B.J. Green, Casey helped her, which ended in exposing the kidnapping of Henry Coleman, Maddie's older brother. After spending so much time together, Casey and Maddie became really close, though their moments were often ruined by bad timing and the wrong words.

Then, the truth about Gwen's baby finally came out, which was that Gwen's baby was switched at the hospital with Jennifer Munson's baby. Casey's paternity test was negative because the wrong baby was tested; Casey was in fact the father of Gwen's baby. Unfortunately, Casey and Gwen's baby died at the hospital on the night he was born. Tom, and mostly Margo, were disappointed by their son and his lies. They punished him by not letting him go to college in a different state, forcing him to stay at local college "Oakdale Latin". Maddie revealed that she would miss him if he had gone to another state. In a moment of spontaneity, Casey kissed her, but Maddie refused his advances.

When Casey discovered that Maddie was helping Will and Gwen, who were running from the cops due to a crime they didn't commit, Casey helped her once again. After their names were cleared, Casey rebuilt his friendship with Will and Gwen. At the police station, Maddie and Casey almost shared a kiss, but were interrupted by Margo. Later at "Java" they became close again, but, again, were interrupted by Margo. The same day, they finally kissed, giving into their feelings. However, Margo caught them some days later, making out on the couch. Margo reminded her son what happened the last time he was "making out", while Casey tried to convince his mom they were just kissing. After Margo caught them a second time, she told Maddie to leave the house, unable to accept that Casey has a relationship with the girl who lived under her roof, talking Casey's grandmother Lisa Grimaldi into taking Maddie in at the Lakeview. Around that time, Lisa informed Casey and Maddie that she was opening a teen-oriented nightclub, Crash, and wanted to offer Casey a position there as D.J. (She also asked Gwen to perform there on opening night.)