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ARTICLES AND INTERVIEWS HIRING THE HUNKS Soap Opera Update February 12, 2002 HIRING THE HUNKS Here's How Soaps Find The World's Sexiest Men Paul Leyden ATWT's Simon AS THE WORLD TURNS spent nearly nine months searching for the perfect actor to play Simon. Martha Byrne (Lily) had auditioned with nearly 40 actors -- all failed to set the producers' hearts afire. Casting "the right" Simon was crucial because he needed enough sex appeal to come between Lily and Holden. Then, halfway across the world, Paul Leyden, an Australian actor, heard about the part. He'd just landed a role on a primetime show in Australia, but his agent persuaded him to send a tape of his work to ATWT, who flew him in for a screentest. "I bombed completely, pretty much tripped over the carpet and hit my head on the furniture," he said of his audition. "I must have done something right...God knows what!" Three weeks later, he had the job. Deciding to move to the Big Apple was a big deal, but he's never looked back!