Soap Star: ‘I Was Fired for Religious Beliefs’

The actress tells Fox News it wasn't the gay plotline she objected to, but rather her character's handling of the issue. A devout Christian, Mauceri says she objected to the way the writers wanted her character -- a deeply religious, Latina mother -- to react to her son coming out of the closet.

Mauceri says it was those objections that got her fired -- she says her character would not have been accepting.

"I did not object to being in a gay story line," Mauceri said in a statement. "I objected to speaking the truth of what that person, how that person would live and breathe and act in that story line," she said. "And this goes against everything I am, my belief system, and what I know the character's belief system is aligned to."

The actress was replaced by Saundra Santiago, who performed the scene in question on Friday's show. Producers for One Life to Live declined to comment on why Mauceri had been replaced.

Mauceri says she is exploring her legal options.