Cole Deschanel  Cole Deschanel is a fictional character from the US soap opera "Sunset Beach". Ashley Hamilton played the role of Cole from his introduction on January 21, 1997 to February 19, 1997. The producers decided Eddie Cibrian would fit the role better and the actor took over on February 21, 1997. Cibrian departed on October 14, 1999, to pursue a career in primetime. He made a brief return as a guest actor for the series finale on December 31, 1999. In February 1997, Cibrian was asked to take over the role of Cole from Hamilton. In an April 1999 interview with Annette Dasey of "Inside Soap", Cibrian called Cole a "dream part" and said "I crave action and adventure, so it's great as there's nothing in the world Cole can't do. Every week I read my scripts and know I'm going to love working through them. I just hope he never slows down." Dasey described Cole as evil and said he had committed "many dastardly deeds" during his time in "Sunset Beach". "PR Newswire" said Cole was a "handsome jewel thief and grandson of town founder Armando Deschanel." Cole St. John was a man of mystery. He entered "Sunset Beach" looking for jewels that he was supposed to steal, and he had no idea what would happen to him once he arrived. A young woman named Caitlin Richards fell in love with him, and their love was constantly threatened by Caitlin's over-protective and sinister father Gregory Richards. At the same time, Cole slept with Olivia Richards, but he didn't know that Olivia was actually Caitlin's mother. Also, Cole was shocked when he realized that his mother Elaine Stevens was in town, and he learned the entire truth about his origin. He was also shocked when he found that Caitlin was Olivia's daughter. Various times, Gregory tried to get rid of Cole, even by hiring a hit man to kill him, but he didn't succeed. Thing got even more complicated. At the same time, both Caitlin and Olivia got pregnant. After a car accident, Caitlin lost her baby, but she decided to keep pretending to be pregnant, so she wouldn't lose Cole. Meanwhile, Olivia finally found happiness again with AJ. Caitlin sought help from Annie Douglas to find a baby that Caitlin could use as her own. At the same time, Annie plotted to win over Gregory, so she decided to make a huge turn-over.