The Soap Discussion

[Lazario]

Soap opera actors are absolutely insane. They think they are these really stupid characters.

[PatrickvD]

Soap opera actors are absolutely insane. They think they are these really stupid characters.

I have yet to see an actor or actress from a daily soap opera actually make it big time in the filmindustry, so they're not really good anyway. All you have to be able to do is look really vague for close ups at the end of every scene. And stand with your backs against eachother while you're talking laaame indeed

[Lazario]

All you have to be able to do is look really vague for close ups at the end of every scene. And stand with your backs against each other while you're talking laaame indeed

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can SO TOTALLY see that right now. That thing about the "actors" looking vague, and that's always right before the shot cuts off to a commercial or the next scene of stupid people and their lame drama and the 45 shock statements and bitchy retort before the next closeup that cuts to the next scene. It's dizzying

[orestes.]

Move along. We don't need another raging debate. Not every topic needs to be stirred up for drama.

[Escapay]

I have yet to see an actor or actress from a daily soap opera actually make it big time in the film industry, so they're not really good anyway

From Celebratingthesoaps.com

They Began Their Career on ALL MY CHILDREN:
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Kathy Bates
Kim Delaney
Debra Jo Rupp (That 70's Show)
Dorothy Lyman (Mama's Family, etc.)
Debbi Morgan (Hurricane, etc.)
Lacey Chabert (Party of Five, etc.)
Kelly Ripa
Lauren Holly
Matthew St. Patrick (Six Feet Under)
Amanda Bearse (Married... with Children)
Lynne Thigpen (Where in the World is Carmen San Diego)
Josh Duhamel (Las Vegas, Tad Hamilton)
Mischa Barton (The OC)

They Began Their Career on ANOTHER WORLD:
Morgan Freeman
Anne Heche
Ray Liotta
Susan Sullivan
Amy Carlson (Third Watch)
Henry Simmons (NYPD Blue)
Rue McClanahan
Jackee Harry
Kyra Sedwick
Mary Page Keller
Audra Lindley
Debra Messing
Faith Ford
Brad Pitt

They Began Their Career on AS THE WORLD TURNS:
Julianne Moore
Meg Ryan
Marisa Tomei
Dana Delany
Jason Biggs (American Pie, etc.)
Steven Weber
Ming-Na (E.R.)
Parker Posey
William Fichtner
Lauryn Hill
Jordana Brewster (The Fast & the Furious, etc.)
Kerr Smith
Swoozie Kurtz
James van der Beek (Dawson's Creek)
Chris Beetem (JAG)

She Began Her Career On THE BRIGHTER DAY:
Patty Duke

They Began Their Career On THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL:
Jennifer Finnigan (Committed)
Dylan Neal (Dawson's Creek)
Michael Clarke Duncan

She Began Her Career on CAPITOL:
Teri Hatcher

She Began Her Career on DARK SHADOWS:
Kate Jackson

They Began Their Career on DAYS OF OUR LIVES:
Charlotte Ross (NYPD Blue)
Tara Reid
Jensen Ackles (Dawson's Creek, Dark Angel, etc.)
Mike Farrell (M*A*S*H, etc.)
Victor Webster (Mutant X)
Krista Allen (Baywatch, etc.)
Erik von Detton
Lisa Rinna (Melrose Place, etc.)
Rob Estes (Melrose Place, etc.)
Patrick Muldoon (Starship Troopers, etc)
Charles Schaughnessy (The Nanny)
Andrea Barber (Full House)
Mark Valley (Boston Legal)
Mary Frann
Jay Kenneth Johnson (The North Shore)

They Began Their Career on THE DOCTORS:
Alec Baldwin
Armand Assante
Ellen Burstyn
Kathleen Turner

They Began Their Career on THE EDGE OF NIGHT:
Martin Sheen
Kate Capshaw
Lori Loughlin (Full House, etc.)
Dixie Carter
Larry Hagman (Dallas, I Dream of Jeannie)
Dolph Sweet (Gimme A Break)
John Travolta
Bette Midler

She Began Her Career on FROM THESE ROOTS:
Charlotte Rae (Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life)

They Began Their Career on GENERAL HOSPITAL:
Demi Moore
Mark Hamill (Star Wars, etc.)
Rick Springfield
Ricky Martin
Antonio Sabato Jr.
John Stamos
Richard Dean Anderson
Rena Sofer (Just Shoot Me, etc.)
Jonathon Jackson (Tuck Everlasting, etc.)
Vanessa Marcil (Las Vegas)
Amber Tamblyn (Joan of Arcadia)
Kristen Davis (Sex and the City)
Tia Carrere
Nikki Cox (Las Vegas)

They Began Their Career on GENERATIONS:
Amy Yasbeck (Wings, etc.)
Kelly Rutherford (Melrose Place, etc.)

They Began Their Career on GUIDING LIGHT:
Kevin Bacon
Sherry Stringfield (E.R.)
Nia Long
Taye Diggs
Calista Flockhart
Brittany Snow (American Dreams)
Melina Kanakaredes (Providence)
Ian Ziering (90210)
Frances Fisher
Cicely Tyson
Ruby Dee
JoBeth Williams
Mark Derwin (Life With Bonnie)
Cynthia Watros (Titus, Drew Carey)
Wendy Moniz (The Guardian)
Tammy Blanchard (Judy Garland Story, etc.)
Kimberly J. Brown (Tumbleweeds, Bringing Down the House, etc.)
Billy Dee Williams
Christopher Walken
Mira Sorvino
Angela Bassett
Bethany Joy Lenz (One Tree Hill)

She Began Her Career on LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING:
Donna Mills (Knots Landing, etc.)

They Began Their Career on LOVE OF LIFE:
Christopher Reeve
Barbara Barrie
Helen Hunt
Julia Duffy
Warren Beatty
Peter Falk
Irene Cara

They Began Their Career on LOVING:
Luke Perry (90210, OZ)
Rebecca Gayheart
Linden Ashby (Melrose Place, etc.)
Michael Weatherly (Navy NCIS)

They Began Their Career on ONE LIFE TO LIVE:
Tommy Lee Jones
Judith Light
Ryan Phillippe
Casper van Dien
Blair Underwood
Roma Downey
Marcia Cross (Melrose Place)
Elisabeth Rohm (Law & Order)
Richard Grieco
Blair Underwood
Tom Berenger
Phylicia Rashad (The Cosby Show)
Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years)
Kelly Bishop (Dirty Dancing)
Brandon Routh (Superman)

He Began His Career on PASSIONS:
Jesse Metcalfe (Desperate Housewives)

They Began Their Career on RYAN'S HOPE:
Nell Carter
Catherine Hicks (7th Heaven)
Christian Slater
Tichina Arnold (Martin, etc.)
Yasmine Bleeth
Grant Show (Melrose Place)
Marg Helgenberger (CSI)
Corbin Bernsen
Kate Mulgrew

They Began Their Career on SANTA BARBARA:
Robin Wright Penn
A Martinez
Leonardo DiCaprio

They Began Their Career on SEARCH FOR TOMORROW:
Jane Krankowski (Ally McBeal, etc.)
Olympia Dukakis
Sandy Duncan
Morgan Fairchild
Susan Sarandon
Robert DeNiro
Jill Clayburgh
Kevin Kline
Don Knotts
Roy Scheider (Jaws, etc.)

They Began Their Career on SOMERSET:
Ted Danson
Sigourney Weaver

They Began Their Career on THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS:
Tom Selleck
David Hasselhoff
Vivica A. Fox
Paul Walker
Eddie Cibrian (Third Watch)
Shemar Moore
Monica Potter (Head Over Heals, Patch Adams, etc.)
Forest Whitaker
James Houghton (Knots Landing)
Eva Longoria (Desperate Housewives)

Normally I'd start defending my guilty pleasure, but I've been away from the boards for a few days and when I come back I find that some topics are locked and I really hate getting into heated threads so I'm just gonna say one thing:

Don't knock it if you don't watch it.

And three minutes does not count as watching it. It's like a book. You have to read the whole thing to make an honest judgement. You don't stop after Chapter One and decide the rest of the book will be just as bad. With soaps, you have to at least watch for about a month to understand what's going on before you can decide "okay, this is a piece of shit" or "Gee what happens tomorrow? I better watch again!"

Soaps have always been the ugly stepchild of television. Put down by everyone and their mother, even though most likely everyone and their mother secretly watched them once.

If you hate soaps, fine. But at least know what it is you're hating before you start ragging it.

Escapay

[PatrickvD]

wow you opened my eyes, I only knew of a few from As The World Turns but the list just kept going never mind now

[orestes.]

There is certainly more than I thought as well.

[Escapay]

Daytime is riddled with various movie stars. The sad thing is, many of them don't want to admit it, or make fun of their soap roots. Which truly sucks because there ARE many soap actors who could do wonders in Hollywood, except they just can't get out of the soap biz, or they don't want to.

Escapay

[orestes.]

Personally I would be half content with a sopa opera. I would love to do other things but if I were an actor I would love to be part of a show that has been around for decades such as a soap opera.

[cydney]

Wow, I didn't realize so many actors and actress's started on soaps.

I don't like watching soaps because they can get addicting.
I have watched Guiding Light quite a few times because my mom can't go a day without it and Days of Our Lives when Kristen Storms was on it because I was a fan.
I also watched Passions when I was in high school only because Jesse Metcalfe was on it and he is gorgous, of course now I get to see him on Desperate Housewives.