Why do some Daytime Soap actors have better luck at being cast on primtime TV roles and/or movies than others?

[edgeofnik]

Well, Eva Longoria, who is not on any of the lists, had incredible prime time success and that's led to new development deals, etc. The irony is that she would've been the least likely IMO of success - especially after her turn on Y&R. Ugh!

Annie Parisse (ex-Julia ATWT) then went to L&O as an ADA - I think her skills were helped when her ATWT character did a complete 180. Again, she was surrounded by a lot of talented actors - particularly during that era - but she broke out.

Maura West still could make it in prime time, but she passed up her 'younger' years because she was having kids (five), which is still amazing. I don't think she feels like she 'lost' more than she gained.

Michelle Stafford - had a terrible role in a FOX series that was cancelled.

I think a lot of it is timing, the types of roles they are seeking, etc. but don't discount sheer drive.

I would be curious looking at the days when it was NY v LA and which soaps produced the greater number of TV/Film stars. I'd be willing to bet it was NY because a lot of the actors were active in the theater.

[YRBB]

[titan1978]

The Bare Essence mini series was one of the more successful of the 1980's. So was North and South. Both had high ratings (until N&S book 3).

The problem with the BE TV show was cast changes and the mini had already completed all the character arcs. Everything was resolved already.

[All My Shadows]

I think there's a misconception that everyone in daytime wants out of daytime. Maura West is listed in the original post, but I don't think she's ever appeared in anything outside of daytime -- except for a film made by her old ATWT co-star Paul Leyden. Are we to believe that she's bombed every single audition she's been on? If not, then the answer to why she hasn't had success outside of daytime is because she hasn't looked for it. I doubt she's the only one.

[SoapDope]

I agree about Tony Geary. I never could understand how David Hasselhoff broke out from soaps. He was always hammy and awful.

[applcin]

My point with Genie was that, in the wake of gaining iconic daytime status and leaving the show soon after, she was at least hired for other projects. She was the headliner of Bare Essence and, while in a supporting role in N & S, she was still hired for something that was going to be seen by millions of eyeballs (and she had to fake a Southern drawl, to boot). Then she became a Medifast spokesperson, when they could have chosen anybody. (And in between she was living in Maine running her store.) Then (I stand corrected) Hallmark movies...which, again, I ask, why Genie (whose biggest claim to fame was decades before) and not any other comparable actress? And now Nutrisystem..when they could have hired any other celebrity...is it because she still has appeal to a particular demographic?

Tony, on the other hand, kept winning all those Emmys and probably the most seen non-daytime role he ever had was playing Roger on an All In The Family episode before GH. I know he got a guest spot here and there (Murder She Wrote, etc.) but nothing memorable and, certainly, nothing where he was the main draw.

Anyway...over the years, I have been surprised here and there at folks that I thought, for one reason or another, were going to make some kind of mark outside of daytime and didn't. When Michael Sutton (Stone) left GH, I expected to see him. Thorsten Kaye...not because I liked him (in fact, I couldn't stand his ubiquitous presence on whatever soap he was on at the time) but I thought his accent and "Irish Spring" appeal might get him somewhere.

[SweetPea36]

I understood that Michael Sutton used his GH money to open a restaurant. At least, that's what a fan of his told me that when I wondered why he wasn't seen after GH.

[marceline]

I think it's important to note that note of us could possibly agree on a list of actors who we think "deserve" to have post-soap careers. There's just so many random factors involved in whether anyone finds success. Also, I've noticed that a small number of soap fans have a tough time accepting the idea that working on a soap isn't the best career move an actor can make.

[Paul Raven]

Didn't Tony G score a couple of TV movies in his deal with ABC in the early 80's? Intimate Agony/Sins of the Past were two titles I remember.

I think they did OK ratings wise but he was too quirky to be a TV star at that time.I don't think anyone wanted to risk him as a primetime lead.He was more suited to a Hill St Blues/St Elsewhere ensemble type show but I guess his soap fame worked against him.

Look at any soap cast list and you'll see scores of people who went on to primetime/movie success.It really is just a matter of the right project at the right time.

[applcin]

Speaking of quirky, John deLancie seemed that way, too, but he's done very well, especially in scifi. Heck, he's Q! But he does seem to play a lot of pompous windbags, whether human or alien!

[SweetPea36]

John deLancie has the decided advantage of not looking like an ostrich. I would think that is helpful with casting directors.

[MissLlanviewPA]

To me, he will always be the creepy doctor who molests a pregnant Annabella Sciorra in The Hands That Rocks The Cradle. *shiver*

Speaking of which, Julianne Moore has a supporting role in that movie. It does end well for her in that role, either.

As for the main question:

I honestly think a lot of it, outside of just plain working your ass off to get the right auditions for the right roles, is chance and luck. That's it. Every once in awhile, you'll get someone who was big on a soap become equally big/bigger in movies (Meg Ryan being the best example of this--from a super successful supercouple to only Julia Roberts' rival for Queen of the Rom Com in the 90's), but I personally think it's kind of fun to pick out the people who don't seem so memorable become big later on. It makes it more interesting to me.

And of course, it's also interesting to see those who everyone expected to hit it big, but that didn't really happen. A lot of people expected that of Sarah Brown. She did alright, and has had some success in primetime, but obviously not enough where it kept her from returning to soaps.

[applcin]

Yeah, I guess there's that!

It's ironic. The Luke Spencer look is part of what made Tony a daytime icon but the Bill Eckert look probably would have gotten him more outside work. He must have had a real love/hate relationship with this character. Although, after all these years, maybe it's more like resignation/hate.

[Khan]

IIRC, Kim Zimmer implied in her book that CBS nixed her being on "Evening Shade" (after its creator, Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, had previously written a guest role for her on "Designing Women") because they believed she was too strongly identified with daytime and with being Reva Shayne on GL. I don't know whether the story is true, or even if I'm recalling it correctly, but it does make you wonder whether her assertions that staying too long in soaps hurt her career in the long run aren't, in fact, mere delusions on her part. (On the other hand, she could have generated some momentum in Primetime and films with her pivotal role in "Body Heat" -- but instead, she went right back to the soaps.)

[SFK]

Wow, did they want her for the Marilu role? The Rowdy Girls is one of the best VSE of a sitcom, certainly one of DW's finest.

At any rate, I call bullshit on that lame justification for not hiring her. Hell, look at Dixie's career. Thank God someone took a chance in primetime on that woman from EON who wasn't even the daytime star Kimmer was.