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All: Good Actors Gone Bad


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All the time you see bad actors (Kirsten Storm, Austin Peck, etc.) improve over time or when switching a soap, but what about the rare reverse cases?

IMO, the best example of this would be Roger Howarth on ATWT. I remember loving him on OLTL and he's a large part of my becoming an ATWT. As the years progress, he has gotten downright laughable. He's supposed to be this tortured, romantic leading man, but Howarth plays him like a revolting scumbag. When it comes to showing any major emotion he goes so far over the top you're left cringing.

He was miscast from the start, cast only because of the CBS/ABC star war. What makes it worse is that he's given so much airtime to stink up the joint. Scott Bryce's return has really helped highlight just how awful both he and Marie Wilson are.

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See, I don't think Howarth was hot stuff even on OLTL.

I wouldn't say Michael Tylo was bad on Y&R, but I would say his work there (as Blade, right?) pales in comparison to what he did on GL, AMC, or even GH.

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I hope someone remembers this, but does anyone remember Marcy Walker (ex-Eden; SB) as GL's Tangie Hill!? Talk about a major snorefest! I felt so bad for her because it seemed as if the writers didn't know what to do with her character.

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Jensen Buchanon's (SP?) run as Melissa on GH. My God, was that terrible. I've heard she was very good as Vicky on AW, and from the clips I've seen, I'd agree with that. But every scene of GH that included Melissa was just painful. I don't think it was really Jensen's fault, as the character was horribly written. But still, that was certainly a sharp decline.

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Maurice Benard on GH. It's easy to see in his hey-day in the 1990s just how competent, intense and good an actor he was. Now he just does a bad Al Pacino impression. I will say, though, that since Megan Ward (Kate) and Carolyn Hennessy (Diane) came on board, Mo has improved. His heart is in it. And he has rediscovered a light comic touch which I thought was gone forever.

Kelly Monaco. Awesome on PC. Whispery and monotone on GH. Part of the problem is the horrid writing, though. And KM is probably ready to move on to greener pastures, too.

I remember Lisa Rinna's first run as Billie on Days being awesome. She was a great character and completely believeable and likable. Her second run as Cop Billie? Ugh. Julie Pinson really salvaged the character after the damage done by Krista Allen and LR's second stint.

And I know people will hate me for this but Genie Francis -- whom I worship on GH and who was exceptional right from the early days through to her last sane moments as Laura Webber -- was so stilted as Diana on Days in the late 1980s. Her pairing with Drake Hogestyn just did not spark. She was really stiff and the way she uttered her dialogue sounded off. I think her role was horribly underwritten and not well-thought out and I don't get the impression she was tremendously happy there.

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