ABC

Boulder County resident Sean Moynihan, who appeared on ABC soap opera ‘One Life to Live’ in the early ‘90s, will return to the show this week.

Local man returns to soaps after 14 years

Boulder County resident relives his 15 minutes of fame

By Jabril Faraj, Camera Staff Writer

Monday, May 11, 2009

If you watch

What: Powell Lord returns to "One Life to Live"

When: Monday, Thursday, Friday, May 18-20 at 1 p.m. Mountain Time

Where: ABC

BOULDER, Colo. — Sean Moynihan, a deputy district attorney in Denver, recently received a phone call from the writers of the daytime soap opera "One Life to Live." But the writers weren't looking for legal advice or representation. Instead, they were calling to get Moynihan, who was a regular on the show 14 years ago, to come back and play his old character.

"They just called out of nowhere and said, 'Want to come back?'" he said. "It's bizarre."

Moynihan, who was on the show from 1992 through '94, played Powell Lord who, as Moynihan recalled, was part of a notable and popular plot line. His time on the show, however, ended when Lord went crazy and ended up committing a string of sexual assaults.

"Last we heard of him he was committed to a mental institute for the criminally insane," he said.

Moynihan now lives in Boulder County with his wife and two young children and leads what many people would call a "normal" life. After the show let him go, he went to Los Angeles and continued to pursue acting as a career but, when that didn't work out, Moynihan decided to go back to school.

"I plugged away out there," he said. "I had some success but (there were) a lot of times when I was just looking for work. I think after about four or five years of the up-and-down life in Los Angeles I just, kind of, got tired of the instability."

So, Moynihan decided to pursue a law degree at the University of Denver. After he graduated, Moynihan said he worked at the Colorado Attorney General's office for a few years and then stumbled onto the deputy district attorney job when some friends urged him to apply.

"So, here I am," he said. "And it's definitely more stable than being an actor."

Moynihan said he still did some acting, for fun in local theater, with his brother and some friends but he had settled in and was enjoying his new life.

"I stopped considering myself an actor ... certainly not a professional actor," he said.

Moynihan, however, still managed to maintain a love for acting over the years and admitted he always thought he would get back into it eventually, just maybe not so soon.

"I figured someday when I retired I'd get back into doing the stage," he said. "You know, playing older guy parts."

But the call came much earlier than expected. Moynihan said people would always joke that, since his character was in a mental hospital, he might come back eventually. He never really took the possibility seriously.

"It was always a joke," he said. "We'd have a few laughs and say, 'Yeah, maybe I'll come back some day ha, ha, ha,' and it was never serious. I did not expect 'One Life to Live' to ever contact me."

However, Moynihan, who went to New York to film 10 episodes, four of which have already aired, said he enjoyed the opportunity to live a little bit of his past.

"I loved it," he said. "You know, I don't consider myself a professional actor but, as I told someone recently, It was nice to walk around New York City just for a week or two and just actually feel like I'm a professional actor again.

Contact Camera Staff Writer Jabril Faraj at 303-473-1330 or [email protected]

Appearing on OLTL, though, is like crack; one hit, and you keep coming back for more. Just ask Tuc and Florencia.

Appearing on OLTL, though, is like crack; one hit, and you keep coming back for more. Just ask Tuc and Florencia.

Sometimes you crack me up.

Appearing on OLTL, though, is like crack; one hit, and you keep coming back for more. Just ask Tuc and Florencia.

So true though haha. Unless he gets killed off..Which still doesn't stop some.