She isn't usually BAD, but when Susan Seaforth-Hayes was getting a lot of screentime on Days in 2004-05, she was out of control. It was like there was a director standing behind her with a cattle prod whispering, "Louder! Bug your eyes more!"

It looked like she thought she was acting on a stage in front of 20,000 people and had to emote for the people in the very back. Except it was TV.

LOL @ Terrell Tilford. Gotta find those scenes on YouTube!

Me too! My curiosity is seriously piqued. Those screencaps look like he's doing a dance scene from Billy Elliot.

Edited October 14, 200916 yr by marceline

But is it really possible to overact on a soap? The more OTT and hammy the performance, the more they should cue the organ music. I love a good overactor. Louis Edmonds (Dark Shadows and AMC) was the biggest ham ever on soaps and recited every line like he was doing a one man show of Hamlet, but I loved him and loved to watch Langley and Phoebe.

Thaao Penghlis, Susan Lucci...where would soaps be without a good ham?

Good point. I think it's possible to be a "ham" and still be good at what you do.

Good calls with Cameron Mathison and Terrell Tilford. MAN, Terrell was bad that day.

Judith Chapman! No one tops her

That's not overacting. Jesse just unfortunately caught whatever rare, neurological disease that's afflicted Ryan Lavery for YEARS. He also exhibits the same unusual arm flailing and torso contorting.

And this hasn't happened yet, but you'll know it's terminal once we see his thong.

Soap opera acting is ABOUT overacting. Having said that, I think there are a lot of sincerely talented, well-trained actors doing some gloriously bad overacting. Those who come to mind are people like David Canary, Liz Hubbard, Kim Zimmer, Tony Geary, Sue Flannery, Christian LeBlanc, Peter Bergman, Jeanne Cooper, Darnell Williams, Erika Slezak, Robin Strasser, and Robin Mattson...the list goes on and on. Take it down a notch, people! For me, truly good acting in daytime has always come from people who have been more subtle and who fly under the radar. For example, Kathleen Widdoes, Robert Newman, Doug Watson, Kathy Hays, Mary Fickett, Ellen Parker, Maeve Kinkead, and Maureen Garrett.

Good hams:

Bad hams:

Haley Erin would have to act first in order to "over-act."

Ew, Jennifer Gareis.

Kim Zimmer, as much as I sometimes love her, has to be on here too. Her work after Jeffrey's "death" was embarrassing.

Florencia Lozano (Tea) on OLTL. But she NAILS it with just the right balance of crazy and depth and I look forward to seeing her every day!

FL does that wide-eyed, open mouth stuff every time her character goes through yet another OTT "moment". She's a parody of soap acting. Her horrible acting when Tea was shot was one of the more memorable moments of the KAD fiasco.

Another awful actor who got on soaps cause of his looks and charm...Ugh!!