Do your feelings on veteran actors change?

[Soapsuds]

He admitted to being bored until ESS showed up.

:lol:

[Titus Andronicus]

When inspired, Drake Hogestyn wasn't bad. It depended a lot on the writing and who he was working with. In 1986, he's awkward as can be, but that fit in with what John Black was. There are good scenes through 1990.

Maison Blanche falls into the "so bad it's good," mostly because of him. I thought the drug addict storyline had very good potential, but they dropped that. Probably because the storyline it was connected to was an absolute disaster. I thought he was good during the first half of 2008. He was inspired and actually brought something fresh to the table.

James Reynolds baffles me. I thought he was excellent during Slasher in 1983-84 and the 1985 Richard Cates storyline. He hasn't approached that since.

[BKuzak]

For me, my love for Erika Slezak and Viki herself has never waverd which i'm sure i've said on several message threads. But of course there have been some stories where it was hard for me to swallow. Having Niki Smith take Jessica to bars was the big one. They were telling it like it was 1985 during the Viki/Niki story and we all know Jessica wasn't even born then. The only way i could move on was to say, OK it was 1990 during Viki's stroke but still there were a lot of people living in that house back then and it's hard to beleive none of them noticed. That was probably the hardest one to get over.

Then there was when Viki told Tina to never come back in 2008, even though she has forgiven Todd for countless mistakes against her. Yes i know Natalie and Jared were almost killed in that secret room because Tina knew and didn't do anything. but in the past Todd pretended to have DID to get out of going to prison because he knew Viki couldn't ignore it. Then he took her and a whole bunch of others hostage when everyone was pointing the finger at him for Georgie Philips murder. and then there was the time he tried to trade Natalie for Blair when Mitch Laurence had her and thought he could get them both out but ended up getting Natalie almost killed. and knowing Tess was in charge but made a deal with her not to tell anybody because she found out he was hiding Marty. I'm sure if i think about it the list can go on and on with how he's hurt Viki in many different ways but she always forgave him. Maybe Tina will come back at the end so Viki can forgive her but probably not.

BTW: All Viki fans should really check out ABC.com because it has a "Viki 101" pictorial. Some photo's go way back to when Erika first started. very rare stuff.

[P.J.]

I'm not MB's biggest fan by any stretch of the imagination---but I think she was simply bored in the role. I give her props for making Rose the "anti-Lily" for the first 2 years. However, after Rose died, the "vortex suckitude effect" made Lily seem just that much more boring and pointless.

Jon Hensley slept walked for the last ten years or so. In part because MB's stint as Rose made Holden pointless, but also because he had two modes..."angry" and "stable". Aside from his work with Lesli Kay (which he really seemed to enjoy), the Carly/Holden affair (which made me angrier than spit, but obviously reinvigorated Holden's character), and the Luke comes out story, he phoned it in.

[Soapsuds]

Hensley was bored since the time he worked with Rattray. Even back then he wanted Lily and Holden spiltsville.

[P.J.]

^^^I think it was before that---it was easy to see the Holden/Lily dynamic made (and kept) Holden the transgressor/idiot while Lily was DM's golden girl.

[Soapsuds]

I think the last straw was when his memory loss was reversed. He left and didnt return until Felicia brought him back.

[juniorz1]

IMPRESS:

Eileen Davidson- I absolutely detested her as Kelly #4 on Santa Barbara and thought she was awful. Then she joined DAYS a year later and I was appalled- all of the same affectations and whininess that drove me nuts on SB were still present on DAYS. It wasn't until they turned Kristen into a bitch that I actually started to like her and, frankly, when she came into her own as an actress IMO. I was nervous when she returned to Y&R as Ashley (Brenda Epperson was Ashley when I started watching), as I didn't think she could play a heroine well. But she proved me wrong and I absolutely love her now.

Lesli Kay- I thought she was vastly overrated on ATWT in her first run, but when she returned in 2009, she totally won me over with her performances.

I'm actually rooting for her to get an Emmy nom this year, though her competition is stiff.

[Vizion]

Ehhh, I think all actors, particularly on soaps where the play the same character everyday for years, get lazy, bored, etc. I also think that soap writing is so awful right now I don't blame anyone. I guess my attitude is why the actors are expected to make an effort when the writers don't. Plus, if I don't want to watch half the damn stories, I'm sure they don't want to play them. Yes yes I know, "it's their job", but lets not act like you're not a lot less enthusiastic and give a lot less effort at your job when you're doing somehing you don't want to do.

Really though, I ask myself "What actors would I trust with really complex, emotionally gripping material?"

Laura Wright? Hell no.

Susan Flannery? Yes.

Michelle Stafford? I dunno, depends, but I'm leaning towards yes

Sarah Brown? Yes.

Heather Tom? Yes.

Gina Tognoni? Yes.

Maura West? Yes.

Debbi Morgan? Yes.

Eileen Davidson? Yes.

Tricia Cast? Yes.

Melody Thomas Scott? I dunno (and I love Melody)

Alicia Minshew? No.

Erika Slezak? Yes but I'd be prepared for her to go OTT.

Robin Strasser? See above.

Nancy Lee Grahn? See above.

Crystal Chappell? Yes.

Beth Ehlers? Yes (and yes I saw Taylor on AMC and I still think Beth is a good actress when she wants to be)

I guess it comes down to who I think can deliver when they give a damn. Kim Zimmer said that for a long time before Tom Pelphrey came on the show she was very uninspired and felt she had become somewhat stale. IMO, she did, but that doesn't mean she's a bad actress. Lynn Herring sucked as Lisanne on DOOL, but she did not like the character or the writing for it, doesn't mean she's a bad actress. She still delivered great stuff when she returned as Lucy on GH.

Basically, my opinion rarely changes. I think Sarah Brown is a great actress and my not liking her Julia on ATWT or Claudia on GH doesn't change that because I still know the type of performances she's capable of delivering. I mean, I love a lot of film actresses and I can honestly say that I've seen a bad performance/character from each and every one of them (including Meryl Streep).

The older actresses are different. If you were good in the 80's but haven't been good in two decades well.....then I might change my mind.

[DRW50]

In some cases the writers do make much more of an effort than the actors. They give the actors some chances, even if the material sucks. But lousy actors like TSJ, JPL, Billy Miller, Josh Morrow, etc. either are too lazy or they actively fight the material.

[Antoyne]

I will say I always liked Drake Hogestyn..His type of acting is partially the reasons soaps get a bad rap for their acting, but I loved it...He was the quintessential soap actor..and given the material he had to play I thought he did well.

[~bl~]

I have to say just like in the real world of work, actors sometimes coast on their material. Doesn't mean they aren't talented, just that they aren't being challenged. I actually appreciate at times when actors do that or else play against the material. If the story goes against the established history of the character, I prefer that to the alternative of the actor acting like this is the greatest thing they had the opportunity to play.

For me some actors it would take me a whole lot not to enjoy them. Others, my interest is dependent on story solely. If I like their story, cool, if not bored now.

[applcin]

Beth Ehlers for me would fall into the "started to depress me" category. I adored Harley for years on GL since she debuted. But then the writers made Harley angry all the time, or it seemed like she was always yelling and bitter. She and later on DAM, were, in my final years of watching the show (2003-2005), the ONLY reasons I was still watching. Then DAM was gone and Harley had been so ruined and the show such a boring mess, I just couldn't do it anymore. And when BE came on to AMC, they once again started her out as a character with a huge chip on her shoulder before they gave us a chance to care about her. But early and mid Harley was a huge fave of my GL experience and I was glad for the chance to meet her about 7 years ago and tell her how much I enjoyed watching her.

There are a couple of actors for me whom I either disliked seeing on screen right away or grew so tired of/bombarded with so much that I have no desire to watch them at all and they are pretty much set in stone:

When Roscoe Born came on as Joe #2 on Ryan's Hope, I hated him: 1) I was a kid and thought Richard Muenz was a hottie and RB wasn't and 2) Born's Joe was written much darker and slimier. Later on, when he came on OLTL I still didn't want to see him. I didn't "love to hate" Mitch Laurence, I just hated him. And two of his subsequent returns, including the last one, got me to stop watching the show.

Thorsten Kaye: his character took over Port Charles (and Kevin/Jon Lindstrom got shafted, I felt) and then his character took over AMC. Just wanted him to go away.

My dislike of these 2 is nothing personal, I just have no desire to see them on screen, to the point of it literally being a turnoff. I would also put Bradley Cole in this category which has more to do with certain fanatical fans than anything else. And Jane Elliot. I know people love Tracy Quartermaine but I was never one of them since the first time I saw her, oh, about 30 years ago. Fingernails on a blackboard to me.

Going back to David Andrew Macdonald, he grew to impress. I didn't notice him much at the end of AW (I wasn't watching that regularly by then) and even early on GL. It wasn't until they allowed Edmund to be fleshed out more, and not just be evil for evil's sake, that I really took notice of how good an actor he is. I was glad for the (too brief) time Edmund was a little less polarized and "extreme-ized".

Tony Geary was a big part of the draw for me on GH (having started watching the show when Luke & Laura literally took off the first time). He made Luke interesting for me to watch for years, even after all the "on the run" adventures stopped. But then, I don't know if he got bored or I did, or both, but it looked to me like he was there on the show serving out a (life) sentence and phoning it in, like "so this is what the rest of my life is going to be like." And at that point, I no longer cared about Luke as a character.

[DRW50]

I liked DAM from the time I saw him on AW - I'm just sorry his GL run didn't work out better (although he got a relatively "happy" ending).

Agree with you about Beth Ehlers. It was so tough to watch her in later years.

[SHaskellFan]

Thorsten Kaye. He was only good as Patrick IMO. Otherwise he sucks! And he ends up coming on a show and taking it over and that's NOT a good thing.

Rebecca Herbst. Honestly I may get slammed for this but I swear she hasn't turned in a decent or believable performance since the 90's. Her "grief" over Jake's death had me cold and rolling my eyes.

Maurice Benard. He wasn't always this bad was he? Same with Steve Burton. I cannot stand these two and yet they are the "stars" of their shows.

Vanessa Marcil. Boy she sucks now. I didn't use to think so. But the combo of shrieking and bad botox is lethal.

Laura Wright. Wait - when did she start acting?!

Michael Easton. Oy. The less said on him the better.

Joshua Morrow. He wasn't always so bad. In fact some of his scenes were downright amazing (Cassie's death, anyone? The one time I thought he did BETTER than MY Sharon Case). But his phony tears at Sharon's recent memorial service ... Yuck. So badly acted. Noah's quiet grief was much more convincing.

And finally, Michelle Stafford - Was she always this giggly and pathetic and trying to act like a twenty year old sex kitten? She needs to be put out to pasture.