Is/Was There a Soap Industry A-List?

[VirginiaHamilton]

Hey, I am just asking because being a friend of (fill in the blank)/an industry pet gets you very far in Hollywood. Just wanted to know if the same applies in the soap industry.

As for the Bell shows, I was under the impression that has its own pet in the form of Eric Braeden.

[Gray Bunny]

He and Melody have their own dressing rooms that for the most part are never used by other actors on days they're (EB/MTS) not working.

[Skin]

Mathison is probably one of the biggest soap stars to come out of the 00's though, if we are being diplomatic about it. He got tons of jobs on Extra, Good Morning America, Dancing With The Stars and more all the while still holding down an "important" daytime character on his home soap. That doesn't mean he is A - list but I do think that impact is notable. Duhmel is probably the only other male soap star from that period that eclipsed him, maybe Bruening too.

[DaytimeFan]

I see like there are no big soap stars to come out of the 2000s because the audience spiralled down so quickly once the 90s were over.

[VirginiaHamilton]

Another thing that I didn't know - that actors use other actors' dressing rooms when the other actors aren't working.

I just assumed that everyone on contract had the same deal as EB/MTS - having their own dressing rooms that no one else uses.

[SFK]

Sorry 'bout that sweetheart.

VW has laid low, she did an ep of one of the L&O's a few years back. She also did a great interview that someone posted here, let me see if I can find it... Ah!:

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Victoria_Wyndham_on_Another_World_and_another_life

[SFK]

Absolutely, spot on assessment.

I think VW may have been a bit miffed as any human being/actor in her position might be, but I kind of get the impression that she was so over it all that she didn't really care. She did admit to this at at least one point, and I recall reading that she stepped her game back up when DW passed.

I read a SOD interview with Anna Stuart years ago, and she talked about asking herself if she should get out there and try to do the things that Linda and Susan do, but ultimately she just didn't have the desire to do so. She enjoyed her relaxing hours off the job. I think VW felt the same.

[DaytimeFan]

I think you're absolutely right. I think her career since AW has attested to that. She seemed over it all by the time the 90s rolled in and definitely over it all by the time AW wrapped. That single episode of Law & Order: SVU was, in my opinion, a health insurance episode, likely done to renew her health insurance (like when Beverlee McKinsey did GH).

This comment from Wyndham is interesting:

Would you go back to one?

VW: Oh, it would have to be an extraordinary offer and an extraordinary situation. In other words, probably not. I wasn’t interested in soaps. I was doing it because it was a good job.

Anna Stuart, oh she could have been so much more famous if she'd put herself out there, she is another one who just didn't have it in her.

Linda Dano really had drive to make herself a star and she more or less accomplished it. She's still on QVC, still gets the odd interview.

The dressing room issue is very much from show to show. A lot of the actors on DAYS have their own dressing rooms, some share. Nobody at B&B shares. Very few at Y&R share. It seems to be an issue of seniority and how often an actor is on.

[ellabelle]

I'd say that Cam Mathison was fairly high up the soap totem pole, and he seemed to want to model himself after Susan Lucci in terms of doing whatever the network asked of him, getting as many outside gigs as possible while still keeping his day job, etc. - hell, I even saw the man on HSN the other day demonstrating SuLu's malibu pilates! For whatever reason though, I always got a weird vibe from him, like an overly friendly, not very genuine feel about him. I've never met the guy, so I could be completely off base, but I always felt like he was trying too hard. I think the term 'pet' is a fairly good one for him.

[ellabelle]

There was definitely dressing room sharing at AMC. The younger/newer actors usually shared dressing rooms, and even Susan Lucci said that she and Fra Heflin shared a dressing room the size of a broom closet for 15+ years. Heck, Susan never had her own bathroom at AMC, despite her status. Even her daughter Liza had fancier digs when she was on Passions.

[Gray Bunny]

Most actors on Y&R and B&B are doubled up. Now with Y&R's enormous cast, I imagine they're tripled up or they just play musical chairs with whichever dressing room isn't occupied that day.

[VirginiaHamilton]

Say what?

[ellabelle]

She wrote in her book that when AMC was moving out to LA, Liza told her to look on the bright side - she'd probably get a much better dressing room, and maybe even her own bathroom. Apparently Liza had a pretty swanky dressing room set up on Passions. When Susan got to LA, her dressing room was even smaller than the one she had in NYC, and she still had to use the bathroom down the hall, but she did have an actual window in the LA dressing room, so that was a bit of an upgrade. Apparently AMC didn't want the actors to get to comfy in their new digs.

[AMCHistory]

I would love to know the room pairings over the years. I know that it has lead to some friendships and some rivalries.

The ones I know of are:

Susan Lucci (Erica) and Fra Heflin (Mona)... after Fra's passing, Susan did not get a replacement

Lindsay Price (An Li) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Kendall)... they were also classmates in school. After Lindsay left, Eva LaRue (Maria) because Sarah's roommate

Bill Timoney (Alfred) and Laurence Lau (Greg)

Tasia Valenza (Dottie) and Carmen Thomas-Paris (Hillary)... Carmen was a small town girl, and Tasia was more "downtown." Tasia took Carmen out to try Sushi for the first time. They are still good friends. Carmen is also leasing her NYC pad to AMC alum Stephen Caffrey (Andrew Preston)

Michael Tylo (Matt) and David Canary (Adam)... I think MEK and David would share a room too at one time

Shari Headley (Mimi) and Tonya Pinkins (Livia) during their second runs

Bobby Steggert (Bobby) and Aiden Turner (Aidan)

Kelly Ripa (Hayley) and Teresa Blake (Gloria)

Winsor Harmon (Del) and Mark Consuelos (Mateo)... in fact Winsor was one of the few people in the studio who knew about Mark and Kelly's relationship. Mark was even sleeping on Winsor's couch before he got his own place. I think Chris Bruno (Michael) moved in with Mark too

Trent Bushey (David) and Lonnie Quinn (Will)

I think that Ruth Warrick (Phoebe) and James Kiberd (Trevor) were a few stars not asked to share a room.

[Max]

Although Ellabelle gave a very good explanation as to why Lucci was/is an A-Lister, I have always believed that her acting skills never came anywhere close to the hype.

Given how popular Dano was, it remains a mystery why AW's ratings were always so bad throughout the 80s and 90s. (Of course, Dano was far from the only positive thing AW had going for it.)

I think that Fulton may have kept her A-List status a lot longer had ATWT (and the P&G soaps in general) mainted its relevance among young people. Sadly, being a big name on that soap did not really mean that much over the past thirty years.