Overhyped Daytime Soap Actors and Actresses

[frequentsoapfan]

I didn't care for TW King on Charmed either and I agree with you quartermainefan

[AMCHistory]

I agree, Mr. King has been so forgetable in his recent roles... especially since his looks began to fade. He was so compelling and handsome and as the dangerous Luis Alcazar. Then, 4 inches too much hair and 20 lbs later he came back to GH as a caricature of wise guy villain.

[JaneAusten]

Don't kill me anyone but I have to say I think Rick Hearst is overrated and overhyped. It's not because I think he's terrible, he's an effective supporting actor but I just don't think he's as good as the Emmys and on liners claim. To me he doesn't have the screen presence or command to be a lead and every time he gets fired from whatever of the 6 shows he's been on it's some crime against humanity.

[DRW50]

I think you took quartermainefan's line

[JaneAusten]

Lol I actually like Rick Hearst but I don't think he's some wonder god of soap actors which is pretty much how he's universally looked at.

[SweetPea36]

I know this is one of the most sacred of all cows, but I always felt that Ben Hendrickson was overrated as a soap actor. He never seemed to reaize he had to pull his huge broad stage gestures way down for the TV cameras and he also continued to use that big, booming stage voice. He always played to the last row of seats; unfortunately, that was my sofa so I thought he was a bit overwrought.

Having said that, I loved his heart and thought he did an excellent job of bringing that to his role.

I have always thought Deidre Hall was vastly overrated. She often detracts from her scenes rather than adding anything to them.

[AMCHistory]

Hendrickson only has one expression in his role as Hal. It is tragic that he was such a tortured soul, but that was all I saw in his role. As Ruth Warrick once said, "the moment you act out your character just like you, is the moment you are no longer an actor."

[DRW50]

Hendrickson actually had a lot of expressions as Hal - he did plenty of comedy and romance along with high drama. Don't let the last, downtrodden years of his character fool you, especially since he took several long breaks from the role by that point.

[quartermainefan]

I avoided mentioning him because I didn't want to beat a dead horse, but since it was brought up.... Rick Hearst is useless, a charisma-free black hole of blah. Whatever talent he has is wasted on him, rendered useless, and this is why he was fired from every soap that ever existed. Then his fans go on about how great he was as Alan Michael. Alan Michael was 1930 give or take. He had one good story on GH and should have been written off immediately after. How is he doing on B&B these days? Are they still dumb producers over there too stupid to figure out how to use his talent? It must be tough to be Rick Hearst living in a soap world where every producer and writer alive is too dumb to figure out how to utilize you correctly.

[frequentsoapfan]

He's been long gone from B&B

[marceline]

I have no opinion about Rick Hearst one way or the other but 1930?! Damn! Have a little heart for those of us who were watching then. LOL!

[VirginiaHamilton]

They sure gave him a lot of chances (more than he deserved, IMO) to prove his worthiness as a leading man.

[VirginiaHamilton]

I honestly believe that he and his character would've been remembered a lot more fondly if TPTB stuck to the script by remembering what kind of character Rex was supposed to be instead of trying to make him something that he wasn't.

[~bl~]

I consider Rick Hearst, more overrated than overhyped as he seldom got magazine covers and he was never the ABC GH golden boy like some of the others. That said I've watched him on different soaps since the flapper days if his GL time was 1930. I think some of his supporters speak of him like they do because he didn't get as much attention like others in the stories that he appeared.

[Quent]

Alot of what has been posted is spot-on, whether it's obvious (Lavoisier) or not (Hearst), but I could not disagree more about Ben Hendrickson. He could support a story or lead a story. He could do comedy or tragedy, or (unlike most of the divas in daytime)just support a scene without stealing it. Anytime I try to think of good daytime acting, I remember Ben and Colleen in the "death of Jennifer" scenes.