All Soaps: Great Actors who justified Horrible Roles or Bad Writing

[DRW50]

She wasn't dead. She left again, and her last scenes were when she came back for a few days because she was a match for her grandson in some bone marrow transplant. They told her they couldn't take hers, because of all of her drinking. In spite of this, she and Hayley made up, once and for all. Her last scene was at a bar, deciding not to drink, leaving the implication that she was going to finally have a good life.

[ellabelle]

After more thought, I'll add Vincent Irizarry as David Hayward to this list. Over the years, David was constantly made out to be a villain, and he did some truly awful stuff over the years that frankly is pretty hard to justify, and yet there was something there that made fans love him or love to hate him. He was taken from a complex guy to a one-note villain, but even then, he brought a lot to the show, terrible writing aside. David was supposed to be a short-term character who ended up lasting years.

[ChitHappens]

I agree! She was a wonderful talent in spite of the horrendous writing for Jill from beginning to end! I will add that NA was one of the most striking women to ever grace Daytime!

ANDREA

[LeClerc]

I didn't know she had come back during the bone marrow story! Until now I thought her last stint had been when Enzo was born and she had to sneak in to see him because nobody would let her see him, and she stole a lock of his hair. (I think she even was planning on kidnapping him but my memory is fuzzy). Then when Mateo started getting threatening phone calls from Proteus he initially thought it was Arlene messing with him.

I absolutely LOVED Olivia Birkelund. She had chemistry with every single person she came into contract with, even the duller-than-dull David Beecroft.

[DaytimeFan]

Lauren Koslow as DAYS' Kate has a rightful place in this discussion. Koslow has taken a character that could have been painfully one note and played out and taken her places that other actresses simply couldn't have accomplished. The writing since Koslow's 1996 debut has been of varying levels of atrocious and yet I always look forward to a scene she's in. I never tire of Kate, regardless of what she's doing or who she's with. She elevates a scene and remains viable, both in terms of versatility of storylines and as a sexual woman at the age of 59. There isn't a diva left in daytime who can claim that.

[DRW50]

You're right about Lauren. Kate is such a unique character that sometimes it's tough for me to even analyze the writing for her. I just accept it. I guess that is in large part due to Lauren's work.

I missed Arlene taking a lock of Enzo's hair, and most of that thing when Hayley thought she'd killed her. I'm glad that wasn't the end.

Jess Walton belongs on the list too. She always tries to work with the crap she's often given. I remember in the mid 90's when she had little to do on the show, and she still won a Best Actress Emmy, because her work in the Who Shot Victor? story was just that strong.

A final mention for Jennifer Bassey, who always made Marian so much more heartbreaking and vital than the typical comic relief deadbeat mother/cougar. When they paired her with Stuart, we got to see all sides to her, and Bassey never let up, even when her story consisted of being held captive by the dime a dozen psycho Lee Hawkins, or being dragged away for shooting Marisa.

[marceline]

As someone who used to love RH, I've come to the conclusion that his "greatness" was limited to a specific character at a specific time. He was great when he was great but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. When he checked out on the role of Todd, he not only didn't bother to hide it, he did everything but flip off the camera on a daily basis. He was great when the writing was great but I don't see where he's ever really risen above bad writing. To the topic though...

An actor who I think did rise above was Debbi Morgan. That blindness story was trite bullshit but she made it tolerable.

I'm giving an Honorable Mention to Finn Wittrock (aka Dash Liplock, Fjord Spitball.) Everything about Damon's "origin" story was a mess but I thought he played that steaming pile of crap very well and his chemistry with MEK was wonderful.

[DaytimeFan]

It's impossible to analyze the writing for Kate on DAYS...the only consistent thing is Lauren Koslow's portrayal, she infuses Kate with depth that the writing never affords her. Koslow does a lot with her styling, body language, the way she moves within a set and most of all her voice (which sounds different from her voice in real life) that gives the character something more than being the typical 'rich bitch' character. Kate is all the shades of grey and she can be parachuted into every single storyline and make it work.

Jess Walton keeps Jill Abbott afloat with writing that hasn't been good for the character since 2002. For ten years she's kept Jill intact, through that hack bitch from the depths of hell LML, Josh Griffith, Paul Rauch, Scott Hamner, Hogan Sheffer and ol' MAB. Her 1997 Emmy win was proof that she can make whatever she's given work.

Jennifer Bassey is another one of the Hall of Famers in this discussion. Marian Colby Chandler should have been a blink and you miss her recurring character. Hell, Jennifer only had a contract on AMC from 1998-2003...and yet Marian continued to flutter like a monarch butterfly, eye catching and impossible to ignore. She's a truly FABULOUS actress, she commands attention, her scenes shooting Marissa were riveting and I think it's rather telling that of all the characters to bring back and repair for the AMC finale, Agnes Nixon thought Marian was deserving of being one of them.

[Ryan Chamberlain]

Agreed!

I liked the guy. He was a good choice for Tad's son. He just didn't have much to do.

[marceline]

It was a bad story all the way around. There was no reason to make him Tad's biological son. He could just as easily been someone from a bad home who Tad took an interest in and made a part of the family. Regardless, both actors made it work. I was really impressed with Wittrock's acting around Damon's ADHD, especially in the story where Liza switched his meds. He did a great job of showing (not telling) that Damon was unraveling. He played Damon as increasingly fidgety. It was little ways, like a constant tapping of his hands or feet or blinking more. He gave a lot of effort to a slapped together story.

To add another one to this list: Tim Stickney. That man singularly kept RJ Gannon from turning into a parody even when it seemed like the writers had a bet to see who could destroy the character better/faster/more. When I think of his last return where he spent his limited time on the show propping Todd/Tea, it still makes me want to punch someone in the throat.

[Mr. Vixen]

Y'all will probably assault me but...

Diana DeGarmo on Y&R. Angelina was written as such a stereotype who, I believe, was meant to be annoying. But Diana played her with so much heart, that she ended up becoming very likeable.

[tune_in_tomorrow]

I agree with VirginiaHamilton regarding Lynn Herring as Lucy Coe. Another actress in that same vein -- although on for a much shorter period -- was Leann Hunley on DAYS. Not too many people remember that she was pretty villainous in her early days as the woman who would break up Roman and Marlena, frame him for murder, etc. etc. but Hunley, like Herring did a few years later, brought something more that made you want to see more. Then, for whatever reason, TPTB decided to make Anna and Calliope the "Laverne & Shirley" of daytime with Eugene thrown in as Lenny or Squiggy, I guess, which was fun but really didn't make much sense for the character. Hard to believe she was only on for four years but she made enough of an impact to bring her back 20-some years later. I would have loved to have seen her and Philece Sampler's Renee battle it out over the years but even when she appeared a lot back in those days, Anna seemed like a throwaway character to me.

[VirginiaHamilton]

The only reason why I declined to mention RJ Gannon (despite the fact that he was originally fashioned to exist as a thorn in Hank's side) is because I truly believed that TS did have decent writing to work with early in his run and wasn't that horrible a character (even at his worst).

[Susan Hunter]

Stephen Nichols on Days. He just came on as a random menacing bad guy. I really started to like him right after he found the Pawn and kept him hidden in his apartment. He rose above the material and created an interesting character.

[DaytimeFan]

Oh but his return under Sheffer was painful to watch for both he and MBE...whatever Magic they had died with that writing. They are both strong actors, but they just collapsed at DAYS. They were both far better off at GH.