I do disagree about daytime having no good actors. I have seen plenty of good acting on soaps. I think it does have more to do with writing, the pace, and the genre itself. The genre lends itself to things like overacting, overwrought acting, etc. If the pacing was slower, there would be deeper nuance from the better actors.

Van Hansis got the usual soap fan fawning, but he was simply horrific for most of his time in the role of Luke. Gah.

I thought Van was mostly really good his first couple of years on ATWT. Later it was obvious that he was getting tired of his storylines and he starting looking bored and acting over the top more.

Edited June 10, 201213 yr by RomeAt50

Well, he wasn't the only one getting tired of his storylines!

I think Van Hansis was 10 times better than Chandler Massey is.

I do think the acting talent on GL, ATWT, and AW kept those shows on the air longer than they would have lasted otherwise.

While the casting standard wasn't quite there from the late 90's onwards, PGP soaps used to always have to best casting.

Special kudos goes out to the late and great Betty Rea, who is the best casting director to ever work on daytime.

Edited June 10, 201213 yr by Y&RWorldTurner

I thought Van was mostly really good his first couple of years on ATWT. Later it was obvious that he was getting tired of his storylines and he starting looking bored and acting over the top more.

He pretty much admitted that when he was interviewed about Reid's emergance.

Totally agree about ATWT having the best acting ensemble. Can you imagine Drake Hogestyn or Ronn Moss doing scenes with Maura West or Larry Bryggmann or Kathleen Widdoes or Michael Park, etc. ? In fairness, though, I have to say that the show did have the all-time worst daytime actor ever (excluding PASSIONS, of course). Remember the Paul Ryan from the '90s, John Howard? I don't think he ever had an acting lesson in his life.

But getting back to the topic at hand, the worst actors/actresses in daytime:

1) Drake Hogestyn

2) Charity Rahmer

3) Ronn Moss

4) Clayton Norcross (the first Thorne Forrester)

5) Roger Howarth

Well, he wasn't the only one getting tired of his storylines!

:lol: Dead

I think Van Hansis was 10 times better than Chandler Massey is.

Mmm....apples and applesauce, methinks.

It's not that I think Massey is better, probably more that his acting bag of tricks don't bug me nearly as much as Van's did.

Charity Rahmer at number two? I don't think so. That ho is number one, or my name ain't Khan!

Chompers is the most overhyped actor of our age, Billy Miller.

He put s more effort into his outside work than Y&R. He needs to just leave and focus on his primetime career. Especially since his coming to work hungover or high is even more off putting in his scenes

Edited June 10, 201213 yr by frequentsoapfan

Memorization doesn't equal good acting. What good is memorizing pages of dialogue if when you go one screen your dead in the eyes and sound liek you're reading from a script? That's sure not going to help when they are trying to get roles outside of GH.

He put s more effort into his outside work than Y&R. He needs to just leave and focus on his primetime career. Especially since his coming to work hungover or high is even more off putting in his scenes

I think that he has some talent, but it is completely squandered on Y&R. He did such a great job in that guest role on Justified. He could have slowly built a prime time career on that performance. I have no idea why he went back to Y&R. Money? Habit? Laziness?

I think that he has some talent, but it is completely squandered on Y&R. He did such a great job in that guest role on Justified. He could have slowly built a prime time career on that performance. I have no idea why he went back to Y&R. Money? Habit? Laziness?

He appeared on Ringer as well and for the past month has been in Australia filmnig a Lifetime movie. I think he's just sticknig around for the steady income. Because while I don't care about his acting he can get roles outside of Y&R.

Michael Easton (one expression for everything)

Agreed that the P&G soaps had some great casting directors. AW was a very theatrical, electrifying show, for lack of better words, during most of the 1970s, but the actors never really played to the back row. Doug Watson, Vicky Wyndham, and Bev McKinsey gave some beautifully nuanced performances, when they could've taken the easy way out and chewed the scenery. As much as I like Strasser, I think she tends toward caricature without a lot of depth, and I'm not sure she could've successfully played the subtlety that Wyndham brought to the role during the period. However I will say with Wyndham, her performances became less and less restrained over time. Her Justine was an absolute embarrassment.