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Actors who talk down their soap past

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  • Member

Robin Wright seems to have mellowed, especially when she was a guest on Chelsea Lately and Handler told her she loved her on Santa Barbara it was her show when she was a teen.

With age comes wisdom, lol.

Frankly, when Meg Ryan did an interview years ago with Jules Asner on E!, I was stunned they had spent as much time as they did on her ATWT stint. I mean, not only did she talk about being on the show (and no, as far as I can recall, she wasn't exactly dismissive about it), but they also had interviewed Frank Runyeon and Scott Bryce beforehand about working with her. Usually, we're lucky if we get a two-second sound bite from some low-level editor at an entertainment magazine.

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  • Member

What about Meg Ryan though? ATWT was a big hit during her time on the show.

But she was also portraying a character who -- I am sorry to say -- could be absurd in her...naïveté?

  • Member

I do know during When Harry met Sally, she said she played a character on ATWT that was dumber then dirt.. that you could tell her the sky was green and she'd believe it.. or something like that LOL
Perhaps that is the reason why she really hated the time on ATWT. It is true that Betsy was completely stupid. I mean seriously I loathed her character and couldn't get all the rage. Contrast that to the first SORAS'd Emily (her sister) and it starts to become clear. I always thought she thought she was too good for soaps, but this is the first time I've seen anything about her talking about the character. If that's why she didn't look back fondly on her time there, I'd have to agree with her.
  • Member

I do know the Rue M. was asked about why she left Another World, and she said you didn't leave a soap, you were basically fired so it sounds like she liked workign on AW, but was suddenly fired.

To be fair, it wasn't as if Rue was portraying a sympathetic character, regardless of what the fan mail was telling her. Maybe now you can play a psychotic nanny who is poisoning the show's lead heroine and taking over her family and expect job security, but not back then. Caroline Johnson would've exited sooner or later.

  • Member

Maybe she didn't have a great experience with the show.

Lauren Holly can kiss my ass. Aside from "Picket Fences" and maybe "NCIS," what work has she done that's been of quality? I mean, it's one thing to be Darlene Vogel and say how much you hate soaps in general and your soap and your character in particular because, let's face it, she couldn't have been on OLTL at a worse time. Hell, even someone like Dana Delany gets a pass from me because, with all due respect to my fellow ATWT fans, she wasn't there during any of its golden ages. But Holly was on AMC when her character was a pivotal one during some of its finest writing EVER. AMC got their money's worth out of her, and her career got a huge boost from them.

Edited by Khan

  • Member

I do know during When Harry met Sally, she said she played a character on ATWT that was dumber then dirt.. that you could tell her the sky was green and she'd believe it.. or something like that LOL

Perhaps that is the reason why she really hated the time on ATWT. It is true that Betsy was completely stupid. I mean seriously I loathed her character and couldn't get all the rage. Contrast that to the first SORAS'd Emily (her sister) and it starts to become clear. I always thought she thought she was too good for soaps, but this is the first time I've seen anything about her talking about the character. If that's why she didn't look back fondly on her time there, I'd have to agree with her.

I wouldn't say Meg Ryan (or anyone else) was too good for soaps, but I do wish she had had the benefit of a better HW. If not Douglas Marland, then someone who might have written Betsy more smartly.

  • Member

Conversely, while I'd never complain that Morgan Freeman didn't even mention being on AW during an interview ("Electric Company," yes; AW, no), I certainly would not blame him for skipping over his time on a show that was poorly-rated, not entirely well-written (at least not during his tenure) and often treated as a second-class citizen by its network and sponsor.

My impression of Morgan Freeman from some interviews/bios I've seen has been (and correct me if someone has seen otherwise) that he always wanted to be making movies and took the soap jobs (including an appearance on RH) and TEC to pay the bills. He was of the mind to leave TEC several times. I haven't heard him disparage the shows he was on, so much as he was eager to be working in films, so he wasn't where he truly wanted to be.

Edited by applcin

  • Member

LOLing at Lauren Holly. I'm interested to hear her elaborate on that, but not if it means reading Nell Farter.

My impression of Morgan Freeman from some interviews/bios I've seen has been (and correct me if someone has seen otherwise) that he always wanted to be making movies and took the soap jobs (including an appearance on RH) and TEC to pay the bills. He was of the mind to leave TEC several times. I haven't heard him disparage the shows he was on, so much as he was eager to be working in films, so he wasn't where he truly wanted to be.

A quote from him that's stuck with me is that he believes he "should have left it way before" he actually did (it being TEC).

  • Member

But she was also portraying a character who -- I am sorry to say -- could be absurd in her...naïveté?

I actually loved Lyndsey Frost better in the role than Meg…just like I did Heather Rattray as Lily than Martha…..I think I was more saddened by Lyndsey and Heather's departures than Martha and Meg. Thank gawd when Martha returned they made her look more like Heather than Martha's Lily.

  • Member

Here is what Lauren Holly said

"I know you love the genre, Nelson, but nothing good can come from daytime TV. The entire medium is set up to work against good writing and acting.”

http://d6.daytimeconfidential.com/2008/11/lauren-holly-nothing-good-can-come-from-daytime-tv

She was right. That wasn't always true but it sure as hell is true now. The low budgets, lack of rehearsal time, focus groups (does anyone still do focus groups?), recycling of failed management from show to show, etc.... That woman told the truth and in the following years, she's been proven right over and over again.

Edited by marceline

  • Member

I wouldn't say Meg Ryan (or anyone else) was too good for soaps, but I do wish she had had the benefit of a better HW. If not Douglas Marland, then someone who might have written Betsy more smartly.

How do you think Marland wrote for Lyndsey's Meg?

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