Which soap actor that made it big surprised you?

[Soapsuds]

Both Moore and Tomei were at last night SAG awards. I wonder if they chatted and ever talk old ATWT times??

Ouch!!

[~bl~]

I recall people who liked Taye Diggs in Rent wondering why on earth he had such a bad role on GL. People who saw him on Broadway loved him completely, so I understood why he became popular.

[YRfan23]

i was gonna say that I thought it was because of Rent that Taye Diggs went onto bigger things....if he had wanted to remain in soaps, I feel like he would have fared  better on like AMC or OLTL....maybe even Y&R....

[Gray Bunny]

He played Sugar Hill as part of the Marcus and Dahlia story. As great a year as it was for GL in 1997, anything involving Marcus/Dahlia was already an afterthought. 

[YRfan23]

I could maybe see him as Malcolm on Y&R if he ever wanted to do soaps again, and if they ever wanted to bring the character back full time....

[CBRVA83]

Josh Kelly (who's now on the Lifetime dramedy series "UnREAL") and Melissa Fumero (who's now on the Fox sitcom "Brooklyn Nine-Nine") both from OLTL! They weren't terrble on OLTL, but their storyines on OLTL were both hits and misses!

[frequentsoapfan]

Josh Kelly sick on Unreal.  His character is just so unecessary and dull

[CBRVA83]

Don't you mean "suck" and not "sick?

[Gray Bunny]

I know his character wasn't necessarily liked on OLTL, but he's got some charisma and looks, and I LOVE UnReal. :-) 

[frequentsoapfan]

Yes I mean suck. Stupid autocorrect! He's just kind of their half the time on Unreal. Really lacks screen presence and his looks do nothing for me.

[P.J.]

I thought of another one: GL's Frank Grillo. I could have understood him working steadily (unlike Bailey Chase who just mystifies me, yet it seems like I see him guesting at least once a month on various shows), but not carrying a franchise movie series. I've never seen either of the Purge movies, but now I hear there's a third one in the works.

[victorlord75]

I agree.  I remember when Ms. Moore made her GH debut, how everybody commented on how unusual her speaking voice was--and not in a good way.  Her character, Jackie Templeton was poorly written, as I remember it.  They didn't know what to do with her.  To be completely honest, I have no idea how they wrote her character out exactly.  Apparently, Ms. Moore's soap opera exposure gave her the boost she needed to go on to bigger and better things, and I don't mean to be critical of her.  I'm glad for anyone who finds success.  I think one thing that is true is daytime soap fans are the most intensely loyal fans that an actor or actress can have in their corner.  So, for that reason, a soap gig is good, added to the benefit of the actor/actress having the opportunity to improve their acting skills.

[frequentsoapfan]

With the crap stories on now and haphazard production values no one is improving their acting on a soap anymore.