'Hair Models' on soaps

[Paul Raven]

The term 'hair models' has been used over the years to describe and decry the trend for soaps to cast pretty young girls and boys with limited acting experience. Often modelling had been their only exposure to a camera and this was sometimes painfully obvious on screen.

When did this all begin?

Was it Y&R in the 70's going for a 'Young California' look with the likes of Trish Stewart,Brenda Dickson, Greg Houghton etc

That move to major focus on youth led other shows to hiring young, untrained actors.

What are some examples you would name as evidence of this?

Were there some performers who improved over time and others that were dropped because of their limitations?

 

One example I recall was when Kristen Vigard was dropped as Morgan on Guiding Light and her replacement Jennifer Cooke was more conventionally attractive but her performance onscreen was lacking.

Meanwhile Kristian Alfonso quickly improved and went on to be a soap superstar.

Discuss the good /bad/and not so ugly...

[JellicleCat]

The first examples that comes to mind are Clayton Norcross and Teri Ann Linn as the original Thorne and Kristen Forrester on B&B.

Now, Ronn Moss is hardly a master thespian, but the two "actors" (and I use the term loosely) that were hired to portray his siblings made him almost look Shakespearean by comparison.

 

Carrie Mitchum, the original Donna Logan on the same show was hardly award-worthy either, but in her case I think her surname had more to do with her hiring than her looks. At least that must have been the case because it can't have been due to her acting skills, which were minimal.

[SoapDope]

Ted McGinley (Dynasty, Love Boat, Happy Days, Married With Children) was a male model before being cast in roles. I think he and Doug Barr (Fall Guy, Designing Women etc...) were brought on shows like Merv Griffin, Dinah etc... modeling clothes where casting directors spotted them. 

 

Heather Locklear was also a model and in commercials before being cast in roles. 

 

Shemar Moore (was hired for looks).

 

 

[edgeofnik]

Lori Laughlin (TEON). She was laughably bad for at least a year. She did improve significantly, but it was obvious ABC/P&G forced TEON to add her and a couple of other less skilled younger actors. 

[Darn]

Jessica Morris was on One Life to Live for 4 years and did not improve one iota (and don't tell me she did, this is my opinion, calm down). She looked petrified in every scene. When they turned her into a "bad girl" the character got more interesting but she never improved.

[titan1978]

Cameron Mathison was a model before AMC, as was Josh Duhmel.  Frank Grillo on GL.  All turned out to make a career for themselves even if they started out with just good looks and charisma going for them (although I loathed Ryan by the end of AMC).

 

There was an era of time on OLTL that it seemed everyone they hired for teen to 30 year olds were the epitome of hair models, from about 1998 to the end.  David Fumero, both of the Rappaport kids, a Joey or two, the Ford family etc.  just one hot but green and often bland performer after another.

 

Now with Frank at GH, the same thing has affected what used to be a pretty well cast show.

 

Kerne Witter was a playboy model, she she was only second to Evans as Tina in my book.

 

Remember when having been in a music video was a credit enough to get cast on a soap?

[DaytimeFan]

Arianne Zucker as Nicole Walker at DAYS. She was very green and very wooden when she started and the 'Hair Model' tag was used repeatedly on her.

 

But given a year and she'd improved a lot and now she's had 20 years at the show.

[frequentsoapfan]

Nowadays they really aren't even that good looking. Like that girl who plays Mattie on Y&R. 

[Faulkner]

It’s funny: someone like Henry Golding can get plucked off a small travel show and become the male lead in three Hollywood films within a year. I haven’t seen Crazy Rich Asians, so I can’t tell if he’s any good or not, but it happens all over.

[Darn]

 

Or all of the black kids on B&B. I mean YIKES.

 

Frank Valentini casts very bland, very interchangeable men and I don't know why. Does he just cast whoever makes him hard? It's ridiculous and murder to the shows he produces.

 

Joshua Morrow has been coasting on cute for 25 years. He's still miscast as his onscreen parents son. Same goes for Amelia Heinle and she looks horrible now.

 

 

He's very charismatic and incredibly handsome, he was good. And surrounded by great people like Michelle Yeoh (a goddess) and Constance Wu.

[Soapsuds]

Of course everyone knows the answer to this question. Should it even be asked?

I never thought JM was cute but agree on the rest of your statement.

[SoapDope]

 

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[frequentsoapfan]

Yeah they're all terrible. We can say they definitely weren't hired for their acting ability. Now there are some folks on soaps whose been on for years and just really cant act but were supposed to believe they're still around due to their acting.

[depboy]

Antonio Sabato, Jr., to me, is the epitome of a “hair model” who became a popular soap star when he joined GH as Jagger.  He was terrible when he started on the show, and was only slightly better by the time he guest starred on GH:Nightshift on SoapNet years later.

[Soapsuds]

How soon we forget the talentless Ryan Paveey or however u spell it....

 

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