Actors Who Were Good On One Soap And Stunk On Another

[SoapDope]

Let the shredding begin.

[Darn]

I guess this is the reverse since he stunk up (and still is stinking up) the show he was originally on but for some reason Steve Burton was the first person to come to mind. I think he's absolutely horrendous on GH but on Y&R, even though the character was a disaster, he was surprisingly good playing a good, moral character. I found Dylan losing Christian and then exiting the show not long after to be very effective largely due to his acting.

 

Another reversal, Cadie McClain was great as Dixie in her first two runs, then she did ATWT and positively soared. She just killed it as Rosanna. Then she came back to AMC and very VERY clearly did not want to be there, her acting became a real drag and mannered. 

[carolineg]

Sarah Brown.

[DRW50]

Amelia Heinle owns this thread.

[Faulkner]

Indeed. 

I’d also say Jennifer Landon (I know many here hated her portrayal of Gwen), but it’s not fair because Heather was garbage and she’s done good work elsewhere since.

[DRW50]

It's not really her fault, but...Sharon Gabet. (I wouldn't say she "stunk" but her OLTL work is pretty rough)

Edited June 4, 2020 by DRW50

[ChitHappens]

 

Was Sarah horrible or did she get hired as a "name" but given really sh!tty material?  She was not well received in the soap roles post GH because the characters were awful and/or very poorly written.  

[soapfan770]

I'd have to say Marcy Rylan and Jeff Branson their time on GL must have just been a real flash in the pan as they were awful on Y&R. Then again, so were a lot of actors picked up from cancelled soaps that ended up being terribly miscast on Y&R from 2009-2012 as they didn't fit in. Let's not even talk about Stephen Nichols or Maura West. Speaking of Cady McClain, I loved her as Roseanna but her as recast Kelly on Y&R was horrible, especially after the work Watros had put into the character. 

 

Robert Kelker-Kelly is another one that comes to mind for his second AW stint. And I loved Ameila Marshall on GL but she was especially really awful on Passions, even for Passions standards from what I saw. 

 

 

Was Brian Gaskill ever any good at any soap? I never knew why he was a hot commodity for CBS in the mid-00's. 

 

 

 

Edited June 4, 2020 by soapfan770

[Faulkner]

It’s funny. Claudia was pretty poorly written too, but she somehow made that work IMO. It just happened to also be on GH.

 

I’d also say Beth Ehlers, but by the time she did AMC, she had also become nearly unwatchable as Harley on GL.

Edited June 4, 2020 by Faulkner

[AbcNbc247]

Robin Strasser

 

Loved every role that I've seen her in, but I was not a fan of her Vivian on DAYS.

 

Also, Tamara Braun

          Thorsten Kaye

          Ingo Rademacher

          Melissa Archer

[carolineg]

 

Probably both.  And she wasn't given great material, but she certainly didn't rise above it.  I would have bet she would have been a star after GH, and I know there were personal factors that she had to deal with.  But she was never as good as she was as Carly.  I do think she was okay as Claudia on GH.

[ChitHappens]

 

Totally forgot about Claws.  I really enjoyed her in that role.  Refused to watch her play possessive wounded puppy Carly. 

[Faulkner]

Which soap did you think he was good on? (Not saying that he’s bad, even though I’ve never enjoyed him, just curious.)

[AbcNbc247]

OLTL. I'll admit, I was too young to watch him live but from the episodes I've seen on YT, I like Patrick and I think TK played him well.

 

[Antoyne]

I think she was just given awful material everywhere else. I never found myself thinking Sarah was the issue. She was always very engaged and alive to me, but they wrote her characters so poorly. I loved Claudia until they had her fall for Sonny’s peen as they did any female not named Faith.

 

I honestly didn’t hate Dylan. I know the retcon was pretty stupid along with Sharon dating yet another member of Nick and Nikki’s family, but Burton did a nice job not playing Jason 2.0. It was sad that he decided he’d rather get paid to not emote and not grow so he could go back to GH.