[Music]
sometimes the road to the a-list
includes a detour first into afternoon
TV dramas welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we’re counting down our picks for
the top 10 actors who got their start on
daytime soaps there’s nothing wrong with
it it’s okay for this list we’re taking
a look at actors who paid their dues and
honed their acting chops starring in
soap operas before they really made it
big in Hollywood every actor has to get
their starts somewhere
and while daytime soaps aren’t exactly
the bedrock for groundbreaking material
they’re at least a step up from cheesy
fast food commercials even Brad Pitt
starred in a couple of episodes of
another world though we’re excluding him
from this list as he only did two
solitary episodes while tackling other
projects as an up-and-coming actor also
we won’t be including any soaps from
outside North America
sorry Margot Robbie you don’t have to
push yourself okay
number 10 Ray Liotta as Joey Perini
number 2 another world you swear to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth so help you God I do he
may be best known for playing mobsters
and tough guys but this veteran actor
didn’t get his start with intimidating
roles in the late 70s and early 80s
Liotta had his small screen debut as
Joey Perini on another world whose
romance with one of the show’s female
characters was complicated by the fact
that they came from different
backgrounds I don’t want you to get hurt
again that’s all it would be close to a
decade before he landed the role of
Henry Hill and Goodfellas who was a
mobster alongside the likes of Robert De
Niro and Joe Pesci an average nobody get
to live the rest of my life like a
schnook and while that role may have
propelled him into the limelight we
can’t forget that he got his initial
shine on with the stay-at-home crowd do
you love them
[Music]
I don’t know okay
number nine Josh Duhamel as we Oh Duprey
all my children back before Fergie’s
husband was fighting Decepticons and
playing a self-absorbed actor who falls
for a commoner he starred as Leo Despres
on one of TV’s longest running soap
operas we had such a great time the son
of Vanessa Despres he shows up on the
scene looking to con his way through
life as a series regular
he established a pretty strong fan base
particularly thanks to his on-again
off-again romantic storyline with
Greenlee Smythe the role even earned
Josh Duhamel a Daytime Emmy in 2002 and
despite the character’s death that same
year the actor returned to play the role
albeit briefly in 2011 number 8 John
Stamos as Blackie Parrish General
Hospital this Greek yogurt spokes hunk
wasn’t always everybody’s favorite
rebellious uncle shut up yeah
all right thanks at one point he was a
struggling actor who managed to land a
recurring role on a daytime soap don’t
start nothin I know starting when I hear
at that was starting in his breakout
role during the early 80s
Stamos played Blackie Parrish an
orphaned Street tough guy who gets taken
in by a couple on the show in typical
soap opera fashion Stamos’s character
ends up accidentally killing his love
interest and his character is sent to
jail which is a tidy wrap-up since it
allowed him to move on to full house
just a few years later
loosen up be very flow fluid fluidity is
a key that’s the rule and the rest as
they say is history since when do I care
about tradition you’re looking at a guy
who didn’t wear that cardboard hat at
his graduation because I was afraid of
ruin my quaff number 7 Tommy Lee Jones
as dr. mark Toland one life to live
our fugitive has been on the road for 90
minutes before he was hunting wrongly
accused fugitives and renegade space
aliens his oscar-nominated actor honed
his acting chops on Broadway before
landing a spot on One Life to Live as
dr. Marc Toland back in the 70s this
no-nonsense tough-guy took to the small
screen to play a handsome doctor who was
a smash hit with the ladies
naturally his character gets mixed up in
extramarital affairs a medical
malpractice murder mystery and blackmail
yeah Richard that’s right I don’t care
I’m not trying to solve a puzzle here so
standard soap opera stuff but with a tlj
twist see you around jack number six
Ryan philippi as Billy Douglas one life
to live I don’t even know where they’re
getting this everybody’s putting words
in my mouth back before he was pouting
around on screen and impregnating his
co-stars mr. Philippi took on the
groundbreaking role of Billy Douglas one
of the first openly gay teens on daytime
TV it’s not a crazy idea dead it’s a
fact I’m gay no he’s one year run on the
long-running soap in the early 90s may
have been brief but it was definitely
impactful said please please don’t make
this any harder than it already is
the plotline surrounding his character’s
sexuality allowed one life to live to
address issues such as homophobia and
the spread of the AIDS epidemic at the
beginning of the decade no but I always
wanted to be myself and now you’ve
discovered that the real you is a queer
Ryan Philip II would go on to plain
manly man heartthrobs but it was his
small screen role as a closeted teenager
with a hateful father that would launch
him into the public eye that if I wasn’t
gay deep inside of me if I wasn’t gay
could anyone really talk to me believing
I was number five Susan Sarandon as
Patrice Coleman a world apart
years before the Rocky Horror Picture
Show would become a cult hit and way
before Thelma and Louise reached icon
status but it made this oscar-winning
actress played an unwed single mother on
early morning television
[Music]
Jeremy Anthony :
and while baby mamas may not be a big
deal to us nowadays they were all but an
embarrassment back in the day when the
world hadn’t quite evolved in its
political views the series itself was
revolutionary as its themes involved a
number of social issues ranging from
racism to well pregnancy day except
maybe for the day when I get this baby
away susan sarandon stern as a single
mother who decides to give up her infant
son for adoption was heartbreaking it
also let us know she could master some
pretty tough material I told him that I
wanted to keep Jeremy
he said that I couldn’t number four
Kevin Bacon as TJ Tim Warner number two
guiding light well there’s not much
anyone can say Kelly look Tim it’s just
a reaction there was a time when his
degrees of separation led him back to
daytime television a lot of things about
me written all over him although he had
already gotten a look playing a murdered
teen in 1980s Friday the 13th he hadn’t
quite broken into stardom yet following
his role on the CBS soap search for
tomorrow his acting journey would see
him playing an alcoholic teenager
suffering through unrequited love in the
early 80s on guiding light and up your
face maybe soap opera teenagers usually
have an entire slew of obstacles to
overcome including tracking down your
girlfriend’s kidnapper and going to
rehab to get help with your underage
drinking and Tim Warner was no exception
mom look I’m sorry your names in the
papers I didn’t want you to get involved
in this mess by the time Kevin Bacon
landed his breakout role as a rebellious
dancing teenager in 1984 Footloose he’d
already been shunned stabbed and
rehabbed number three meg Ryan as Betsy
Stuart Montgomery and drop Alice as the
world turns I was worried about here you
know what occurred before she wasn’t
always just America’s Sweetheart there
was a time when she was one half of the
daytime TV super couple Steve and Betsy
but we never stopped loving each other
we never stopped believing in each other
thereon again never really off-again
romance was fraught with obstacles
including Betsy’s marriage to another
man not to mention the fact that the
baby may or may not have been her
husband’s the relationship would
culminate in one of the most highly
watched moments in soap opera history of
course Ryan would go on to leave the
show and become a rom-com darling and
the character of Betsy would live on
through a facially disfiguring car
accident
number two do me more as Jackie
Templeton General Hospital what are you
getting at father her rise from 80s
actress to 90 superstar to Ashton
Kutcher’s ex-wife may have spanned
decades but it all started on the small
screen seems straightforward enough her
decision to drop out of high school at
the age of 16 thankfully worked out for
her and she landed a role on General
Hospital as a Spitfire journalist on the
hunt for her missing sister in the early
80s
well she believed the car hit her on
purpose which is one point supporting
our theory although her character falls
in love with a spy Demi Moore stint on
the show was brief that’s just that
we’ve waited so long I’ve really counted
on it since it freed her up to firmly
entrench herself in the Brat Pack and
star in a series of movies with the same
actors over and over again they hardly
impressed me as the gangbang type how
much have you done before we unveil our
number one pick here are a few honorable
mentions I don’t know but you need to
leave what do you mean you don’t know I
was taking a shower guess he’s gone out
you can give yourself a gold star for
accuracy in the man-woman Department I’m
dysfunctional why are we good ever
reason to believe
anyone especially smelly by being in
here number one Julianne Moore as
Frannie and Sabrina Hughes as the world
turns
while there are more than a few a list
actors who found early success on
daytime soaps few have done it with such
a quintessential soap opera story arc
Freddie what is it what’s wrong please
stay with me what in the mid to late 80s
Julianne Moore took on the role of
Franny Hughes a young woman who
discovers that she has a half-sister
after spotting her during a trip to
England what do you want I just wanted
to find you for three years Moore played
both Frannie and Sabrina which would be
tricky for even the most seasoned actor
let alone a brand new up-and-coming star
why are you doing this to me why are you
doing this to us Frannie her Daytime
Emmy winning ability to deftly navigate
the tricky waters of soap opera
storylines foreshadowed her lengthy
oscar-winning career why won’t you take
me seriously no I know what I’m feeling
I know it’s feeling and feels like my
brain is fucking dying do you agree with
our list and it hurts so much to go
online to you to my friends most of all
to myself who’s your favorite breakout
soap opera star for more entertaining
top 10s published every day be sure to
subscribe to watchmojo.com listen you’re
not leaving on a cameo
you
[Music]
sometimes the road to the a-list
includes a detour first into afternoon
TV dramas welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we’re counting down our picks for
the top 10 actors who got their start on
daytime soaps there’s nothing wrong with
it it’s okay for this list we’re taking
a look at actors who paid their dues and
honed their acting chops starring in
soap operas before they really made it
big in Hollywood every actor has to get
their starts somewhere
and while daytime soaps aren’t exactly
the bedrock for groundbreaking material
they’re at least a step up from cheesy
fast food commercials even Brad Pitt
starred in a couple of episodes of
another world though we’re excluding him
from this list as he only did two
solitary episodes while tackling other
projects as an up-and-coming actor also
we won’t be including any soaps from
outside North America
sorry Margot Robbie you don’t have to
push yourself okay
number 10 Ray Liotta as Joey Perini
number 2 another world you swear to tell
the truth the whole truth and nothing
but the truth so help you God I do he
may be best known for playing mobsters
and tough guys but this veteran actor
didn’t get his start with intimidating
roles in the late 70s and early 80s
Liotta had his small screen debut as
Joey Perini on another world whose
romance with one of the show’s female
characters was complicated by the fact
that they came from different
backgrounds I don’t want you to get hurt
again that’s all it would be close to a
decade before he landed the role of
Henry Hill and Goodfellas who was a
mobster alongside the likes of Robert De
Niro and Joe Pesci an average nobody get
to live the rest of my life like a
schnook and while that role may have
propelled him into the limelight we
can’t forget that he got his initial
shine on with the stay-at-home crowd do
you love them
[Music]
I don’t know okay
number nine Josh Duhamel as we Oh Duprey
all my children back before Fergie’s
husband was fighting Decepticons and
playing a self-absorbed actor who falls
for a commoner he starred as Leo Despres
on one of TV’s longest running soap
operas we had such a great time the son
of Vanessa Despres he shows up on the
scene looking to con his way through
life as a series regular
he established a pretty strong fan base
particularly thanks to his on-again
off-again romantic storyline with
Greenlee Smythe the role even earned
Josh Duhamel a Daytime Emmy in 2002 and
despite the character’s death that same
year the actor returned to play the role
albeit briefly in 2011 number 8 John
Stamos as Blackie Parrish General
Hospital this Greek yogurt spokes hunk
wasn’t always everybody’s favorite
rebellious uncle shut up yeah
all right thanks at one point he was a
struggling actor who managed to land a
recurring role on a daytime soap don’t
start nothin I know starting when I hear
at that was starting in his breakout
role during the early 80s
Stamos played Blackie Parrish an
orphaned Street tough guy who gets taken
in by a couple on the show in typical
soap opera fashion Stamos’s character
ends up accidentally killing his love
interest and his character is sent to
jail which is a tidy wrap-up since it
allowed him to move on to full house
just a few years later
loosen up be very flow fluid fluidity is
a key that’s the rule and the rest as
they say is history since when do I care
about tradition you’re looking at a guy
who didn’t wear that cardboard hat at
his graduation because I was afraid of
ruin my quaff number 7 Tommy Lee Jones
as dr. mark Toland one life to live
our fugitive has been on the road for 90
minutes before he was hunting wrongly
accused fugitives and renegade space
aliens his oscar-nominated actor honed
his acting chops on Broadway before
landing a spot on One Life to Live as
dr. Marc Toland back in the 70s this
no-nonsense tough-guy took to the small
screen to play a handsome doctor who was
a smash hit with the ladies
naturally his character gets mixed up in
extramarital affairs a medical
malpractice murder mystery and blackmail
yeah Richard that’s right I don’t care
I’m not trying to solve a puzzle here so
standard soap opera stuff but with a tlj
twist see you around jack number six
Ryan philippi as Billy Douglas one life
to live I don’t even know where they’re
getting this everybody’s putting words
in my mouth back before he was pouting
around on screen and impregnating his
co-stars mr. Philippi took on the
groundbreaking role of Billy Douglas one
of the first openly gay teens on daytime
TV it’s not a crazy idea dead it’s a
fact I’m gay no he’s one year run on the
long-running soap in the early 90s may
have been brief but it was definitely
impactful said please please don’t make
this any harder than it already is
the plotline surrounding his character’s
sexuality allowed one life to live to
address issues such as homophobia and
the spread of the AIDS epidemic at the
beginning of the decade no but I always
wanted to be myself and now you’ve
discovered that the real you is a queer
Ryan Philip II would go on to plain
manly man heartthrobs but it was his
small screen role as a closeted teenager
with a hateful father that would launch
him into the public eye that if I wasn’t
gay deep inside of me if I wasn’t gay
could anyone really talk to me believing
I was number five Susan Sarandon as
Patrice Coleman a world apart
years before the Rocky Horror Picture
Show would become a cult hit and way
before Thelma and Louise reached icon
status but it made this oscar-winning
actress played an unwed single mother on
early morning television
[Music]
Jeremy Anthony :
and while baby mamas may not be a big
deal to us nowadays they were all but an
embarrassment back in the day when the
world hadn’t quite evolved in its
political views the series itself was
revolutionary as its themes involved a
number of social issues ranging from
racism to well pregnancy day except
maybe for the day when I get this baby
away susan sarandon stern as a single
mother who decides to give up her infant
son for adoption was heartbreaking it
also let us know she could master some
pretty tough material I told him that I
wanted to keep Jeremy
he said that I couldn’t number four
Kevin Bacon as TJ Tim Warner number two
guiding light well there’s not much
anyone can say Kelly look Tim it’s just
a reaction there was a time when his
degrees of separation led him back to
daytime television a lot of things about
me written all over him although he had
already gotten a look playing a murdered
teen in 1980s Friday the 13th he hadn’t
quite broken into stardom yet following
his role on the CBS soap search for
tomorrow his acting journey would see
him playing an alcoholic teenager
suffering through unrequited love in the
early 80s on guiding light and up your
face maybe soap opera teenagers usually
have an entire slew of obstacles to
overcome including tracking down your
girlfriend’s kidnapper and going to
rehab to get help with your underage
drinking and Tim Warner was no exception
mom look I’m sorry your names in the
papers I didn’t want you to get involved
in this mess by the time Kevin Bacon
landed his breakout role as a rebellious
dancing teenager in 1984 Footloose he’d
already been shunned stabbed and
rehabbed number three meg Ryan as Betsy
Stuart Montgomery and drop Alice as the
world turns I was worried about here you
know what occurred before she wasn’t
always just America’s Sweetheart there
was a time when she was one half of the
daytime TV super couple Steve and Betsy
but we never stopped loving each other
we never stopped believing in each other
thereon again never really off-again
romance was fraught with obstacles
including Betsy’s marriage to another
man not to mention the fact that the
baby may or may not have been her
husband’s the relationship would
culminate in one of the most highly
watched moments in soap opera history of
course Ryan would go on to leave the
show and become a rom-com darling and
the character of Betsy would live on
through a facially disfiguring car
accident
number two do me more as Jackie
Templeton General Hospital what are you
getting at father her rise from 80s
actress to 90 superstar to Ashton
Kutcher’s ex-wife may have spanned
decades but it all started on the small
screen seems straightforward enough her
decision to drop out of high school at
the age of 16 thankfully worked out for
her and she landed a role on General
Hospital as a Spitfire journalist on the
hunt for her missing sister in the early
80s
well she believed the car hit her on
purpose which is one point supporting
our theory although her character falls
in love with a spy Demi Moore stint on
the show was brief that’s just that
we’ve waited so long I’ve really counted
on it since it freed her up to firmly
entrench herself in the Brat Pack and
star in a series of movies with the same
actors over and over again they hardly
impressed me as the gangbang type how
much have you done before we unveil our
number one pick here are a few honorable
mentions I don’t know but you need to
leave what do you mean you don’t know I
was taking a shower guess he’s gone out
you can give yourself a gold star for
accuracy in the man-woman Department I’m
dysfunctional why are we good ever
reason to believe
anyone especially smelly by being in
here number one Julianne Moore as
Frannie and Sabrina Hughes as the world
turns
while there are more than a few a list
actors who found early success on
daytime soaps few have done it with such
a quintessential soap opera story arc
Freddie what is it what’s wrong please
stay with me what in the mid to late 80s
Julianne Moore took on the role of
Franny Hughes a young woman who
discovers that she has a half-sister
after spotting her during a trip to
England what do you want I just wanted
to find you for three years Moore played
both Frannie and Sabrina which would be
tricky for even the most seasoned actor
let alone a brand new up-and-coming star
why are you doing this to me why are you
doing this to us Frannie her Daytime
Emmy winning ability to deftly navigate
the tricky waters of soap opera
storylines foreshadowed her lengthy
oscar-winning career why won’t you take
me seriously no I know what I’m feeling
I know it’s feeling and feels like my
brain is fucking dying do you agree with
our list and it hurts so much to go
online to you to my friends most of all
to myself who’s your favorite breakout
soap opera star for more entertaining
top 10s published every day be sure to
subscribe to watchmojo.com listen you’re
not leaving on a cameo
you
[Music]
Please follow and like us: