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Acting Police II: Soaps' best actors
Topic Started: Nov 22 2007, 04:29 PM (1,146 Views)
Jonatha


Acting Police II: Soaps Best Actors

By Nelson Branco

You’ve heard who TVGuide.ca thought couldn’t act; now find out which actors prove soap operas are a worthy stage for thespians:

“Acting is standing up naked and turning around very slowly,” said the divine Rosalind Russell — and TVGuide.ca is in complete agreement. Hair models and sloppy actors take note: acting is in the details, and the following daytime stars are inspirations to their craft thanks to their visceral talent, taut and theatrical prowess, and soulful honesty.

Miraculously, these chameleons manage to soar every time they command this compromised yet glorious stage, almost seemingly in spite of the genre’s limitations, boundaries and prejudice. And if we’re lucky, when great writing and acting collide, something of a religious experience occurs on soaps that can be rarely matched in film, theatre and prime-time TV. In other words, magic!

Acting coach Alice Saltzman brilliantly alluded to this once by suggesting that acting and living are ironically more closely related than we think. She said, “To act brilliantly, to live fully, requires nothing less than the complete investment of your entire soul! What we do is holy!”

At its best, in the words of Oscar Wilde, “[Acting] is so much more real than life” — especially when you play the same character day in and day out, year after year, decade upon decade.

And anyone who ever saw the greatest performance ever aired on daytime TV — Judith Light’s tour-de-force Emmy-winning showdown on One Life to Live as Jenny Wolek, when she testified on the witness stand and confessed she was a “common” hooker — knows that this medium is more than capable of achieving greatness exponentially.

Below, TVGuide.ca took on the Herculean task of naming the 30 best actors on soaps right now — and we believe these inductees are worthy of keeping this transformative tradition alive. Simply put, these artistic icons have yielded moments of truth, understanding and healing through fiction on more than one occasion, even if some of these underrated performers are slighted at Emmy time or are too “real” to be given their due credit by their shows or the industry at large.

As most of us know, there’s no such thing as a small part — just small actors. These thespians are “full of fire and ice,” in my opinion, and represent soap aristocracy perfectly— and when they’re onscreen, they make any visit to Soap Town, U.S.A. not just a destination, but a home.

And, as an aside, yes, the timing of this list and the industry deciding which actors will enter the 2008 Daytime Entertainment Awards race (and yeah, I know the pre-nomination system has been eliminated, but soaps still have to chose to root for as a whole) is no coincidence.


1. —TIE — ANTHONY GEARY (Luke Spencer, GH)

SUSAN FLANNERY (Stephanie Forrester, B&B)

3. ERIKA SLEZAK (Victoria Lord Davidson, OLTL)

4. KIM ZIMMER (Reva Shayne, GL)

5. MICHAEL E. KNIGHT (Tad Martin, AMC)

6. MICHELLE STAFFORD (Phyllis Summers Newman, Y&R)

7. DAVID CANARY (Adam/Stuart Chandler, AMC)

8. HEATHER TOM (Katie Logan, B&B)

9. MAURA WEST (Carly Snyder, ATWT)

10. JANE ELLIOT (Tracy Quartermaine Spencer, GH)

11. STEVE BURTON (Jason Morgan, GH)

12. JACK WAGNER (Nick Marone, B&B)

13. LESLI KAY (Felicia Forrester, B&B)

14. CATHERINE HICKLAND (Lindsay Rapapport, OLTL)

15. PETER BERGMAN (Jack Abbott, Y&R)

16. ROBIN STRASSER (Dorian Lord, OLTL)

17. JUSTIN DEAS (Buzz Cooper, GL)

18. CRYSTAL CHAPPELL (Olivia Spencer, GL)

19. ELIZABETH HUBBARD (Lucinda Walsh, ATWT)

20. GINA TOGNONI (Dinah Marler Mallet, GL)

21. JAMES MITCHELL (Palmer Cortlandt, AMC)

22. EILEEN DAVIDSON (Ashley Abbott Carlton, B&B)

23. GREG RIKAART (Kevin Fisher, Y&R)

24. SUZANNE ROGERS (Maggie Horton, Days)

25. TREVOR ST. JOHN (Todd Manning, OLTL)

26. CADY MCCLAIN (Rosanna Cabot Ryan, ATWT)

27. BEN MASTERS (Julian Crane, Passions)

28. NANCY LEE GRAHN (Alexis Cassadine, GH)

29. HUNT BLOCK (Lee Ramsey, OLTL)

30. RICK HEARST (Ric Lansing, GH).








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WOW! Happily surprised to see Suzanne Rogers on the list. Though her and Robin Strasser should have been higher. And Jack Wagner and Steve Burton? Are you freaking kidding me?
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Ponz
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Jack Wagner the 12th best actor in daytime? That's hilarious. :lol:
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Natalia
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It's nice to see Hunt Block on the list and I'm surprised no males from the ATWT cast are on it
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Crazygirl
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A top 30 best soap actors list without Maurice Bernard? Are you kidding me, in what universe is Jack Wagner even in the same category with Maurice, much less considered better. Wow, I am shocked and not in a good way.
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Crazygirl
Nov 22 2007, 05:55 PM
A top 30 best soap actors list without Maurice Bernard? Are you kidding me, in what universe is Jack Wagner even in the same category with Maurice, much less considered better. Wow, I am shocked and not in a good way.

I will have to respectfully disagree with you. Maurice should be nowhere near even the top 50!
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Steve Frame
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For once I totally agree with everything he chose here. And I like the order too. I totally love Jack Wagner. He never impressed me much on GH, but when he was on Santa Barbara and now on B&B - he turns in great performances all the time. His best role was as Warren on SB. He really delivered.

And if no one thinks Steve Burton can act - they need to go back and watch anything from the last 2 weeks. He has been wonderful and his acting is understated. He says more with his eyes and face than some actors do in a 1000 moments of hysteria and huge dramatics.

I thought Kristian Alfonso and Peter Reckell did some of the best acting ever when their son was killed. They displayed their grief in big drama and lots of tears. But Steve Burton last week showed me that you can display more emotion in the simplest things when his sister died. He literally moved me to tears. Tyler Christopher was more dramatic and more powerful in some ways, but Steve Burton is the one that got to me. He displayed his grief and loss. And then this week with Leslie Charleson it was the same way.
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Amello
Nov 22 2007, 04:35 PM
WOW! Happily surprised to see Suzanne Rogers on the list. Though her and Robin Strasser should have been higher. And Jack Wagner and Steve Burton? Are you freaking kidding me?

I completely agree regarding Jack Wagner and Steve Burton! SB was merely taken under Maurice Bernard's wing. But he is not talented enough to enter the 30 Best list by TV Guide Canada.

JW? :eyeroll:

JW has been languishing on B&B. The egg donor saga ended with a whimper since no one cared anymore who donated the egg! Nick has been saddled with taylor and has lost his spark. And JW's acting is inauthentic and actually kind of laughable. When Nick threatens Stephanie, it looks like JW is about to burst in giggles.
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MatinečGirl
Nov 22 2007, 05:52 PM
It's nice to see Hunt Block on the list and I'm surprised no males from the ATWT cast are on it

Even if the list is scarce on ATWT male actors, I wouldn't think it was a huge diss against them. TV guide Canada has praised Austin Peck (yes you read it right) and called him the Best thing about ATWT this year! So if you think AP is a good actor, then your template for rating great acting needs a major adjustment! :D
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Ponz
Nov 22 2007, 04:36 PM
Jack Wagner the 12th best actor in daytime? That's hilarious.  :lol:

I know, right? :lol:

And why is Ben Masters on that list too?

But back to JW, how the heck could he outrank the ff actors:

LESLI KAY (Felicia Forrester, B&B), CATHERINE HICKLAND (Lindsay Rapapport, OLTL), ROBIN STRASSER (Dorian Lord, OLTL), CRYSTAL CHAPPELL (Olivia Spencer, GL), EILEEN DAVIDSON (Ashley Abbott Carlton, B&B) and CADY MCCLAIN (Rosanna Cabot Ryan, ATWT)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JW should not be even on this list! His previous entry compared Jennifer Gareis to Veronica Lake! :thumbsdown:
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Manny
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I actually like this list for the most part and I agree with most of it.

The only ones I don't agree about are Steve Burton and Jack Wagner. While Burton did surprise me this past week, I don't think he deserves a spot in top 30.

Wagner was always in the middle for me. Def not top 30 material IMO.

I would also put NLG higher. The woman is so wonderful! Even the most boring scenes are fun when she's in them!
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DramaKing
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Tracy E. Bregman is soooo underrated.

I never understood why Frisco & felicia were so big. JW & KW were not all that great. both easily forgetable, IMHO.
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Natalia
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Nov 23 2007, 02:13 AM
MatinečGirl
Nov 22 2007, 05:52 PM
It's nice to see Hunt Block on the list and I'm surprised no males from the ATWT cast are on it

Even if the list is scarce on ATWT male actors, I wouldn't think it was a huge diss against them. TV guide Canada has praised Austin Peck (yes you read it right) and called him the Best thing about ATWT this year! So if you think AP is a good actor, then your template for rating great acting needs a major adjustment! :D

:lol: I don't even know Austin Peck I haven't watched ATWT since 2005 (When Hunt Block left) I'm not saying Hunt Block was the best actor on ATWT but I guess the good actors ATWT still has (Don Hastings,Scott Holmes) aren't on enough to get them noticed for this list.
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Pretty good list. I would've added Kassie DePaiva(Blair, OLTL), Kristian Alfonso(Hope, DAYS), Deidre Hall(Marlena, DAYS) & Alison Sweeney(Sami, DAYS). Probably would add Alicia Minshew(Kendall, AMC) and Susan Lucci(Erica, AMC) as well.
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Mulder
Nov 23 2007, 08:58 AM
Pretty good list. I would've added Kassie DePaiva(Blair, OLTL), Kristian Alfonso(Hope, DAYS), Deidre Hall(Marlena, DAYS) & Alison Sweeney(Sami, DAYS). Probably would add Alicia Minshew(Kendall, AMC) and Susan Lucci(Erica, AMC) as well.

ICAM regarding Susan Lucci. Where the heck was she? She's a Daytime living legend. She should be on that list.

Another glaring omission was Colleen Zenk Pinter (Barbara, ATWT) and Andrea Evans! Even if AE is on Passions, she did great work on B&B. And it seems like she was a huge hit with viewers and critics during her tenure on OLTL.
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MatinečGirl
Nov 23 2007, 07:32 AM
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Nov 23 2007, 02:13 AM
MatinečGirl
Nov 22 2007, 05:52 PM
It's nice to see Hunt Block on the list and I'm surprised no males from the ATWT cast are on it

Even if the list is scarce on ATWT male actors, I wouldn't think it was a huge diss against them. TV guide Canada has praised Austin Peck (yes you read it right) and called him the Best thing about ATWT this year! So if you think AP is a good actor, then your template for rating great acting needs a major adjustment! :D

:lol: I don't even know Austin Peck I haven't watched ATWT since 2005 (When Hunt Block left) I'm not saying Hunt Block was the best actor on ATWT but I guess the good actors ATWT still has (Don Hastings,Scott Holmes) aren't on enough to get them noticed for this list.

Austin Peck was once on Days. He was critically panned for his bad acting. He seemed to get panned by Days fans also. He was the quintissential, stereotypical bad soap actor. Handsome on the outside, but a terrible actor on Days.
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Steve Frame
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WEll he is far from terrible on ATWT. ATWT has always had acting coaches backstage. For a long time it was Larkin Malloy. I am not sure if he is still working with them now or not. But Austin Peck is one of ATWT's best now. He has stepped up his game and usually shines or does very well in all his scenes. He holds his own with Michael Park, Maura West, and even the great Elizabeth Hubbard and others. At first he looked very bad in scenes with them but not anymore.

So the TV Guide was not off at all. The man has even won over some of ATWT's pickiest viewers who felt he was very out of place on ATWT - including me. Right now I have to say that Jake Silbermann is ATWT's worst actor. I would say Scott Bryce is their best and surprised he is not on the list.
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Steve Frame
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I have to disagree about Susan Lucci. I would not even put the woman in my Top 50. She is one of the most overrated actresses in daytime. She is a living legend but she is very limited as an actress. She has her bright moments, but she also has very weak ones.

And Deidre Hall is the same way. The woman is a legend and has done some great work through the years but she has also done some bad work. Alot of that has to do with the writing she was given to work with.

Susan and Deidre both fall into the same category for me. When they are good they are very good but sometimes they go way too over the top for me.
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SteveFrame
Nov 23 2007, 10:09 AM
WEll he is far from terrible on ATWT. ATWT has always had acting coaches backstage. For a long time it was Larkin Malloy. I am not sure if he is still working with them now or not. But Austin Peck is one of ATWT's best now. He has stepped up his game and usually shines or does very well in all his scenes. He holds his own with Michael Park, Maura West, and even the great Elizabeth Hubbard and others. At first he looked very bad in scenes with them but not anymore.

So the TV Guide was not off at all. The man has even won over some of ATWT's pickiest viewers who felt he was very out of place on ATWT - including me. Right now I have to say that Jake Silbermann is ATWT's worst actor. I would say Scott Bryce is their best and surprised he is not on the list.

I read somewhere that Michael Park has taken AP under his wing. If Park is responsible for Peck's improvement, then he should get a MAJOR raise!

As for Silbermann, the less mentioned, the better! That boy cannot act. At all.
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