Soap operas have long held allure for the New York actor, if sometimes only from a monetary standpoint. Below, two actors pose questions about careers in daytime television.
Q. Recently, an actor who'd had a long and successful career on a soap advised a group of us younger actors to "try to avoid a career in soaps if possible, as it tends to kill an actor's ambition; once you start making a lot of money and become comfortable with your status, you're then unlikely to take career risks." As an actor who has been auditioning for contract roles on soaps, I found his comments unsettling. Do you agree with this soap vet's position?
A. No, for several reasons:
1) It presupposes that every actor who gets on a soap stays on a soap, when in reality the majority of actors who land a soap contract are written off the show before their first contract even expires.
2) It presupposes that the quality of this actor's life and/or career would have been better if he hadn't done a soap (which is something he has no way of knowing).
3) It also presupposes that what's been true for him is probably also true for most actors, when career ambition is actually a highly individual matter.
For example, here are the names of a handful of actors who had enough drive to continue to work on the stage while also on a soap, and in doing so managed to avoid either stigma or a thwarted career: Ray Liotta, Dana Delany, Marisa Tomei, Christian Slater, Ted Danson, Josh Hamilton, Giancarlo Esposito, Steven Weber, Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, Peter Gallagher, and Kathleen Turner, to name just a few. But for more information on the subject of soaps, please keep reading.
Q. In the past year I have auditioned and screen-tested for two soap contracts. I have also screen-tested for two primetime series. Of course, I'd prefer a primetime series, but whenever I broach the subject of positioning myself more toward primetime than daytime, my agent is quick to remind me that "Meg Ryan and Kevin Bacon both started in soaps and it didn't hurt them." This agent has been great for me, but I'm wondering: Can you offer any suggestions on how to better communicate what I feel could make a big difference in my career?
A. Given your current track record of close calls, it sounds as if you're on your way to some real success, and at the same time you have valid cause for concern. Anyway, here is what I would do if I were your representative under the circumstances as you've presented them:
1) I would stop submitting you for soap contract roles, and only submit you for recurring roles at this time. In doing so, you wouldn't be pulled out of the soap market altogether‹you just wouldn't risk being contractually committed to a soap for a long period of time. (As you probably know, once you sign the agreement to screen-test for a soap, you're acknowledging that you'll accept the role if offered).
2) In monitoring your primetime track record, I would seriously consider sending you to Los Angeles for pilot season, where there will be more opportunities to audition for primetime than there are here in New York.
3) If it turned out that your prime-time close calls were a fluke (which I tend to doubt), we could then consider the possibility of allowing you to audition for soap contracts once again. In short, I'd try to maintain as much flexibility as possible.
Now, on to part two, the "Meg Ryan/Kevin Bacon Syndrome." (Why is it always these two that everyone cites?) In any case, the statement that "Meg Ryan and Kevin Bacon both started in soaps and it didn't hurt them" is only a half-truth. The true part is that soaps didn't hurt them, but it's false that soaps are where they started. Before acquiring her contract on As the World Turns, Meg Ryan had already been featured in a supporting role opposite Candice Bergen and Jacqueline Bisset in the MGM/United Artists film Rich and Famous. And prior to his contract role on Guiding Light, Kevin Bacon had a principal role in the hit film National Lampoon's Animal House. Ryan got her first starring film role at the exact same time she got the soap, but one had nothing to do with the other; Bacon continued his impressively high-profile New York stage career and went on from there to major film success. In other words, they both would have worked in film anyway, and just how much their soap careers had to do with it is really up for grabs.
Please feel free to discuss, diplomatically, with your agent the ideas I have suggested in the first part of my response to you. May I also suggest, however, that you refrain from calling him on the accuracy of his facts concerning Ms. Ryan and Mr. Bacon. While it's more than acceptable for you to show your agent that you are "career responsible," we wouldn't want him to think you're a little wise-ass to boot!
Brian O'Neil is the author of Acting as a Business: Strategies for Success and Actors Take Action: A Career Guide for the Competitive Actor. A former agent and personal manager, he is presently a career-planning and marketing consultant for actors. Questions may be sent to him c/o Back Stage, 1515 Broadway, 14th floor, NYC 10036.
