“It’s been a whirlwind ride,” sums up Daniel Hall of his experience so far playing Y&R’s Scott. The actor admits he wasn’t properly prepared for all aspects of daytime. “It’s not only the job, it’s what comes with the job, and that’s the fans,” the actor explains. “They are so loyal and just engaging. They want to know so much about you, and they’re wonderfully supportive, for the most part. It’s amazing and life-changing, like you’ve been picked up and dropped off in another world. It still feels like reality, but it’s like the volume has been turned up.”
So far, the audience has been very receptive to the latest incarnation of Lauren’s globe-trotting son. “I get positive comments on my Twitter feed, which has been nice, but the fans are super-protective of the other characters,” Hall notes. “They’re like, ‘Whatever you do, Scott, take care of our Sharon and we’ll love you, too.’ And when you get in family with them, they start to trust you.”
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And speaking of Sharon, Hall has not only been enjoying the romantic relationship building between those characters, but working with her portrayer, as well. “Sharon Case is just incredibly open and generous,” he marvels. “She’s such a pro. She comes to set completely ready to go with every take. She’s got a wonderful sense of her character. She’s willing to take risks and push the envelope a little bit. She’s not someone to play it safe, and that’s what I really like about working with her.”
Hall also has high praise for another co-star. “Eric Braeden [Victor] has been great,” he smiles. “I mean, a guy that’s been doing the show for the time he’s been on, knows the genre inside and out. He’s like a historian about Genoa City. And he’s fun to work with because he wants to make the scenes interesting. Between takes, he’ll say, ‘Listen, we’ve got to create a little mystique here.’ ”
Getting to know his other castmates has been equally rewarding. “Christian [J. LeBlanc, Michael] has been my hang-out guy for a while, and Greg [Rikaart, Kevin] is an awesome guy,” Hall lists. “I’ve also been connecting with Robert [Adamson, Noah]and even Abhi [Sinha, Ravi]. We’re like the new crew. And Kristoff [St. John, Neil] is a riot. We’ve been having some good banter. We have a similar sense of humor, so we can cross the line and neither one of us gets offended. There’s a little bit of a wink with some of the comments we say to each other.”
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Given his musical upbringing, Hall seemed more destined to be singing on a stage than acting on a soap. “My dad was an opera singer for many years and sang at The Met and my mother is an early childhood music educator, so I grew up in a house with more musical instruments than toys,” he explains. “I did a lot of musical theater as a kid, all those wonderful old-school shows like Carousel and Oklahoma!, Cabaret and Guys and Dolls.”
Although his high school years were less than stellar (“I wasn’t necessarily the most book smart”), Hall excelled at the University of Michigan, where he diverged from music. “I decided to get more into film and TV because I wanted to make a living as an actor,” he reasons. “So in college, I did mostly drama and Shakespeare and all kinds of wonderful things. I actually got to work with Ruby Dee on a production of The Bridge Party. I ended up graduating with a nice 3.8 grade point average.”
Hall then moved to New York City to kick off his career. “I loved living there,” he enthuses. “A lot of it was bartending, catering, booking the occasional guest-star appearances, which was when I was on GUIDING LIGHT, and doing some theater work, including with the Actors Studio. But New York is a very expensive city. I lived in a little studio apartment for most of my time there.”
After several years in the Big Apple, heading to the West Coast seemed the next logical step. “That was a major culture shock,” says Hall. “There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors in L.A. People say they’re doing things when they aren’t, and it feels like everybody says yes to you when they’re not necessarily wanting to say yes. People don’t like to say no in L.A. or be the one to tell you bad news, so that was something I had to get used to. But then you find your group, the people you can trust. I actually think Angelenos are the most genuine and sweetest people in the world, but you find you don’t run into them as much when you’re working in the entertainment industry, because most of us are transplants, here to do the same thing. But it was definitely the right decision to move here.”
And he plans to get the most out of his Genoa City experience. “When you get older, you realize that nothing is as important as quality of life,” he reflects. “And being on a show like Y&R makes it all feel incredibly rewarding and fortunate.”
Group Effort
Growing up, Hall regularly performed with his sister, Emily, and their parents, Bill and Mary Ann, as a singing group, The Hall Family Singers. “When I was a kid, we did a bunch of concerts, like the Von Trapps,” he chuckles. “I’m a baritone/bass, which works out well because my dad is a tenor, my mom is an alto and my sister is a high soprano. She’s actually a major talent and sang on Broadway for many years.” With Hall’s acting career taking center stage, the clan only performs once a year for charity. “We’ve been singing at the Levitt Pavilion in Westport, Connecticut for 20 years,” he shares. “It’s a beautiful outdoor amphi-theater and people seem to really enjoy our little show.” Hall boasts that his parents have been educating kids about music for decades. “They have a program called Music For Children [www.musicforchildren.net], which my mom started with my dad in 1974. It started in our house and became a nationwide thing. My mom loves it so much that she doesn’t want to sell it, which means she’s been bearing the brunt of the work of maintaining the program and training the teachers, who want to start their own franchise. It’s all over the country now.”
Courtesy of Daniel Hall
Did You Know?
• He plays the tenor saxophone and the guitar.
• He’s poker buddies with John-Paul Lavoisier (ex-Philip, DAYS; ex-Rex, ONE LIFE TO LIVE).
Just The Facts
Birthday: February 6
Connecticut Yankee: “Norwalk, Connecticut is where I was born, and around 10, we moved to Westport.”
Middle Name: Brunnemer. “It’s my mother’s maiden name. Professionally, I’ve gone by all three names and even just Brunnemer Hall, but the directors would struggle to pronounce it and I finally got tired of having to correct everyone, so I decided to just go by Daniel Hall.”
Relationship Status: “It says single on my tax returns.”
First Soap Role: Jake, GUIDING LIGHT, 2007-09
The Long And Short Of It: “I only have short hair once in a blue moon. The last time was in 2008. I just think that as long as I can grow it on my head that I’ll enjoy the long hair.”
Chef’s Special: “I love to cook and I would say I’m pretty good at it, but I don’t like doing dishes, so I make sure I don’t use more than two pots.”
Dogged Pursuit: “I grew up with pets, but I don’t have one now. I would love to have a dog, but I won’t get one until I have a nice backyard.”
