Arianne Zucker (Nicole, DAYS) “Jensen Ackles [ex-Eric]. I remember my audition. He was just so movie star-like; not just a very good looking man, but he also carried himself with an air of confidence. He had that the second I walked into the producers’ room and met him to do my scene. Everyone was saying, ‘He’s going to do amazing things,’ and he did.”
Finola Hughes (Anna, GH) “For me, Josh Duhamel [ex-Leo, ALL MY CHILDREN, where she played Alex and Anna]. Three weeks after he started, I walked past a monitor and stopped and watched him and I just knew. I thought, ‘Boy, he’s just picking it up so fast and he’s got charm and flair.’ I could just tell, you know? Also Michael B. Jordan [ex-Reggie, AMC]. Such a gentle actor who was very personal with his work, and he was 15 or something.”
Joshua Morrow (Nick, Y&R) “The Aly Cat! Aly [Alyn Lind, ex-Faith] was a supernova of talent at a super-early age, making brilliant decisions and choices even for an actress of her age. I knew she was a crazy talent that was just biding her time in Genoa City. I miss her every single day and love her to pieces but I’m beyond excited for her future and the path that she will ultimately go on. I am just honored to have been a small part of her journey.”
Kimberlin Brown (Sheila, B&B) “Joanna [Johnson, ex-Caroline, dir]. She was always writing non-stop when she was on BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL. She had a passion and a dream, and she followed it and became incredibly successful in her own right creating her own shows [THE FOSTERS and spin-off GOOD TROUBLE, among others].”
Photo credit: Gilles Toucas/Courtesy Of Bell-Phillip Television Inc
Eric Martsolf (Brady, DAYS; ex-Ethan, PASSIONS) “I’d have to go with my buddy Justin Hartley [ex-Fox, PASSIONS et al, l.]. I knew from out the gate that he was someone who would eventually catapult to something else. Once he hit with THIS IS US, it was just a matter of, ‘Of course. Why wouldn’t they hire him for this role?’ He hasn’t changed a bit and I’m proud of the way he’s navigated his way through the industry and everything that comes with it.”
Krista Allen (Taylor, B&B) “You know who I think is destined for great things? Henry [Joseph Samiri], who plays Douglas. I think he is a fantastic actor. He’s eight years old and he’s solid as an actor. When I was eight years old, I was talking into a table fan and pretending I was a robot, and meanwhile there he is killing it on daytime television.”
Photo credit: Gilles Toucas/Courtesy Of Bell-Phillip Television Inc
Wally Kurth (Ned, GH) “Amber [Tamblyn, ex-Emily] just seemed to be destined to do more than acting. She was just so darned precocious. She had a poetry journal even at that young age. I’ve enjoyed seeing her step into her writing. That was always an important part of her art.”
Amelia Heinle (Victoria, Y&R) “I knew Thad [Luckinbill, ex-J.T.] was going places when I met him. He’s done so well and I’m so proud of him.”