Actor Roundup
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1 of 7
Photo credit: JPI
Michelle Stafford (Nina, GH)
“I always go back to Michael Damian [ex-Danny] when I started on Y&R [as Phyllis]. I was really overwhelmed by the dialogue. I was scared and overwhelmed. I had 11 scenes back-to-back — which, by the way, is nothing now; at GH, I’ve had 28 scenes back-to-back — and I was, like, shaking, and he said, ‘One scene at a time. Don’t even think about the rest.’ It really helped, because you can lose your mind with all of it. It’s a really great life lesson: One thing at a time.”
2 of 7
Photo credit: JPI
Daniel Goddard (Cane, Y&R)
“Peter Bergman [Jack] told me, ‘Let the writers write
and the actors act.’ Very early in, I remember asking him, ‘Do you go in and talk to the writers about ideas, or if you get a script that needs something more?’ And he said, ‘Nope, I do my job and they do theirs.’ I totally get it. A writer doesn’t want to hear from an actor how they should be writing.”
3 of 7
Photo credit: JPI
Annika Noelle (Hope, B&B)
“Don’t stress out about the amount of material you have to memorize. The memorization is just like a muscle, and the more you utilize it, the easier it will become.”
4 of 7
Photo credit: JPI
Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy, B&B)
“Like in anything, you have to do what your heart tells you. When I decided to leave B&B [in 2013], I had a number of co-stars tell me that, and I’ve never forgotten it. You absolutely have to go for it because it’s better to try and not succeed than to live with a bunch of what-ifs.”
5 of 7
Photo credit: JPI
Greg Vaughan (Eric, DAYS)
“Not to be hard on yourself. Trust your instincts and know that you have what you have because you’re present. Having an inner peace with yourself in life takes you far and that gives you the happiness that you need.”
6 of 7
Photo credit: Steven Bergman
Laura Wright (Carly, GH)
“Brian Mertes, who was my director on GUIDING LIGHT, taught me that I can justify absolutely anything as an actor. He wouldn’t let me stay in the no and he taught me to just go for it. He’d say, ‘We have to do this. So why would your character do it?’ I’m not the actor who would say, ‘That doesn’t make sense to me,’ or put in changes or complains, ever, because I will justify anything you hand to me.”
7 of 7
Photo credit: JPI
Melissa Claire Egan (Chelsea, Y&R)
“There hasn’t been one particular thing, but when I was on ALL MY CHILDREN [as Annie], Cameron Mathison [ex-Ryan] was like my big brother and therapist. I started that show when I was 24, so I always had boy drama. Every morning at 7, I was knocking on his door and going, ‘You’re not going to believe what happened to me last night.’ He had great advice.”
Michelle Stafford (Nina, GH)
“I always go back to Michael Damian [ex-Danny] when I started on Y&R [as Phyllis]. I was really overwhelmed by the dialogue. I was scared and overwhelmed. I had 11 scenes back-to-back — which, by the way, is nothing now; at GH, I’ve had 28 scenes back-to-back — and I was, like, shaking, and he said, ‘One scene at a time. Don’t even think about the rest.’ It really helped, because you can lose your mind with all of it. It’s a really great life lesson: One thing at a time.”
Photo credit: JPI
Daniel Goddard (Cane, Y&R)
“Peter Bergman [Jack] told me, ‘Let the writers write
and the actors act.’ Very early in, I remember asking him, ‘Do you go in and talk to the writers about ideas, or if you get a script that needs something more?’ And he said, ‘Nope, I do my job and they do theirs.’ I totally get it. A writer doesn’t want to hear from an actor how they should be writing.”
Photo credit: JPI
Annika Noelle (Hope, B&B)
“Don’t stress out about the amount of material you have to memorize. The memorization is just like a muscle, and the more you utilize it, the easier it will become.”
Photo credit: JPI
Jacqueline MacInnes Wood (Steffy, B&B)
“Like in anything, you have to do what your heart tells you. When I decided to leave B&B [in 2013], I had a number of co-stars tell me that, and I’ve never forgotten it. You absolutely have to go for it because it’s better to try and not succeed than to live with a bunch of what-ifs.”
Photo credit: JPI
Greg Vaughan (Eric, DAYS)
“Not to be hard on yourself. Trust your instincts and know that you have what you have because you’re present. Having an inner peace with yourself in life takes you far and that gives you the happiness that you need.”
Photo credit: JPI
Laura Wright (Carly, GH)
“Brian Mertes, who was my director on GUIDING LIGHT, taught me that I can justify absolutely anything as an actor. He wouldn’t let me stay in the no and he taught me to just go for it. He’d say, ‘We have to do this. So why would your character do it?’ I’m not the actor who would say, ‘That doesn’t make sense to me,’ or put in changes or complains, ever, because I will justify anything you hand to me.”
Photo credit: Steven Bergman
Melissa Claire Egan (Chelsea, Y&R)
“There hasn’t been one particular thing, but when I was on ALL MY CHILDREN [as Annie], Cameron Mathison [ex-Ryan] was like my big brother and therapist. I started that show when I was 24, so I always had boy drama. Every morning at 7, I was knocking on his door and going, ‘You’re not going to believe what happened to me last night.’ He had great advice.”
Photo credit: JPI
