Actor Roundup: What Soap Star Were You A Fan Of Before You Came To Daytime?

Thorsten Kaye (Ridge, B&B; ex-Patrick, ONE LIFE TO LIVE) “Coming from a different country and not really watching soaps, the one thing I knew was as soon as I walked into the [ABC] building on 66th Street, I knew that this was Bob Woods’s [ex- Bo, OLTL’s house. There is some- thing about having that kind of power. Everything I’d heard about Bob Woods proved true. He is a gentleman and a scholar and one of my best friends in the world.”

Kate Linder (Esther, Y&R) “I was a fan of Jackie Zeman [Bobbie, GH], who was a passenger on one of my flights before I was cast on Y&R, and she was so sweet! Once I was on the show, we ran into each other at many events and now I’m honored to call her my friend.”

Melissa Ordway (Abby, Y&R) “Eileen Davidson [Ashley]! When I found out I was playing her daughter, I was ecstatic. She’s a powerhouse!”

Robert Scott Wilson (Ben, DAYS) “The original one was Victor New- man, from when I was a little kid. Eric Braeden is the first soap star I can remember. I used to watch THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS with my grandma every day.”

Matthew Atkinson (Thomas, B&B; ex-Austin, Y&R) “I never really watched soaps with my mom as a kid, but I do remember her talking about certain characters and the one that popped up a million times was Jason from GH. To jump into Genoa City and actually meet people you’ve heard of for years was exciting, and Steve Burton [Jason] was on Y&R [as Dylan] when I came on there. It was just one of those cool moments of, like, ‘I’m meeting someone I’ve heard of my entire life.’ My mom was so taken by that.”

James Patrick Stuart (Valentin, GH; ex-Will, ALL MY CHILDREN) “Michael Knight [Martin, GH; ex-Tad, AMC] and Cady McClain [ex-Dixie, AMC]. My agent said, ‘You have an audition for a show called ALL MY CHILDREN, I want you to take a look at it, tell me what you think,’ and I turned it on and immediately saw a scene with Cady and Michael and I was just so floored by how charming it was. It was such a romantic comedy, so classy, and it felt crisp and I just loved their energy together.”

Sal Stowers (Lani, DAYS; ex-Cassandra, ALL MY CHILDREN) “Debbi Morgan [ex-Angie, AMC, r.], which is funny, because I got to work with her on ALL MY CHIL- DREN. She played my mother. I was a huge fan of hers and the whole Angie/Jesse story. I’ll never forget meeting her. I was so starstruck.”