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Famous actors who got their start on soap operas

Famous actors who got their start on soap operas

These A-listers kicked off their careers in daytime television on sudsy soaps.

By EW Staff

Updated June 22, 2020 at 06:16 PM EDT

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Elizabeth Banks, All My Children

Credit: Donato Sardella/Getty Images; ABC

In his very first episode of All My Children, Josh Duhamel charms a waitress into paying for his meal — and that waitress is none other than Elizabeth Banks. When the episode aired in 1999, Banks was just getting started as an actress. Her character only appeared in one scene. —Dylan Kickham

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Kathy Bates, The Doctors

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Before she earned 14 Emmy nominations (and two wins), eight Golden Globe nominations (and one win), and four Academy Award nods (and one win), Kathy Bates landed her first taste of fame with a four-episode arc on The Doctors. Bates played Phyllis Gillette, a role so small that two of her appearances were uncredited. Don’t worry, Bates did OK after that. —Matt Sulem

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Justin Hartley, Passions

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He would eventually hit it big on primetime as one of This Is Us’ Big Three, but Justin Hartley picked up his first credit with a main role on Passions, playing Nicholas Foxworth “Fox” Crane from 2002–06. —Mary Sollosi

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Amber Tamblyn, General Hospital

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The Joan of Arcadia star and one-time sister of the Traveling Pants Amber Tamblyn kicked off her career on General Hospital, where she originated the role of Emily Quartermaine, which she held from 1995–2001. —Mary Sollosi

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Shemar Moore, The Young and the Restless

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Criminal Minds and S.W.A.T. star Shemar Moore kicked off his TV career starring as Malcolm Winters on The Young and the Restless from 1994–2005 (with a hiatus from 2002–2004). He returned to the soap for a guest appearance in 2014. —Mary Sollosi

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Laurence Fishburne, One Life to Live

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Before going on to appear in such iconic films as Apocalypse Now, Boyz n the Hood, and The Matrix trilogy, a pre-teen Laurence Fishburne played Josh Hall on One Life to Live from 1973–76. —Mary Sollosi

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Julianne Moore, As the World Turns

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Before she won Oscars and Golden Globes, Julianne Moore won a Daytime Emmy for portraying both Frannie and Sabrina Hughes on As the World Turns. From 1985 to 1988, Moore played Frannie, and then did double the work by also playing Frannie’s identical half-sister and cousin Sabrina starting in 1986. In 2010, Moore reprised her role as Frannie by coming back to appear on the show for an episode. —Dylan Kickham

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Josh Duhamel, All My Children

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From 1999 to 2002, Josh Duhamel ruled the soap world as one half of the All My Children super-couple Leo and Greenlee. Duhamel earned a Daytime Emmy for the role, but left the show to pursue other opportunities, leaving his character of Leo to die in a shocking twist. —Dylan Kickham

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Sarah Michelle Gellar, All My Children

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Sarah Michelle Gellar may have become a household name from her role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but soap opera fans knew that she had a talent for acting even before she started dusting vampires. From 1993 to 1995, the actress played troubled teen Kendall Hart on All My Children. The performance was well received, and even won Gellar a Daytime Emmy Award, but she still decided to leave the show in 1995 to focus on different projects. —Dylan Kickham

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John Stamos, General Hospital

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Well before Uncle Jesse moved into Full House, John Stamos played the streetwise Blackie Parrish on General Hospital. Even back in his early '80s stint on the soap, Stamos was interested in music: his character formed the band Blackie and the Riff Raff, although they were definitely no Jesse and the Rippers. —Dylan Kickham

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Leonardo DiCaprio, Santa Barbara

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Many fans know of Leonardo DiCaprio’s days as a child actor thanks to Roseanne and Growing Pains, but even before those early '90s roles, DiCaprio made an appearance on the ‘80s soap opera Santa Barbara. The future Titanic and Inception star appeared as the younger version of the character Mason in a flashback. —Dylan Kickham

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Alec Baldwin, The Doctors

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Alec Baldwin’s first television role was that of Billy Aldrich on The Doctors from 1980-1982. His character marked a more dramatic turn for the show, as he would die the longer an older female character continued using a serum to make herself appear younger. —Dylan Kickham

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Morgan Freeman, Ryan’s Hope

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Freeman didn’t start his acting career until he was well into his twenties. Before becoming the Morgan Freeman we all know today, he used his iconic voice in roles on soap operas like Ryan’s Hope and Another World through the early ‘80s. —Dylan Kickham

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Mark Hamill, General Hospital

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It’s hard to picture Mark Hamill as any character other than Luke Skywalker, but a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, he actually appeared on General Hospital. In his first regular role, Hamill played Kent Murray from 1972-1973, and later referred to the experience as “some of the happiest months of my career.” —Matt Sulem

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Jensen Ackles, Days of Our Lives

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Jensen Ackles had been a model since the age of 4, and broke into acting at around 18 as Eric Brady on Days of Our Lives. He landed the role in 1997 and held it until 2000. Ackles’ soap opera past was referenced in an episode of his show Supernatural, where his character enters a parallel universe and discovers himself to be former daytime soap star Jensen Ackles. —Dylan Kickham

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Demi Moore, General Hospital

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Long before 1990's Ghost, 1992's A Few Good Men, and her tabloid-heavy marriages to Bruce Willis and Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore played Jackie Templeton on General Hospital. From 1982 to 1983, Moore portrayed the investigative journalist on the daytime soap. —Dylan Kickham

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Hayden Panettiere, One Life to Live

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Fans may remember Hayden Panettiere’s early acting days from her role in the classic 2000 film Remember the Titans, but she was acting on soap operas years before that. The young star played Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live from 1994 to 1997, and then went on to play Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light in the late 1990s. —Dylan Kickham

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Kevin Bacon, Guiding Light

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Kevin Bacon moved to New York City at 17 to try to make it big. National Lampoon's Animal House was eyed as his big break in 1978 but it didn't quite launch him to fame, so he went back to waiting tables and taking small roles on soap operas like Guiding Light. —Dylan Kickham

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Taye Diggs, Guiding Light

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Taye Diggs had already shown off his acting chops on the stage with performances in Rent and Chicago, before making his television debut in Guiding Light in 1997. Diggs played Adrian “Sugar” Hill, one of the men Dahlia Crede dated. —Dylan Kickham

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Ryan Phillippe, One Life to Live

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Ryan Phillippe’s first television role was a pretty groundbreaking one. As Billy Douglas on One Life to Live, he portrayed the first openly gay teenager on daytime TV. Phillippe was 18 at the time, and would go on to fill his resume with film roles. —Dylan Kickham

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Brad Pitt, Another World

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Brad Pitt may be one of the biggest stars in the world now, but before he made a name for himself in films like 1999's Fight Club and 2009's Inglourious Basterds, Pitt got his first television speaking role on the soap opera Another World in 1987. The actor played a young basketball player named Chris. —Dylan Kickham

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Nathan Fillion, One Life to Live

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Nathan Fillion booked one of his first roles with a gig on One Life to Live in the mid-'90s as the teenaged Joey Buchanan. A large part of Fillion’s time as Joey involved a romance with his mother’s nemesis, Dorian Lord. Fillion briefly returned to the show as Joey in 2007 for the funeral of his character’s adopted grandfather. —Dylan Kickham

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David Hasselhoff, The Young and the Restless

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David Hasselhoff is famous for his roles in Knight Rider and Baywatch, but to soap opera fans he is known as Dr. William “Snapper” Foster from The Young and the Restless. Hasselhoff played Snapper throughout the late '70s and early '80s. —Dylan Kickham

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Michael B. Jordan, All My Children

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Long before he became the face of the Rocky spinoff franchise Creed, Michael B. Jordan had a regular role on the first season of The Wire in 2002. The following year, Jordan was added to the cast of All My Children, where he stayed until 2006. Jordan played troubled teen Reggie Montgomery, a role originally landed by Chadwick Boseman, who objected to the stereotypical character and was fired as a result. —Matt Sulem

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Leven Rambin, All My Children

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Leven Rambin first started on All My Children in 2003 when she was just 13 years old. Rambin ended up compiling 161 episodes as Lily Montgomery (and occasionally her own older sister, Ava Benton), and accepted roles on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Grey’s Anatomy while still appearing on the soap. More recently, Rambin could be seen on the second season of HBO’s True Detective in 2015, Hulu’s The Path from 2017-2018, and NBC’s Gone during the same time. —Matt Sulem

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Lauryn Hill, As the World Turns

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Lauryn Hill is most famous for her music, but before she joined the Fugees and embarked on her critically acclaimed solo career, she gave acting a try. In the early ‘90s, Hill appeared as Kira Johnson on As the World Turns. —Dylan Kickham

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Jordana Brewster, As the World Turns

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Just a few months after making her TV debut on a 1995 episode of All My Children, Jordana Brewster landed a role as Nikki Munson on As the World Turns. Brewster played the police chief’s daughter for more than 100 episodes between 1995 and 2001, before trying her hand at film, including a recurring role in the Fast & Furious franchise. Brewster ended up finding more success back on the small screen on Dallas (2012-2014) and Lethal Weapon (2016-2018). —Matt Sulem

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Meg Ryan, As the World Turns

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Seven years prior to When Harry Met Sally, Meg Ryan started her acting career with a role on As the World Turns. Although Meg initially accepted the role just to fund a degree in journalism, the gig turned into a 21-episode run from 1982-1984 that saw her Betsy Stewart character wed Steve Andropoulos (Frank Runyeon) in an episode that attracted 20 million viewers. —Matt Sulem

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Paul Wesley, Another World and Guiding Light

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You might know Paul Wesley from his current job on the CBS anthology thriller Tell Me a Story, or from his breakthrough role on the CW teen drama The Vampire Diaries, but he actually cut his teeth with a one-off appearance on Another World in 1999. Wesley, who was 19 and still using his birth surname of Wasilewski, quickly parlayed this into a six-episode part on Guiding Light, in which he played an always-on-the-run orphan named Max Nickerson. —Matt Sulem

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Tom Selleck, The Young and the Restless

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Soap fans know that Eric Braeden, who has been playing Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless for the last 40 years, looks a bit like actor Tom Selleck — but few remember that Selleck actually had a role on the same soap from 1974 to 1975. On Y&R, Selleck played Jed Andrews, a book editor with a short character arc and no mustache. He briefly reprised the role in 2005. —Matt Sulem

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Susan Sarandon, A World Apart

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Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon’s early-career role on A World Apart wasn’t just a bit part, she was one of the show’s stars! A World Apart ran for 325 episodes on ABC from 1970 to 1971 — brief, by soap standards — but Sarandon appeared in every one as the character Patrice Kahlman. —Matt Sulem

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Kevin Kline, Search for Tomorrow

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In 1991, Kevin Kline starred in — and earned a Best Actor Golden Globe nomination for — the all-star comedy Soapdish, which centered on a fictional soap opera. Kline had some useful experience that prepared him for the role, as the actor’s very first credit was playing Woody Reed on the CBS daytime drama Search for Tomorrow. —Matt Sulem

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Robin Wright, Santa Barbara

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Robin Wright is now famous for playing the icy Claire Underwood on House of Cards and for her roles in 1994's Forrest Gump and 1987's The Princess Bride, but her first acting job was playing Kelly Capwell, one of the protagonists on the soap opera Santa Barbara. In the late '80s, Wright portrayed Kelly as she struggled to choose between two men, and found out one turned out to be a serial killer. She was nominated for three Daytime Emmys for the role. —Dylan Kickham

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Famous actors who got their start on soap operas

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Elizabeth Banks, All My Children

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Kathy Bates, The Doctors

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Justin Hartley, Passions

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Amber Tamblyn, General Hospital

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Shemar Moore, The Young and the Restless

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Laurence Fishburne, One Life to Live

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Julianne Moore, As the World Turns

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Josh Duhamel, All My Children

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Sarah Michelle Gellar, All My Children

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John Stamos, General Hospital

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Leonardo DiCaprio, Santa Barbara

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Alec Baldwin, The Doctors

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Morgan Freeman, Ryan’s Hope

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Mark Hamill, General Hospital

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Jensen Ackles, Days of Our Lives

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Demi Moore, General Hospital

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Hayden Panettiere, One Life to Live

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Kevin Bacon, Guiding Light

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Taye Diggs, Guiding Light

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Ryan Phillippe, One Life to Live

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Brad Pitt, Another World

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Nathan Fillion, One Life to Live

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David Hasselhoff, The Young and the Restless

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Michael B. Jordan, All My Children

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Leven Rambin, All My Children

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Lauryn Hill, As the World Turns

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