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(All of Tamara's parts are bolded)

Posted by Backstage

Soap operas were dubbed thus because when they began, decades ago, they were sponsored by soap manufacturers, who were advertising to the audience at home in the middle of the day: women. In the succeeding years came nontraditional casting, taboo-breaking story lines, and the phenomenal work many soap actors do each day, and the soaps came to be known as "daytime dramas."

Being a star on such shows is the ultimate goal of some budding thespians. Other actors consider themselves above such small-screen aspirations. But many in each camp don't consider exactly how much work and talent are demanded by daytime dramas. For a hint of what it entails to be an actor working in daytime, we spoke with some of the many people involved in making these shows happen.

Begin at the Beginning

As everyone we interviewed was quick to mention, there is no such thing as "soap acting." Tamara Braun, who currently plays Ava Vitali on Days of Our Lives, admits, "I tend to think when people refer to soap acting it's bad acting, unfortunately." But Days casting director Marnie Saitta notes, "I think that was a stereotype that was back in the day, and people equated it with being over the top, but I don't think that exists anymore."

Still, in the face of the misconceptions and daytime's often melodramatic story lines, young actors can be fooled into thinking they must match the material by heart- and hand-wrenching overacting. Braun, who was nominated for a Daytime Emmy and won a Soap Opera Digest Award for her work on General Hospital, warns, "You prepare for a soap audition the same way you prepare for anything else. I think you go in to tell a story, you go in to know the relationship you have with somebody, and you try to make something real happen in the moment." Deanna Russo, who appeared last year on The Young and the Restless and will star on Knight Rider, notes, "The preparation for soap auditions isn't different. But the material is unique. I find soap material very sexy."

Saitta adds of soap auditions, "Very rarely do I get actors who come in and go over the top because they think that's soap acting. If there's an actor trying to push an emotion, it's usually because they're just not feeling it. Then it can come off over the top."

Getting in the Door

Resembling a supermodel is not the key to getting cast. Says Saitta, "I've seen so many people who are gorgeous in my lobby, and they come in here and they can't act and they lose their looks. Then I've seen so many people who might not be the best-looking person in the room, and all of the sudden they become gorgeous in front of me because they have talent. So how important are looks? If I can get looks and talent in one package, I would be very excited. But if it came down to it, I would always go with the talent over looks simply because a really talented person can convince you that they're beautiful, and a beautiful person with no talent becomes ugly very quickly."

Of course Saitta looks first at a headshot, responding particularly to "a photograph that is really lit in the eyes; that really grabs me." But then she flips the shot over and looks at what every other casting director looks at: the résumé. "I love when I see actors who have been studying at different places and a number of different techniques to find their way, because I think that sort of discovery is really important for an actor because it expands their emotional range, most importantly, and it just shows me that they're constantly working at it," she says. "I love to see improv on people's résumés because there's nothing like a phenomenal improv class to sharpen your instincts, because at the end of the day, that's what actors are relying on, their own instincts." Saitta adds that doing a soap is not unlike doing a play a day, therefore a strong theatre background is also attractive to her. On résumés, she says, she wants to see evidence of studying and practicing: "The actors — you can tell when they come in — who are completely studied and prepared, they are strong and confident; there's a stillness about them, and they make a very strong choice based on the material. They've done their homework, there's a backstory, they did a really full character, and they breathe life into the material."

However, if you have been mailing to the lead casting directors and their associates and have not gotten an audition, there may still be hope for you. Russo has a suggestion that can land you a role by going through the back(ground) door. "If you can get your headshot in the hands of the extras casting director on your favorite soap, then you'll have the best opportunity to be hired to be on set," she says. "Once there, you'll learn firsthand what it's about. You'll meet great people, and if they like you, they'll rehire you and eventually give you lines for small parts."

Saitta agrees you shouldn't always necessarily shoot right for the top. She advises actors yearning to work in daytime to "come in and take any size role on a soap because it's about getting down there on set, seeing how it all goes down and sinking their teeth into it, getting their feet wet, and working their way up."

Staying in the Room

You may think you have enough training to get you into a daytime casting office, but as Saitta mentions, there is no such thing as too much training. Beyond providing you with the skills you'll require on a set, your acting class may even get you there and keep you there. Currently playing the role of Trevor Lansing on General Hospital, Stephen Macht was referred for the part by a classmate. And in that class, Macht says, he learned how to keep a positive attitude, and that has helped to keep him working.

A former Ivy League professor with a Ph.D. in dramatic literature, Macht once gave daytime short shrift, but he knows that doing so cost him an earlier role on One Life to Live. He admits, "I was a failure at it because I looked down on it, and I was therefore intellectually constipated. I screwed up, because I as an actor didn't have the attitude. My teacher says your attitude monitors your talent; if you've got a bad attitude, your work will reflect it."

Macht says he now feels grateful for the challenge soaps offer him; "How can this seemingly facile, two-dimensional, convoluted thing be three-dimensional and absolutely dynamic without pushing? It all depends on what you bring as a person and your technique as an actor to allow any specific situation to draw out of you everything that's there, and you've only got one minute to get it done."

Braun notes the learning curve experienced in working under daytime drama's time constraints. "There are challenges, and once you get the job you have to prove yourself," she explains. "You have to learn to do everything fast. You don't have a lot of time to prepare, especially if you have a hot story line. You are working every day, and you pretty much have to get to emotions and intentions and motivations and point of view, and you don't have the luxury of time." But Braun maintains it gets easier: "I had to learn real quick. But, after a few months, you get used to the rhythm; you say 'Okay, I've got it down.'" Indeed, you had better get it down quick because, as Russo says, "A soap is a well-oiled machine."

'How Do You Learn All Those Lines?'

This most-popular question asked of actors goes doubly for someone on a daytime drama. How much dialogue can you expect in a main role, and how much time do you have to learn it all? Russo says final-draft pages of scripts make it to her "no later than 6 p.m. the night before, which is also when I'd get my call time." So you'd better be a quick memorizer. For Russo, the key is in repetition: "The more you repeat dialogue, the more it will stick. Find a mnemonic that works for you. For me, I need to say my lines out loud and rehearse with a buddy."

Scripts can often change last minute too, so be prepared to make the adjustments ungrudgingly. "That's a challenge on any set, not just soaps," Russo says. "Notes are always trickling in from the higher-ups, and you roll with it. Every person on set, not just actors, has to make sudden adjustments in order to support the flow of the day."

Sometimes you may have more time — but also more text. Says Macht, "I got Monday's script, and I've got 10 pages there. And then for Wednesday and Thursday I've got four more scripts, so, I would say probably 30, 40 pages of dialogue for the whole thing." Macht hires someone to rehearse his cues with him. But if you think 40 pages of dialogue in a week sounds daunting, Braun's recollection will absolutely terrify you. "We shot these scenes all back to back. I was in every single one. I was a talkity-talk-talk-talker, and it was 54 pages," she says of a recent shoot. Braun laments, "There's always a Catch-22, because you want to work, and you want the good stuff to pour your heart into, but it's hard with the amount of work that's thrown at you to make it work." But she is quick to note the upside: "When it does, it's magic. You feel so grateful that you get to be an actor and get paid for it."

My Father Is a Vampire

In a career where we, as actors, must live truthfully under imaginary circumstances, does this task become more difficult when the situations are as out of the ordinary as they tend to be in daytime drama? Macht seems to have found the key. In the role of a mob lawyer, he found his character's clear point of view. "I am going to play the devil incarnate, and I'm simply there to point out the hypocrites who refuse to accept their fate," Macht says. "As a point of view, it's really clear, so anything I do — whatever stimulus comes at me — I'm solid. It's a wonderful game because you don't have too much time to prepare."

For Braun, some days are easier, comparatively speaking, than others: "Some days I say, 'I'm going to make this thing work,' and other days I'm like, 'Oh gosh, how do I do it? How do I continue to tell the truth in what can be an absurd situation?' I had a day like that today, if you want to you know the truth. It was very difficult because I didn't understand why my character was doing what she was doing, and it was a little funky, but you have to say, 'Tomorrow's another day,' and that's the beauty of soaps is that tomorrow is literally another day."

But as Braun notes, "Honestly, that's not just a soap challenge; I think it's an acting challenge, regardless of the medium. Those are the obstacles we come up with. It's not a perfect science."

Russo agrees that in daytime, "the greatest challenge is making strong enough choices. Soap opera acting is very difficult, not because of all the lines to memorize but because you need to have really good instincts. No one is there to hold your hand and tell you if you're doing well. People don't give soap actors enough credit."

Saitta sees enough actors to know that this is the case. She advises that actors learn to trust their instincts and to know what they are getting into if they seek soap work. "I think there was a misconception that daytime was a place for new actors to learn," she says. "Well, my viewpoint is you really have to know your stuff to be in daytime."