Did you know that some of your favorite TV stars were once on soap operas. Check out who made the jump from daytime to prime time TV.
Mark Harmon
Mark Harmon has been all over our TV screens since the mid-1970s but long before he was our beloved Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS he was Fielding Carlyle on the prime time sudser Flamingo Road.
Darby Stanchfield
Just a few years before we were introduced to one of our favorite Gladiators on Scandal, she played Amelia Joffe on ten episode of General Hospital.
Tom Selleck
We know him now as Frank Reagan on Blue Bloods and Jesse Stone and who doesn’t remember him as ’80s icon Magnum P.I? But did you know that Tom Selleck was once Jed Andrews on The Young & the Restless?
Sarah Michelle Gellar
The Crazy Ones are over and we’ll never forget her as Buffy the Vampire Slayer but did you know that Sarah Michelle Gellar was once Erica Kane’s long lost daughter on All My Children?
Nathan Fillion
Long before we knew his as mystery writer Richard Castle or Captain Mal on Firefly he was Joey Buchanan, who slept with his mom’s arch enemy on One Life to Live.
Bellamy Young
You may know her now as the most dynamic and dangerous First lady on Scandal, but if you were a fan of NBC’s soap Another World, you may have noticed Bellamy as Dr. Courtney Evans.
Julie Bowen
Claire Dunphy is the mom who makes us laugh (and sometimes cry) on Modern Family but Julie Bowen had a long career before becoming one of the Dunphys. As a matter of fact she started out on the ABC soap Loving in the early 1990s.
Michael Weatherly
Long before we knew him as Anthony DiNozzo on CBS’ hit show NCIS, Michael was known as the Preppy Killer on Guilding Light. In the mid-’90s he was also Cooper Alden on The City (formerly Loving).
Christine Baranski
We couldn’t imagine The Good Wife without Diane Lockhart, one of our favorite kick-ass attorneys. But did you know that some of Christine’s first roles on TV were Beverly Tucker on Another World and Jewel Maniscalo on All My Children?
Eva Longoria
She’s currently the executive producer for Devious Maids and we all remember Eva from Desperate Housewives but she once played a Brenda Barrett look-a-like on General Hospital and graced the screen of The Young and the Restless as Isabella Brana Williams.
Ed O’Neil
We all know Ed as the cranky but lovable Jay Pritchett on Modern Family and no one’s going to forget him as Al Bundy from Married with Children but did you that he started out on the soaps. He was once on All My Children in the ’70s and then played Lenny on Another World in the early ’80s.
Halle Berry
Halle Berry has been all over the big screen from James Bond’s Die Another Day to the X-Men: Days of Future Past. TV Fanatics have been fascinated by her portrayal of Molly Woods on Extant but do you remember her from her six episodes as Debbie Porter on the night-time sudser Knots Landing?
Sarah Hyland
Who doesn’t love the Haley’s antics on Modern Family but Sarah’s been in the business since she was four-years-old. She started off on Another World as Rain Wolfe, later played Karen on All My Children, Alison McDermott Stewart (#4?) on As the World Turns and Heather on Once Life to Live.
Mariska Hargitay
Who hasn’t seen Mariska as Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU and some fans may remember her as Dr. Greene’s girlfriend Cynthia Hooper on ER but did you know that way back in 1988 she played Carly Fixx on the primetime sudser Falcon Crest?
Cam Gigandet
We are having such fun watching Cam Gigandet as the sexy Roy Raydor on the CBS summer hit Reckless but observant fans might remember him as Kevin Volchok on The O.C. and Daniel Romalotti from The Young and the Restless.
Jensen Ackles
Fans have adored this Supernatural hottie for years and although many remember him as Jason Teague on Smallville and C.J from Dawson’s Creek, soap fans will always know him as Eric Brady from Days of Our Lives.
Paul Wesley
Long before we knew him as Stefan on The Vampire Diaries, PFC Logan Atwater on Army Wives or even Tommy Callahan on Everwood, Paul Wesley started out as Sean McKinnon on Another World and then Max Nickerson on Guiding Light.
Ashley Benson
We love her as Hanna Marin on Pretty Little Liars but long before that, she could be seen as Jack and Jennifer’s beloved daughter Abigail Devereaux on Days of Our Lives.
Seamus Dever
Seamus is now half of our favorite bromance as Det. Kevin Ryan on Castle but before he started solving murders, he diagnosed patients as Dr. Ian Devlin on General Hospital.
Susan Sullivan
Where would Castle be without his mother to keep him grounded? But long before Susan Sullivan played Martha Rodgers, Broadway Diva, she was a star on the ’80s night time soap Falcon Crest and before that she could be seen as Lenore Moore Curtin Delaney on Another World.
Penny Johnson Jerald
Long before we knew her as Capt. Victoria (Iron) Gates on Castle or even as First Lady Sherry Palmer on 24, she spent some time in the mid-’80s as Debbie on General Hospital.
Hayen Panettiere
Hayden starred on two daytime soaps at a very young age. She was Sarah Victoria “Flash” Roberts from 1994-1997 on One Life to Live and Lizzie Spaulding on Guiding Light from 1998-2000.
Jonathan Jackson
Like his Nashville co-star, Jackson started on a soap as Lucky Spencer (Luke and Laura’s son!) on General Hospital in 1996 and ran on and off in the role until 2011.
Kevin Bacon
Long before appearing on The Following the six degrees of Kevin Bacon began when he played Todd Adamson on Search for Tomorrow and TJ “Tim” Werner on Guiding Light from 1981-82.
John Wesley Shipp
Long before he was Dawson’s dad on Dawson’s Creek or Henry Allen on The Flash (or Barry, for that matter), Shipp was a soap STAR. He started out on As the World Turns but became THE GUY on Guiding Light, Kelly Nelson (in a dual role, he also played Victor Lazlo) from 1980-84. He did, indeed, cross paths with Kevin Bacon’s Tim Werner. Six degrees, people!
Zach Roerig
Roerig appeared on both Guiding Light and One Life to Live, but made his big splash on As the World Turns as Casey Hughes from 2005-2007.
Taye Diggs
Before Private Practice, Murder in the First or his turn on The Good Wife, Diggs shared his megawatt smile on The Guiding Light as music mogul Sugar Hill in 1997.
Monica Potter
Nick and Sharon are celebating 25 years on The Young and the Restless. Guess who was his first Sharon?! Monica Potter orginated the role in 1994. She shared with Craig Ferguson that she got fired because she was “terrible” and had to dance around in a bikini with a fake tan. Soaps are hard!
Allison Janney
Back in the early 90s Janney plaid Ginger, one of the Spaulding’s maids on Guiding Light. She has always had a way of tickling the funny bone making her current turn as Bonnie on Mom just perfect for her!
