Why do most soap operas stay around so long

[TMC]

I thought about this after reading that Kristian Alfonso had been on Days of Our Lives for the past 37 years. I get that being on a daytime soap gives actors a steady income and a set schedule that keeps you in one spot year round. It isn't necessarily indicative of not being "talented" enough to go on and do more mainstream stuff like prime time series or movies.

But still, I'm curious how soap actors can fathom playing the same role for many, years straight. Do they ever want to diversify or are they too typecast to do so? Plus, soap opera acting is really hard work. Imagine having to learn a minimum of 60 pages of dialogue with little to no rehearsal.

[shandy630]

Originally Posted by TMC

I thought about this after reading that Kristian Alfonso had been on Days of Our Lives for the past 37 years. I get that being on a daytime soap gives actors a steady income and a set schedule that keeps you in one spot year round. It isn't necessarily indicative of not being "talented" enough to go on and do more mainstream stuff like prime time series or movies.

But still, I'm curious how soap actors can fathom playing the same role for many, years straight. Do they ever want to diversify or are they too typecast to do so? Plus, soap opera acting is really hard work. Imagine having to learn a minimum of 60 pages of dialogue with little to no rehearsal.

For some, it's a steady schedule--especially for actors with kids.

When the east coast based soaps were still on the air, there were quite a few actors who did both soaps and theater work at the same time because it was easy to do in New York. Michael Park (ex-Jack, ATWT) did both, along with Scott Holmes (ex-Tom). Tamara Tunie (ex-Jessica) was on both ATWT and the Law and Order series at the same time. Justin Deas (ex-Buzz, GL) said for him being on GL was good for his kids to have a stable home life while his wife, Margaret Colin (ex-Margo, ATWT), would go and do movies roles (i.e. Independence Day, The Devil's Own).