You can laugh all you want, but we know you grew up watching “stories” with your moms, grandmas and aunties. Daytime dramas have always been popular with Black audiences, so it’s not surprising to find out that some of our favorite stars began their careers in soap operas. Superheroes, royalty, comedy legends and even God all started their acting journeys on daytime TV. These are Black stars you forgot started on soap operas.
I’m not surprised Sheryl Lee Ralph appeared on a soap, she’s pretty much done it all. Name a genre and she’s worked in it.
Shemar Moore’s Malcolm Winters changed the landscape of The Young and the Restless and I’m not just talking about his many, many shirtless scenes.
Child actor Larry Fishburne played Josh Hall, who was the adopted son of Ed Hall and Carla Gray. After being cast in Apocalypse Now, the Oscar-nominee left One Life to Live when he was 14-years-old, having been.
Though he’s the romantic leading man now, The Best Man star played sketchy record producer Sugar. Seriously, I had to turn the channel when he showed up because he was so terrible.
Honestly, I’d be more surprised if James Earl Jones hadn’t been on a daytime drama. In his usual groundbreaking style, the legend played Guiding Light’s Dr. Jim Frazier and As the World Turns’ Dr. Jerry Turner at a time when Black actors weren’t given the opportunity to play professionals.
Just before he came across the pond to dazzle viewers as Snowfall’s Franklin, Damson Idris appeared on Doctors playing the very British character named Krispin Northcote.
Though it was her TV debut, even in the recurring role of Nurse Salina McCulla, our queen stole every scene she was in.
Since Black women didn’t usually get a lot of screen time, Sharon Leal’s Dahlia Crede was one of my favorite characters. Though I had serious issues with her taste in men.
Tichina Arnold has been in almost every Black show on television, so it’s no surprise that she started her TV journey on Ryan’s Hope and later had a short run on All My Children.