Celebrities You Didn't Realize Got Their Start On One Life To Live

From 1968 until 2013, the residents of Llanview entertained the masses who kept coming back to "One Life to Live" for more drama from wealthy families like the Lords and the Buchanans. Along with the usual soap opera drama, the long-running soap engaged its audience with controversial storylines that shed light on important topics. Between this and the brilliant performances of cast members like longtime star Erika Slezak, who played Viki Lord, "One Life to Live" garnered countless daytime Emmy nominations and wins. In all, viewers tuned in for 44 seasons and over 11,000 episodes — not to mention, a (very) short-lived online reboot of the longtime ABC soap opera.

"One Life to Live" has also served as a springboard for many of your favorite celebs, some of whom you may have had no idea appeared on the show during their early days on-screen. Whether they've made a name for themselves on hit sitcoms and primetime TV dramas, played iconic characters, or appeared in some of your favorite films — proving they certainly had more than one life to live (pun intended!) — these celebrities all got their start on ABC's "One Life to Live."

Ryan Phillippe became a household name when he starred alongside Sarah Michelle Gellar and his then-real life love Reese Witherspoon (the two separated in October 2006 and divorced in 2007) in 1999's "Cruel Intentions." But way back in 1992, Phillippe made his acting debut on "One Life to Live," playing gay teenager Billy Douglas, a controversial role at the time. The plotline, especially Billy's "coming-out" scene, was said to have broken a taboo. It was the first major storyline involving a person from the LGBTQ+ community on daytime TV, part of the show's move to tackle important social issues.

For then-newcomer Phillippe, the part was his first meaty, dramatic role. "I get the chance to do some really cool acting. I mean, the most dramatic scene I did before this was a Nintendo commercial," he told Entertainment Weekly in 1992, adding that playing the teen marked the first time that he was able to cry on cue naturally. "I didn't have to force tears. My voice went all quivery and they just flowed out of me," he said. The role was a big learning experience for Phillippe. To better prepare him for the challenge, the show even brought in a psychiatrist who specialized in issues faced by teens in the LGBTQ+ community.

You probably know Nathan Fillion from primetime ABC series like "Castle" and "The Rookie." But the actor first came to ABC in 1994 when he made his debut as Joey Buchanan on "One Life to Live" — a character who had been portrayed by several actors over the years. Fillion clearly remembers his first day in the role. "I was nervous — I'm not going to lie. Everyone was looking at me like, 'Who is this new guy?' While I was there, there were four Kevin Buchanans — and one lasted just two weeks," Fillion told Soap Central in 2009. 

In 2018, Fillion made a surprise appearance at a soap opera fan event, thanks to an invitation from former co-star Kassie DePaiva. The actor could not have been happier to reunite with his former co-stars ("I'm still friends with a lot of these people," he told TV Insider) and pay his respects to the genre that helped jump-start his career. "I'll never speak poorly about daytime drama," he said. "The people on that show took me in and took care of me. There is no one there I wouldn't give a giant hug to. If you're going to learn the ropes, learn them from the best."

Tony and Emmy award-winning actress Judith Light may be best known for playing Angela Bower on the hit '80s family sitcom "Who's the Boss?" opposite Tony Danza, who played her housekeeper. But before her days as head of the Bower household, she was a mainstay on ABC's "One Life to Live," playing Karen Wolek, a doctor's wife who had a secret life as a prostitute — a role that earned her two daytime Emmys. Her tenure in the role included a memorable scene in which Wolek breaks down in tears in court, admitting to her double life. The scene, she explained in a Television Academy Foundation interview, was named by TV Guide as "one of their 100 most powerful."

For Light, despite the challenge of having to memorize her lines five days a week, the role was one that allowed her to push boundaries. Coming from a theater background, Light found herself in "good company" on "OLTL." "There are a lot of challenges in getting it done so quickly. But remember, all three of my directors on this show — David Pressman, Peter Miner, and Norman Hall — all came from the theater. And almost all of the actors were theater people," she said in a 2019 interview with The New Yorker.

Hayden Panettiere is probably best known for her roles on the television series "Heroes" and "Nashville" as well as the more recent films in the "Scream" franchise. She began her career as a child actor, and one of her earliest roles was on "One Life to Live." She played Sarah Roberts, the daughter of Tina Lord Roberts and Cord Roberts, one of the show's most popular couples in the '80s and '90s.

Panettiere was only 4 years old in 1994 when she landed the part, which she played until 1997. Though she went on to many other roles (including one on another soap, "Guiding Light"), according to Panettiere, being a child actor had its downsides. "I don't think I really had a lot of time to be a kid," she told The New York Times. "I would miss these pockets of time, and because of that, it wasn't easy for me as a young girl to slide back into a friend group and to belong."

Marcia Cross, the brazen redhead we know and love from primetime dramas like "Desperate Housewives" and "Melrose Place," actually has roots in daytime. In the '80s, she played Kate Sanders on "One Life to Live." Interestingly, Kate had a romance with Cord Roberts, who later married Tina Lord and became parents to Sarah Roberts (played by Hayden Panettiere — also on our list). Her first-ever scene on the soap was with John Loprieno, who played Cord. Tina would go on to interrupt Cord's wedding to Kate.

Also interesting is the parallel between Kate and the snobbish perfectionist Bree Van De Kamp, whom Cross played on "Desperate Housewives" — one comment on a YouTube clip of Cross' "OLTL" debut calls Kate a "snob from the get-go." However, another "OLTL" fan wrote, "I loved Marcia Cross on OLTL in 1986/1987 ... I was so bummed when Marcia Cross left because I loved the duo of Kate and Cord!"

Known for blockbuster films like "Men in Black" and "The Fugitive" — for which he won the best supporting actor Oscar in 1993 — Tommy Lee Jones has been a Hollywood heavyweight for years. But Jones actually started his career in daytime TV, appearing on "One Life to Live" as Dr. Mark Toland from 1971 to 1975.

Early in his career, Jones was not yet used to fame. In an interview with take2markTV, he spoke about an experience he had shortly after landing his "OLTL" gig. He was crossing the street in New York City when a woman clearly recognized him. "As we met in the little island there in the middle of Broadway, her face lit up, and she put her hands on her hips and looked at me and said something very enthusiastic in Italian," he said. "That perplexed me. I'd only done three days of work on a soap and already perfect strangers were talking to me on the street, and I haven't gotten used to it."

Actor, producer, and director Blair Underwood has appeared on series such as "Quantico" and "Sex and the City" and in movies such as "Deep Impact" and "Rules of Engagement." But when he first began his acting career in the '80s, he spent time in Llanview, playing Bobby Blue on "One Life to Live."

Underwood has fond memories of his time on the soap and even credits his co-star, Erika Slezak, with mentoring him on set. "Erika Slezak was one of my mentors in that arena. I was only there for three months, but she took me under her wing from day one," he told Soap Central. "A lot of our scenes were together ... I was just out of theater school, Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, and I didn't know anything ... So I'll always be grateful to her for that. She probably looked [at] me and said, 'This kid needs some help! I'm gonna help him out.'"

His experience on "One Life to Live," which served as a stepping stone for him, led him to greatly respect the genre. "I learned to have great respect for that type of work," he said in a 2011 interview on "HipHollywood." "Because there are many, many people that I know who have done that for many years, and they get a bad rap for whatever reason. ... But there are some very good actors in that medium."

Shortly before Yasmine Bleeth joined "Baywatch," she was a regular on "One Life to Live" in the early '90s. She played LeeAnn Demerest, who initially had a thing for Max Holden before later getting pregnant and eloping with Kevin Buchanan and giving birth to their son, Duke, over which a contentious custody battle soon ensued. "I need to know if you're going to let me take Duke with me," Demerest pleaded with Buchanan on a 1993 episode of "One Life to Live."

After leaving "One Life to Live," Bleeth added a number of credits to her resume, though her most well-known role was as lifeguard Caroline Holden opposite David Hasselhoff and the gang on "Baywatch" from 1993 to 1997. Bleeth continued appearing in projects through the early 2000s. However, apart from a 2021 film called "Whack the Don," she hasn't appeared in any TV or film projects since 2003.

Over the years, Laurence Fishburne has amassed many credits in both television — from "CSI" to "Black-ish" — and film — everything from 1991's "Boyz n the Hood" and 1993's "Searching for Bobby Fischer" to 2003's "Mystic River" and "The Matrix" movies. Fishburne has proved himself to be an accomplished and versatile actor and has played a variety of roles. But did you know that he actually started out his career as a child actor on "One Life to Live"?

In the mid-'70s, he played Josh West Hall on the popular daytime soap. In a 2020 interview with Vulture, Fishburne explained how he came from a humble upbringing that seemingly didn't match his child star status at the time. "When I started, I was doing 'One Life to Live' here in New York," he said. "I was 10, 11 years old, a single-parent household. I didn't have the nicest clothes, all that s***, and I wound up on a TV show."

Though Brandon Routh has appeared on a number of TV shows and films in the 2000s and 2010s, his breakout role was in 2006's "Superman Returns," in which he played the lead role of Superman/Clark Kent. "One Life to Live" fans likely recognized him from the soap, on which he played schemer Seth Anderson from 2001 to 2002.

Routh's time on the ABC soap was cut short, however, when he was reportedly let go in March 2002. While Routh was not necessarily upset by the news, he was disappointed in how the events transpired. "I am not truly saddened by this turn of events ... in fact I am quite relieved. I have gained much and will now move on," Routh said in a statement at the time. "I am saddened, however, by the lack of respect and humanity expressed by those in control of the show. Instead of being open and honest with me, they were conniving and malicious. They actually had me come in to work [on March 21] for four hours ... then called me up to tell me they were releasing me!"

With Routh landing his "Superman Returns" role only a few years after exiting the show, it's clear that "OLTL" wasn't meant to be a long-term gig for the actor. Not bad to go from starring on a soap opera to playing the lead in a blockbuster Hollywood film.

Bryan Cranston has appeared in both television and film in a variety of roles. While he is probably best known for starring as Walter White on "Breaking Bad" from 2008 to 2013, in the early 2000s, he played Hal Wilkerson on "Malcolm in the Middle" — a totally opposite role from the one he played on "Breaking Bad" as a chemistry teacher slash meth dealer and manufacturer.

What Cranston's fans may not be aware of, though, is that a young Cranston also enjoyed a stint on ABC daytime in the '80s when he played Dean Stella on "One Life to Live." In May 2020, Cranston joined "General Hospital" star Genie Francis and casting director Mark Teschner for "The Story of Soaps," a look back at the popular daytime television genre. Cranston reflected on the genre's intense five-day-a-week shooting schedule, which equates to about 120 pages a day (compared to shooting a movie where the entire script is 120 pages long). "That condition really tests a performer to be able to look every single day at ways that you can bring honesty and reality to that character in those scenes," he said.

We all know Phylicia Rashad from her most famous role as doctor and Cosby family matriarch Clair Huxtable on the beloved long-running '80s and early '90s sitcom "The Cosby Show" and its spin-off, "A Different World." Rashad's accomplishments also include an array of roles on the big screen (1989's "Steel Magnolias" and 2015's "Creed"), the small screen ("This Is Us"), and onstage (her Tony award-winning turn in Broadway's "A Raisin in the Sun"), but did you know that "One Life to Live" is among them? 

In the early '80s, just before landing the role we all know her for best, the accomplished actress played Courtney Wright on "One Life to Live," looking as classy and elegant as ever. Working on a soap opera no doubt prepared her for her leading role on "The Cosby Show" because of the similar filming schedule — both daytime dramas and primetime television comedies shoot five days a week.