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I've always said, I prefer the opera to the soap - those extreme characters and circumstances.

Soap Actors are fun and interesting. They all have something special that you want to be around.

I have the absolute utmost respect for soap opera actors now. They work harder than any actor I know in any other medium. And they don't get very much approbation for it.

When you're in a soap, it's fantastic, and I'm really grateful for the fans who watch you and support you. For me, it was the best experience because I was able to act every day and work with so many different directors and get some great storylines and learn on-screen.

Soap operas are like boot camps for film actors, so I really learned a lot. It was a masterclass in working for camera. I made myself watch myself every day. I would sort of try and be objective about it and critique myself a little. There's a lot more skill set than people realize in soap operas. They shoot, like, 35 scenes a day.

I love soap operas - the stories, the plots! And I love the game shows and the courtroom dramas and the detectives - Jessica Fletcher, 'Columbo,' 'Perry Mason,' 'L.A. Law.' Any sense of guilt appeals to me in a television program - a sense of guilt, or a sense of making a lot of money.

It's a great counter to doing the soap because it's a comedy. It's real physical comedy.

If you have to be in a soap opera try not to get the worst role.

I loved my soap days. I really loved them. A Martinez and Marcy Walker taught me how to act, basically. All those people pulled together and helped get me started. Like, showed me how to hit my mark, made me do this, made me do that. That was my first long-running professional gig. And it was like, they were just - great, great with me.

Soap operas are such a great way to break-in to the industry. The diminishing landscape of daytime TV means it's going to be harder for young talent to get discovered.