GH, Y&R Soap Alums’ Exciting Netflix Roles & Real-Life Inspired Films
Former daytime actors in star-studded movies and series, producing own projects.
Soaps.com’s latest roundup of soap opera alums’ projects include stars in Netflix series, a Sundance film, a star-studded movie, and a written and directed a short film. Find out where to watch favorite actors from All My Children, As the World Turns, General Hospital, One Life to Live and The Young and the Restless next.
Michael B. Jordan’s Raising Dion renewed for Season 2
The Michael B. Jordan produced Raising Dion has been renewed for a second season on Netflix. Jordan, who played Reggie Montgomery on All My Children, appeared in a couple of episodes as the titular character’s father who gained supernatural powers after observing a meteor shower in Iceland. He passed those powers on to his son Dion before his death, leaving the boy’s mother, played by Alisha Wainwright (Shadowhunters), to help her son navigate his new reality. At the end of season one, it was teased that Jordan’s character might not be as dead as viewers thought. Per TVLine, season two will contain eight hour-long episodes (season one had nine episodes) and will begin production in 2020 with Carol Barbee retuning as the showrunner. Netflix recently revealed Raising Dion was one of their 10 most popular series released in 2019.
Bonnie Burroughs & Meredith Hagner in Horse Girl
Bonnie Burroughs (Gladys Corbin, General Hospital) and Meredith Hagner (Liberty Ciccone, As the World Turns) are part of the independent film Horse Girl. Starring Alison Brie (GLOW), the movie is about a woman who lives a simple life working at a crafts store, but “When a gift impulsively stirs her curiosity about her family history, unexpected and strange dreams begin to disturb her. As these visions seep into her waking moments, Sarah struggles to hold on to her fragile reality.” Brie co-wrote and co-produced the film that stars Molly Shannon (Divorce) and Debby Ryan (Insatiable). The Sundance Film Festival will screen Horse Girl January 27 – February 1.
Blair Underwood & Cornelius Smith Jr. in Self Made
Scheduled for release on Netflix March 20, Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker is about the woman who overcame personal and societal challenges in the early 1900s to build a groundbreaking hair care empire geared toward black women. This earned her the title of wealthiest self-made woman in America at the time of her death in 1919. Soap opera alums Blair Underwood (Bobby Blue, One Life to Live) and Cornelius Smith Jr. (Frankie Hubbard, All My Children) star alongside Octavia Spencer (Truth Be Told, co-starring Billy Miller – Drew Cain, General Hospital), Kevin Carroll (Snowfall), Tiffany Haddish (The Last O.G.) and Garrett Morris (This Is Us). Spencer is listed as a producer (along with basketball great LeBron James) on the limited series based on the book written by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles. It premieres on the streamer March 20.
Zach Roerig & Max Gail in The Last Full Measure
The Last Full Measure is based on the true story of U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen William H. Pitsenbarger, who died while saving over sixty men in the Vietnam War. In the movie, Pentagon staffer Scott Huffman investigates a Medal of Honor request for Pitsenbarger thirty years after his death. While interviewing those who served with Pitsenbarger, a high-level conspiracy behind the years-long denial of the war hero’s medal is revealed. The movie stars Christopher Plummer (Knives Out), Diane Ladd (Chesapeake Shores), Sebastian Stan (Avengers movie franchise) Samuel L. Jackson (Shaft), Peter Fonda (The Magic Hours) and Ed Harris (Westworld). Roerig (Casey Hughes, As the World Turns; Hunter, One Life to Live) plays a younger version of Ed Harris’ character. Max Gail (Mike Corbin, General Hospital) also appears. The Last Full Measure is due in theaters January 24.
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Jeffrey Vincent Parise’s short film
Soap opera alum Jeffrey Vincent Parise (Simon Black, The Young and the Restless; Carlos/Joe Rivera, General Hospital) wrote, directed, and scored a short film shot on location in New Zealand, Australia, and Los Angeles. Gift is about the “meditative journey of a man reconnecting himself with nature and finding his place in it.” The film is told in narration by Claire Eglesias over scenes of animals, people, and landscapes. Watch Gift below.
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