At age 17, Kevin Bacon left home for the Big Apple looking to make it there (because if you make it there, you can make it anywhere). As a high school student, he developed a passion for the arts and wanted to become a serious actor. In N.Y.C. he found some theatre gigs and a big role in the slasher horror flick Friday the 13th. Things were picking up. He debuted on Broadway with Sean Penn and Val Kilmer. Soon, he landed the monster smash hit, Footloose, and became a pop star.
He’s starred in JFK, A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, and Mystic River, to name a few blockbusters. He won a Golden Globe Award and a SAG for Taking Chance, an HBO original movie. But before his film success came along, there was his soap stint in Guiding Light.
Julianne Moore
Don’t let that porcelain skin and red hair fool you, Julianne Moore is a total badass. Daughter of a U.S. Army Paratrooper and born at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, Moore is a total military brat. She attended nine different schools as her father was relocated, which might explain how she can fit so well into any role she plays.
Her soap opera stint includes a triple (!) role in As the World Turns. For three years, she played two identical half-sisters and their cousin. It looks like some things can only happen in soap operas.
Morgan Freeman
It sure seems as if Morgan Freeman has always been around, which makes sense since he's been acting for almost six decades now. He is best known for his incredible voice and narrating skills, although he did have a few Oscar-winning films throughout his career.
He’s been a champion and an inspiration for many African Americans in the United States. The actor has also given many motivational speeches throughout his career. Morgan Freeman is the seventh-highest grossing actor of all time, with a combined box office gross of just over $4.5 billion. We wonder how much of this money was earned from the soap operas Another World and Ryan’s Hope.
Johnny Depp
An actor, musician, and producer, Johnny Depp has done a lot in film. But before any of his iconic roles came along, he too had a small role in a soap drama — Aaron Spelling's Hotel. Three years later he landed the role of Edward in Edward's Scissorhands. Among his numerous awards and nominations, there are ten Golden Globes nominations, one of which he won.
He is known for playing eccentric characters and for his many collaborations with filmmaker Tim Burton, but his most memorable part in the last 20 years is definitely that of Captain Jack Sparrow, the pirate from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. As the perpetually drunk captain with never-ending luck, Depp's Sparrow redefined the way we think of pirates today.
Jason Biggs
Forever cast as an awkward white kid, Jason Biggs is primarily known for his work in the American Pie franchise. He later made a comeback starring in the hit TV show Orange Is the New Black.
Biggs had another notable role that people might forget about — Pete Wendall in As the World Turns. The part even got him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Young Actor in a Drama Series. Pretty fly for a white guy.