Perseverance and Nerves of Steel

Between 4 and 6 years ago there was a young actor on the daytime drama, One Life to Live, who stood out in the crowd.  Not for the right reasons, mind you….for the wrong reasons.  HE STINK, STANK, STUNK.  The boy was dreadful.

An addiction since childhood (the show, not the boy), I saw the young man’s first episode, his last episode and all the ones in between.  I’m nothing if not a softie, and I HATE to see anyone lose their job, but even I was hoping the show would axe this kid because he was so bad.

Not only did he have trouble with his lines, he was wooden and emotionless. He was fodder for the online forums as well as the soap mags.  No one dared to fast forward through him though, because it was too funny.

I remember one of his most agonizing scenes.  He was in a cave with his character Seth’s girlfriend (Yes, yes a cave) and he was supposed to simply say, “I’ll start a fire.”  He stumbled all over the place - “I’ll start a fire, make a fire, start a fire, make a…”  The poor actress just looked at him, then the place where he should’ve been starting…making…starting that fire.  He stood there looking blankly at her.

It was one of his last scenes.

On daytime, anyway.

The young man didn’t let the stinking or the firing get the best of him.  He let them get the best from him instead.  He continued to work on his craft, kept dreaming, and believed that he could make it all happen.

Whatever became of this actor?  Something super, actually. His name is Brandon Routh, and on June 28 he has the lead role in a little movie that’ll be coming out.   He’s being called the “next big thing” and the “hottest new star.”

It’s the start of something big…the making of something big….the start of something big…

Joi