The future of a kid star or teen actor is an unsure one. We learned this fact from the entire cast of Different Strokes… and, actually the stars of MOST eighties sitcoms, including Jaimee Foxworth, who played the youngest daughter, Judy, on Family Matters for the first few seasons before her character was suddenly dissolved and wound up doing adult films. So, for a star to not only survive the kid star to adult role transition–continuing to have a thriving career, but to also transition into a stunningly attractive adult, that is an amazing feat. Actresses and actors such as Hilary Duff, Dakota Fanning and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are looking better than ever, so let’s check out who’s looking better with time in our community.

Sheryl Underwood is really making moves for herself these days. In addition to her gig on CBS’ “The Talk,” Underwood will also appear on The Young and the Restless. Underwood has long been a fan of the soaps so this was a dream come true for her.

Underwood recently chatted with TV Guide Magazine about her experience. See what she had to say about her soap opera stint:

TV Guide Magazine: How far back do you go with Y&R?

Underwood: Waaay back, baby. Back to when David Hasselhoff was Snapper and Mrs. Chancellor was the baddest Itchbay on TV. She was doing fight scenes long before Alexis and Crystal on Dynasty. Oooh! Remember when John fell in love with Mamie, his black housekeeper, but it was too scandalous so she was given a million dollars and sent away on an ocean cruise? Remember when Drucilla was doped up on cough medicine and Malcolm had sex with her?  Love! This! Show! I love The Bold and the Beautiful. I love John McCook. I love Susan Flannery.  I love everybody on every soap. I love SoapNet. I’m a fanatic!

TV Guide Magazine: So how’d you do in your big suds debut?

Underwood: I was so nervous, I couldn’t eat and I couldn’t sleep. It takes a lot of mental dexterity to do a soap, but it was just phenomenal. A few days before I did my scenes I was performing in Washington, D.C., at the D.C. Improv and Debbi Morgan [Y&R's Harmony] came to see my show. I told her to tell the people at Y&R that I was not coming in intending to be funny and that I would not be needing a billion takes. I was concerned that maybe they wouldn’t think I was taking this seriously because I’m a standup comic. I was dead serious and needed them to know that. I want to do that show again! Who else needs marrying in Genoa City?

You read the rest of Underwood’s interview with TV Guide at Eurweb.com.

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When you see famous celebs starring in huge move roles today, do you every wonder how they got there?  People glorify celebrities today more than ever and might even think of them as immortal, as if everything has been handed to them on a silver platter.  But surprisingly enough, many of these stars started out on the small screen in popular soap operas.  Take a look at these 7 celebs that made their acting debut on shows such as General Hospital,  Guiding Light, and Generations!

You’ve seen Angell before but since the woman changes her hairstyle like everyday it might take you a while to recognize her. You may remember her as Omar Gooding’s ride or die girlfriend “Kim” in “Baby Boy”. You may have seen her on “The Parkers”, “One on One” or even “That’s So Raven”. Today the  actress plays fierce lawyer Leslie Michaelson on the popular soap, “The Young and the Restless”. We sat down with the talented actress to discuss career journey, being a boss, and being a black actress in Hollywood.

Just because you don’t want to live in the midst of intense drama and theatrics 24/7, doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy watching it unfold for someone else on T.V. And that is where soap operas, aka, “stories,” come in. With plot lines that range from relatable to mythical to some that are just plain ‘ol bizarre (characters are killed off but come back mysteriously), there’s nothing like continuous drama that gets better from week to week. And if it doesn’t get better, there’s always next week to look forward to. So imagine my distaste to the recent news that “One Life to Live” and my beloved “All My Children” (after 40+ years!) were being canceled. What is a weekday morning without a soap!? To celebrate the role that stories have had in many black women’s mornings (preferably on days off I hope), here are five notable daytime drama queens whose fictitious lives and believable acting entertain (or entertained) us every week.

Julia Pace-Mitchell, daughter of actors Judy Pace and Don Mitchell, is the newest face on “The Young & the Restless” and what a beautiful brown face it is. Playing the shrewd Sofia Dupre, Pace-Mitchell told AOL Black Voices that she was surprised to even get an audition, much less land the role.

“Honestly, I was just as surprised when I got the audition because a lot of times, for my type, you don’t even get the opportunity to audition for soaps,” said Pace-Mitchell.

Check out the AOL Black Voices article to read more about this season on Y&R and also to see a slideshow of black actors who got their start in soaps! Taye Diggs is that you?

This just keeps getting more dramatic every day.

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