Soap operas have been around for a long time and some of them date back as far as the early ’60s! These daytime dramas are known for their wildly unbelievable storylines full of plot holes, scandal, mystery and, of course, petty drama! Despite their reputation, soap operas are a staple part of television and many have helped kick start a lot of careers! In fact, not only do we see soaps launching the careers of actors, but we’ve seen a lot of them backtrack onto soaps and do some pretty great guest appearances! These celebrity cameos aren’t exclusive to actors — we’ve seen professional athletes, singers and even politicians! Here’s a look at some of the strangest guest cameos on soap operas in the past:
10. James Franco – General Hospital
It’s not unusual for Hollywood actors to start their careers in the soap opera industry; in fact many successful actors originated from daytime television. However, it is fairly unheard of when an actor who is well into his career with an Oscar nomination to detour back to daytime television. James Franco joined the cast of General Hospital on and off from 2009 to 2012. Not only was his appearance strange, but his character was too! Franco played the role of an artist/sociopath/serial killer named Franco. His character ended up being obsessed with Jason Morgan and believed his crimes were associated with art. In the end, Franco ends up kidnapping Jason’s girlfriend and best friend. Jason manages to save them both, but Franco gets away. He made returning appearances over the next few years. Casting director said, “He came in, and we threw a lot of material at him, because we only had him for a limited amount of time. So he would shoot episode after episode, in one day. So we gave him quite a workout. And he did a great job of playing one of the most bizarre characters we’ve ever had on the show.”
