Actor Blair Underwood has come a long way since appearing as One Life to Live's Bobby Blue back in the early 80s, and he says that's in part thanks to his former soap opera costar, Erika Slezak (ex-Victoria Lord).
Underwood says that he may not have found success on shows like Quantico, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Secret Millionaire, and Dirty Sexy Money had the multiple Daytime Emmy winner not given him a helping hand when he was brand new on the job.
"Erika Slezak was one of my mentors in that arena. I was only there for three months, but she took me under her wing from day one," he remembers of his soap days. "A lot of our scenes were together, and I didn't know what I was doing. I was just out of theater school, Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, and I didn't know anything. 'What is a camera? How do I do that? Where do I stand?' So I'll always be grateful to her for that. She probably looked [at] me and said, 'This kid needs some help! I'm gonna help him out.'"
It's been over thirty years since Underwood's Llanview days, and he has certainly made a name for himself in the primetime television arena, but he shares that he's still recognized from the soap opera.
"It doesn't happen so often," he says, "But every once in awhile, people shout, 'Bobby Blue from One Life to Live!' which I love."
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