Time After Time/Soap World

In the history of daytime rarely were their younger African American female actors who were allowed a chance to grow with the show or to showcase the younger generation. Most African American female characters that were cast were already in their 30’s o rlate 20’s at the least. At the turn oft he century though we saw that change as Passions made the mark by casting 2 young actresses as sisters in their core African American family the Russell’s. Other soaps soon followed and we had a sort of a young black actress reissuance period. Prior to that in the 90's the ABC soap staples All My Children, General Hospital, and One Life To Live were the only game in town each having one isolated character. With that being said here is the list of the top 5 Younger African American actresses in the last ten years. As you will see each actress BROUGHT IT to the screen. Some were the herione type and some were bad to the bone. Yet, each portrayer and portrayal expanded what one could play in daytime landscape.  

5. Elena Goode (ex- Jade Taylor, As The World Turns)

As Jade Taylor actress Elena Goode portrayed the quintessential younger villainess and was allowed the type of storylines that any other actress on the show could have. During the actresses 3 year run she was on the frontbuner more then she was off it. 

4. Tanisha Lynn (ex-Danille Frye, All My Children)

As Danielle "Dani" Frye, Tanisha Lynn embodied the essence of the realistic teen's trials and tribulations. The actress herself adlibbed many of her lines and made distinct choices to make her character pop off the screen.

3. Tika Sumpter (Layla Williamson, One Life To Live)

As Layla, Tika Sumpter was a woman with an edge. She stayed true to form by providing relevant reactions that were relatable to her female audience and even endeared male viewers. There is hardly a fan of OLTL who doesn't enjoy seeing this extremely talented actress grace their television screens on a daily basis. More Layla please!   

2. Daphne Duplaix (Rachel, OLTL, ex-Valerie Davis, Passions)

A woman after my own heart Daphnee Duplaix is the heroine De’jour as Rachel on OLTL. She is as masterful actress who draws you in to her emotionally tangled web with each performance. And she is one half of the reason Grechel has become one of OLTL’s the couple to watch.  You can chalk that up to her previous work as the sometimes devious and complicated successful girl from the gutter Valerie on Passions. Daphnee is one actress any soap would want to have.    

1. Brook Kerr (ex-Whitney, Passions)

For 8 year Brook Kerr played the young woman Whitney Russll caugh between pleasing her father's dreams of her tennis career and pursuing her own dreams of falling in love and experiencing life as any other young woman would. Kerr's character of Whitney was also Passions moral center and conscious  to her best friend Theresa.  Yet when faced with life's unexpected challenges Whitney was forced to look at the world through different eyes. 

For Kerr she grew as an actress and moved from supporting to leading with ease. And no matter how wacky are crazy the storyline the actress sold it to the fans. What more could you ask for?