13 Former Soap Stars Who Made The Move To Hallmark

To describe Linda Dano as a soap veteran is something of an understatement. During the course of an acting career that began in the 1960s, she's appeared in "As the World Turns," "All My Children," "Port Charles," "One Life to Live," "General Hospital," "Guiding Light," and "Days of Our Lives." However, she's best known for playing Felicia Gallant in more than 1,300 episodes of "Another World." 

In 2019, Dano appeared in her first Hallmark Channel project — an episode of "The Chronicle Mysteries." In 2021, she returned for Hallmark's "A Little Daytime Drama," co-starring with fellow soap alums Ryan Paevy and Jen Lilley. In the film, Dano plays Alice Hamlin, the creator of a long-running soap who's contemplating retirement, eager to pass the torch to the show's head writer, Maggie Coleman (Lilley). Complications arise, however, when Alice decides to bring back fan-favorite actor Darin Mitchell (Paevy) — who also happens to be Maggie's ex. 

"When my agent called and said, 'They want you for this role,' I said, 'Oh, I don't think that's much of a stretch, and I can do this one,'" she told MediaVillage. "I loved it." Dano added, "I was thrilled to be asked, as I knew the background and what it was about. I lived it for what, 35 years of my career? I got it, I understood the closeness that happens on a soap opera or whatever show it is."