NOT WORTH THEIR SALT

I've waxed poetic before about how the roles James Rebhorn gets in movies and prime-time don't come close to fully exploiting his talents the way the soaps did.

Now comes another prominent example. My husband and I watched Salt this weekend (yeah, I know it came out last summer; we have three kids, this is actually pretty quick turn-around for us.)

Featured in the cast alongside Angelina Jolie and Liev Schrieber is Hunt Block (AMC/GL/ATWT). (Our exact words, "Hey, look, Hunt is the president of the United States!")

He has maybe a dozen lines (though still more than Andre Braugher - who gets higher billing; I'm guessing most of Mr. Braugher's scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, or else it really makes no sense), and two scenes, of which he spends the second half of the latter on the floor, unconscious.

In his first scene, Hunt is called upon to radiate "I feel your pain" sympathy and "please don't shoot me" fear. In the second scene (prior to being knocked unconscious) his task entails conveying "I wonder if the White House is under attack?" concern and "Hmmm, I seem to have just entered the code to launch a worldwide nuclear war, perhaps I should give this some thought before pressing the red button" consternation.

Anyone who has ever watched his nuanced work as Ben on Guiding Light or especially Craig on As The World Turns (even his earlier, rawer pass as Peter on Knots Landing) knows that the man is capable of far, far more.

I gather that, supposedly, every actor dreams of doing major feature films. But, all I have to ask is... why? Unless you're Meryl Streep or Daniel Day-Lewis, the real acting opportunities (if not the pay-checks, I totally get that) are on soap operas.

Watch the below ATWT clip of Craig talking to his dead son (at 3:33) in the morgue and let me know if you agree!