General Hospital star Donnell Turner appeared on the Soapy podcast, hosted by Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart. It’s perfect timing since he’s celebrating his 10-year run on the soap. During the candid conversation, Turner shared untold details about his career.
Key Takeaways
- On the latest episode of Soapy, hosted by Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart, Donnell Turner talked about his career on soaps.
- The actor recalled coordinating a holiday for MLK Jr. Day.
- Turner shared his passion for motivational speaking with at-risk youth.
- He also compared daytime dramas to wrestling, two of his passions.
Here’s What You Didn’t Know About Donnell Turner
Turner is best known for his role as Curtis on GH. He admitted that he does see himself in his character. Turner joked, “Curtis is the coolest part of me. I’m a little goofier than Curtis.”
However, there are times, just like this interview, where Turner has to channel his inner Curtis, so to speak. “I’m not saying I’m cosplaying out there, but you know, subconsciously he’s poking through,” Turner said.
During the interview, Turner revealed how he coordinated the holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Budig recalled he was “kind of new to the soap,” but that didn’t stop him from mentioning they should honor the holiday. Budig said she found it “admirable” that Turner made it happen.
“You know, I was new, and I guess I had nothing to lose except a contract since I had no skin in the game, so I wanted to set my boundaries early,” Turner explained. “And I said, ‘Frank [Valentini], I haven’t worked on this day in 12 years. It is, in fact, a national holiday. I’d be happier to work on Columbus Day.'”
Turner recalled that Valentini immediately “made the adjustment.” And since then, the show has gone dark on the holiday. Turner also shared his passion for speaking to at-risk youth.
The soap actor speaks to high school kids about their direction in life. “Your direction is more important than your location,” Turner shared. He was inspired to help kids find their direction, no matter their background or upbringing. Turner believes that everyone can “strive to be better.”
What Does WWE Have in Common With Soaps?
The interview took on a playful tone when he compared professional wrestling to daytime dramas. Budig recalled a time when she hosted Raw, when the WWE was the WWF. (Did this soap predict Hulk Hogan’s wrestling career drama?).
“I was on All My Children at the time. I was working a lot of that time. I got this side gig to just make extra cash, and I liked it. So, they hired me to host Raw Live on MTV,” Budig admitted.
According to Michael Fairman TV, the program she actually hosted was WWE Sunday Night Heat, a companion show to Raw. Budig admitted that she didn’t have time to get to know the whole wrestling world because she had to memorize material.
Vince McMahon’s daughter, Stephanie McMahon, suggested that Budig should tap into her inner soap actor. Even though Budig didn’t know who The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin were, she still had a great time.
Rikaart noted, “But the through line is there, and there are soap writers who have left writing on soaps to go write for WWE.” Turner admitted that he didn’t get into that world because it was similar to soaps.
