Soap Opera Vet Sean Kanan Reveals the Soap World in Studio City

Sean Kanan, formerly of The Bold and the Beautiful, The Young and the Restless, and General Hospital, has assembled an all-star cast for the web series Studio City, which takes a backstage look at the world of soaps and catches Kanan’s character, Sam Stevens, at an important crossroads in his life.

Sean Kanan: Tribute To Soaps

Studio City, which can be viewed on Amazon Prime Video, also stars Sarah Brown (ex-Agnes, BB; ex-Carly/ex-Claudia, General Hospital), Tristan Rogers (ex-Hunter, BB; ex-Colin, YR; Scorpio, GH), Carolyn Hennesy (Diane, GH), Patrika Darbo (ex-Shirley, BB; ex-Nancy, Days of our Lives), and Scott Turner Schofield (ex-Nick, BB).

The series charts the life of Stevens, a soap opera actor, and the cast of Hearts on Fire and other folks important to Stevens. Soap Hub chatted with Kanan about Studio City.

Soap Hub: How does Studio City differ from other programs or films that have taken an inside look at soaps?
Sean Kanan: I think a lot of times soaps are portrayed with a nudge and wink. They can be the butt of the joke. I wanted to do something in which, for the most part, they’re played straight. We don’t want to come off where we are making fun of daytime.

What kind of subjects do you tackle?
We show the realities of the business and pertinent issues including ageism, #metoo, and other topics. That’s what I’ve always liked about soap operas. They’re in the vanguard of taking on social issues. At GH (where Kanan played A.J.), we took on an AIDS storyline with Stone (Michael Sutton), breast cancer with Monica (Leslie Charleson), and other issues. I want Studio City to be a love letter to the soaps for all they’ve given me. Some of the best actors ever are on daytime.

How’d you come to work with director Tim Woodward Jr.?
We’d done other projects together, but I didn’t realize he’s a true soap opera fan. He’s a great director and he wanted to do something in this genre. He brought the sensibility and aesthetic of film to this medium. We’ve brought some cool elements to this genre that maybe people haven’t seen before.

Carolyn plays your producer. Did you base her on anyone you’ve worked with in soaps?
Carolyn’s character is an amalgamation of the many stories I’d heard over the years about Gloria Monty [GH’s late, legendary producer]. I wrote this role for her as I did Patrika’s. Carolyn plays this so well. She just crushed it. You see her playing this wonderful femme fatale and also her vulnerability comes through. I love working with her and the whole cast.

You see Tristan, but in this, he’s not Robert Scorpio and he’s not [YR’s] Colin either. Sarah’s also terrific. I knew that I wanted her to be a part of this. At first, she was going to play my love interest, but we realized later that we’re better off as brother and sister. This allows her to have other stories. Love interests can come and go. I wanted to make sure she’ll be around. Scott’s terrific, too.

Deacon’s a grandfather now. Any chance he’ll get sprung from prison?
It’d be a lot of fun to revisit BB. I have not met Annika Noelle [Hope] yet, but I hear she’s doing a fantastic job! It’d be fun to do scenes with her and meet my granddaughter!

Studio City can be seen on Amazon Prime Video.