Elizabeth Hendrickson recently shared one of those stories, revealing that before she landed on General Hospital and eventually became one of The Young and the Restless’ most familiar faces, she came surprisingly close to taking a completely different path. In fact, soap fans almost knew her best from Salem instead of Genoa City. As it turned out, one perfectly timed phone call changed everything and sent her career down an entirely different path.
Key Takeaways
- Hendrickson revealed a major soap career “what if.”
- Her planned move to Salem fell through at the last minute.
- GH came calling just as her DAYS opportunity collapsed.
- A chance meeting helped lead her to The Young and the Restless.
- The road to Chloe Mitchell almost looked very different.
The Job That Almost Took Her to Salem
While chatting with Rebecca Budig and Greg Rikaart on Soapy, the actress and director shared one of the bigger “What ifs” from her soap career. She admitted she was actually headed toward Days of Our Lives before GH entered the picture. Even funnier, she remembered warning executive producer Frank Valentini that she couldn’t play a DA, only to accept the role and power through what she later described as one of the hardest weeks she’d ever had on a set.
The story started when Hendrickson was preparing to join DAYS. Then everything changed almost overnight. According to her, the deal fell apart the same day Valentini called and offered her the role of assistant district attorney Margaux Dawson on GH.
The timing couldn’t have been more dramatic. Hendrickson explained that she was thrown into a mountain of legal discussion with almost no preparation. The job started immediately, and she suddenly found herself memorizing page after page of courtroom jargon. It wasn’t exactly the easiest welcome to Port Charles, but it completely altered the direction her career was about to take.
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A Chance Meeting Changed Everything
Ironically, another unexpected twist helped put Hendrickson exactly where she needed to be. During the interview, she recalled how a one-act play during the 2008 writers’ strike eventually led her back to daytime in a major way.
Interestingly, Hendrickson wasn’t even looking for her next soap job when the door opened. Then-executive producer Barbara Bloom saw her perform, invited her in for a meeting, and then casually asked if she’d ever thought about joining Y&R.
Hendrickson later admitted the question caught her completely by surprise. She hadn’t planned on heading back to daytime, but after checking out the show for herself, she found herself getting more and more interested in the idea.
And that’s the part that makes the whole thing such a great soap story. The role she almost got never happened, the role she wasn’t expecting did, and before long, she was playing Chloe on Y&R. Looking back now, it’s hard to argue with the results. The detour turned out to take her exactly where she needed to go.
