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A Whole New 'World'

EW's own Scott Brown on ''As the World Turns'' -- The writer turned extra turned writer again shares his daytime acting adventure

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By Scott Brown

Scott Brown

Scott Brown is a senior writer for EW and a frequent contributor to National Public Radio -- he has the tote bag to prove it

How I landed a role on one of daytime's most venerable soaps, the 50-year-old-and-counting As the World Turns, is of no consequence. Okay, I used to room with a casting director who owed me money — are you happy now? At any rate, I recently nabbed the choice role of Singer #1, an almost disturbingly handsome young troubadour with a tortured past and rich inner life that were, curiously, nowhere to be found in the script.

In my (pivotal) scene, Singer #1 is auditioning for a slot at Crash, a new club in the fictitious town of Oakdale. The judges are Casey (Zach Roerig), Maddie (Alexandra Chando), Will (Jesse Lee Soffer), and Gwen (the Daytime Emmy-nominated Jennifer Landon, daughter of Michael). Against the advice of legal counsel, I elected to treat this as a love scene. My instructions were simple: Speak lines, sing Celine Dion's ''My Heart Will Go On,'' accompany self sexily on Radio Shack miniature piano. The director, sensing my professionalism, kept her notes brief: ''Just be really, really bad.'' I'm told I nailed ''really, really bad'' on the first try.

This is where a lesser man would campaign for a Daytime Emmy (for Best Two-Minute Busk in a CBS Soap Episode Airing on April 17, Check Local Listings). That would be beneath me. No, I'm holding out for a Daytime Oscar.