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Soap Opera Weekly - September 21, 1993

There's an abundance of actors in this world, and there are even a fair number of talented ones. Yet only a handful of these performers become "stars." They're the ones with that special spark, a presence that puts them a step above the rest. Here are some multitalented first-time soap actors who joined their shows between April 1992 and July 1993 who have made that kind of impression on us. No matter where they choose, or are chosen, to go from here, we feel these actors have the potential for great success.

First airdate: December 1992
Notable credit: Picked by Loving in a nationwide talent search to play the role of Kent Winslow, which lasted only three months.

Why he has star potential: Howarth's presence is hypnotic. He's focused (just watch his eyes), and has given Todd such a deliciously frightening edge that we hope he wreaks more havoc in Llanview, because this is one case where we're glad justice wasn't served (yet).

Comments from co-workers: "It's been terrific working with Roger. He's a very easy going actor and has helped keep everyone at ease while exploring difficult issues."

--Sean Moynihan (Powell)



" Roger has a very eerie look that he gives when he's acting that, thank goodness, has nothing to do with his real personality. I think he's very bright and doesn't always play the obvious. He's got a subtle strength to him."

--Susan Haskell (Marty)

 

Loving's ex-frat boy Loving's ex-frat boy pledges OLTL
Soap Opera Digest
February 2,1993


It's been less than a year since Roger Howarth accepted his first soap role---Loving's ill-fated fraternity scoundrel, Kent. After Kent left last summer, Howarth took a recurring role on Guiding Light as another Greek frat brother-type, Jory. And recently, the young actor began playing Kevin's ( Kirk Geiger) fraternity brother,Todd, on One Life to Live." Todd seems a little more easy going than Kent," Howarth observes. "He's more fun to be around and less concerned with social status." Nevertheless, Howarth sees a similarity between his soap roles. And the fraternity connection baffles him a bit. "I was not involved in fraternities in college," says the actor, who graduated from George Washington University. " I'm more than happy to do parts like this, but it's the furthest thing from the fabric of my personality." While Howarth says he did get a sense of campus fraternity life when he was in school, he's never based his roles on anyone he knows." Soaps are a little bit bigger than everyday life," he explains.


Howarth admits he was surprised when he got the role of Todd." I really don't know how I made it," he relates. He did meet a OLTL casting person two years ago when he was in a New York play.When he heard about the opening on the show," I auditioned just like everybody else," Howarth relates." I made it to callbacks, and I got the part." Howarth,who admits he's often been cast as " the bratty bad guy," is very mysterious about his future storylines.While he admits that he's taped several scenes with Susan Haskell (Marty), he won't admit whether or not Todd and Marty will be involved."

One Life to Live is a great place to work," he says. "Everyone has been real pleasant and professional. I like Susan a lot,and I also enjoy working with Kirk and Mark (Brett Schneider, Jason)." Would he consider other soap roles in the future? "Definitely," says Howarth, who wouldn't rule out a move to Los Angeles after his OLTL duties are finished." I was recently in L.A.,and it's a pretty formidable place," he says. " I'd have to think long and hard about moving there, but I don't frown upon the idea. I'd like to move somewhere where there's sunshine and real beaches.

Soap Opera Update, April 5,1994 Issue
Roger Howarth---The Other Side of Evil


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The only thing that Roger Howarth admires about the character he plays on One Life to Live is his fashion sense. The grunge, Salvation Army like "rags" in which Todd slithers around? "It's all Ralph Lauren. Double R.L.: 80 dollar pants and a 400-and-something-dollar jacket." Unlike other soap villains whose edges are softened to make them more likeable, Todd has stubbornly clung to his rottenness. But in spite of his evil soul, the character is one of the most popular on the show. In fact, rumor has it that Howarth receives the most mail of all the actors on One Life to Live.....Much to his own chagrin. Howarth apparently would like to shatter more illusions about his character than just who designs his hand-me-downs. The young actor finds it disturbing that people could harbor romantic notions about a character he insists is "not healthy". "I don't get it. I don't want to insult anybody, but I don't know why he's attractive."

There are a number of possible solutions to this puzzle. One is the handsome Howarth himself, whose own magnetism undoubtedly has something to do with Todd's. "I know what the convention of a good-looking person is, and I know that for some reason skinny white guys are big now. I guess you could blame it on that." Perhaps it's because Todd presents himself to female fans as the ultimate challenge: Akin to the devil....but surely we could change him....? The one person in Llanview who may yet be able to redeem Todd is Rebecca. But Howarth feels that even this supposedly caring side we see emerging in Todd is nothing but a farce. "All of a sudden, he's supposed to be redeemed because he thinks he's in love with Rebecca....But how he cares for this woman is completely selfish and self-motivated. He just wants someone to comfort him. Todd is obsessed with a woman that he has nothing to do with. He's built this whole relationship up in his head."

Lest your temptation to sugarcoat this Beauty and the Beast-like tale continues, the actor stresses, "Todd is psychotic. He thinks he's in love with this woman....but he's stalking her. There's nothing misty about it."
The actor is grateful for his job on One Life to Live, but would probably laugh in your face if you called him a "Soap Star". Fame has become more of an intrusion in his life than anything else. "It's really starting to frustrate me because I can't just go to work anymore." Admittedly fortunate to have been a steady employee in the soap biz for over three years, Howarth someties envisions a life without acting. "Acting is always something I thought I'd do, but it's something I think I could leave....I'd have to let you know if it worked out or not, but there are moments when I really want to go away and do something else."

As for Todd's future? The former LOVING star can't say for sure, but Howarth does have his own theory. "I think Todd's going to wind up in Corinth, wreaking havoc on Alden University! It will take awhile, but someone will finally realize that he looks an awful lot like that sicko Kent who's rotting in prison!"

 

Copyright 1994 Chicago Tribune Company
Chicago Tribune Thursday, July 7, 1994
HOWARTH ISN'T OUT TO BE MR. NICE GUY
By Marla Hart
Special to the Tribune



The shadowy figures are fading fast from the soap opera landscape. Not that they've ever made up the bulk of any fictional town's population, but such characters as the vampire Barnabas on "Dark Shadows," the backstabbing wannabe prom queen Nola on "The Doctors," Dorian in her early Lady Macbeth incarnation on "One Life To Live" or Patch, the one-eyed dark prince on "Days Of Our Lives" have been given short shrift on daytime in recent years.


So it has been an unexpected pleasure to watch actor Roger Howarth as a lost soul in search of spiritual redemption in his role as ex-rapist Todd on "One Life To Live." It's those dark corners that make Howarth so interesting to tune in to, and which, no doubt, helped earn him this year's Emmy Award as outstanding younger actor.


"It's not a standard archetype. That's why I decided it would be fun to play him for the next two years," says the 25-year-old Howarth.


It's not his storyline-the rapist who later saved the life of his victim and will soon be sprung from prison-as much as it is the presence of a real fish out of water that has gained him popularity. "It's certainly not my responsibility to monitor how people respond to Todd," Howarth says. "We didn't set out to set him up as alternative. He lives on the fringe of society. He's psychotic, not the type of person you meet every day. . . . but people are fascinated by aberrant behavior."


But once psychos catch on with the viewing public, producers fix what ails them with assembly-line predictability. Bad tempered? Abused as a child? Confused? Separated from twin at birth. One can bet writers will soon enough reinvent young Todd as a romantic leading man. Of course, Howarth, who just signed a two-year deal with the soap, doesn't see it that way. "He's not being redeemed at all," he says. "Todd, as I see it, is looking for a way to overcome this rage so he can live in society again. From now on, his menace will be on the surface, not exploding. It's more interesting if his violence is on the surface and that he play against it. That's where the subtlety is."


Howarth grew up in Westchester, N.Y., where he got his first taste of acting in high school. He dropped out of George Washington University in Washington D.C. after his first semester to join up with the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. While pursuing a theatrical career along the East Coast, including performing in "Macbeth" at the New York Shakespeare Festival, Howarth worked a series of restaurant jobs where he discovered once and for all "acting beats shucking oysters."


His first daytime gig was in 1992 on "Loving" as a low-echelon frat boy, a role from which he graduated to play frat boy No. 1 on "OLTL" (1 p.m. weekdays, ABC-Ch.7). There was no grand scheme to bring Howarth on board the soap until it became clear that his iconoclasm was catching on."I was hired in December '92 to plant drugs in Jason Webb's jacket. All I knew was that my first name was Todd," he recounts. "I don't know what happened next. They called me in again and suddenly I had a last name 'Manning.' Then I get called to read another day."