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What do soap opera stars do on their day off? They can't lie, steal, sabotage, DNA switch, backstab, or manipulate. That's their job. So what do they do when not working?

Naturally, it's different for everyone. Michael E. Knight, former Tad from All My Children, enjoys watching favorite television shows, writing (when the inspiration hits), and sketching. Did you know that one of his relatives was part of the French Impressionist movement? His name was Daniel Ridgeway Knight, an American artist from Chambersburg, PA, born in 1839. He studied at École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and later worked in the private studio of Messionier.

According to Wikipedia, after 1872 he lived in France, having a house and studio at Poissy on the Seine River. His choice of subject? Local peasant women. His works can be seen at the Rehs Galleries in New York City.

Not 100% sure, but Daniel Ridgeway Knight was either Michael E. Knight's great (or great, great) grandfather or uncle. Either way, some of his artistic ability rubbed off on the MEK we all know and love who has an amazing flare for sketching.

Some soap opera stars play in bands or write and perform music, like General Hospital's 3-time Daytime Emmy winner Jonathan Jackson (ex Lucky), who is now taking advantage of that talent on the new ABC primetime soap, Nashville. If I am not mistaken, even his band enation, will perform on the show. Stay tuned.

Let us not forget the band Port Chuck, comprised of four stars from General Hospital: Steve Burton (Jason), Scott Reeves (Dr. Webber), Bradford Anderson (Spinelli), and Brandon Barrish (Johnny). As any GH fan knows, General Hospital takes place in the fictitious upstate NY town of Port Charles. The band, Port Chuck, aptly named in honor of the show, has a new CD now available.

Days of our Lives Rachel Melvin (ex Chelsea), among other things, loves to play bingo. In fact, when she first started out, in order to get herself to Los Angeles to pursue her acting career, she used her bingo winnings. Wonder if she's ever done party bingo online?

The Bold and the Beautiful's Scott Clifton (Liam) has also been known to sing and perform with a band. General Hospital's (ex One Life to Live's) Kassie dePaiva (Blair), One Life to Live's Kathy Brier (Marcy) and All My Children's Bobbie Eakes (Krystal) have formed the group Divas of Daytime. They've been performing around the country to joyous crowds for years.

Another AMC alum, Walt Willey (ex Jackson), does stand up comedy (and although we've not seen it yet, we hear it can get pretty raunchy). Most recently, he produced and stared in a stage show about Wild Bill Hickok.

Laura Lee Bell (Christine, The Young and the Restless) does double time as a webisode producer (Family Dinner, Just Off Rodeo) and also opened a boutique in the Los Angeles area called On Sunset which sadly closed in 2009.

Days of our Lives' Kristian Alfonso (Hope) has designed a popular line of jewelry called Hope, Faith, Miracles.

Castmate Arianne Zucker also had a line of jewelry called Loud Suga and contributed for a time as a columnist at www.Soapdom.com for our Look Like a Soap Star column. She recently left her jewelry-making venture behind and along with her brother, Todd Zucker and General Hospital star Jason Cook (Dr. Matt Hunter), founded the initiative, Lifechange.

Speaking of Jason Cook, along with his work with LifeChange, he directed and produced two short films, The Making of Triassic Park and Social Security Guard. He has written a young adult novel titled The Boy and his Gryphon and currently has two screenplays under option. In 2008 he toured the world, directing Numb To Life, a feature documentary on the pharmaceutical drug industry, which was recently picked up for distribution. He is developing his next feature, Gregg's Story and is also the founder of Digital Cuvee, a mixed-media production company, focusing on unique branded content partnerships with broad, cross-platform reach. He is a founding member of The Lupus Foundation in Los Angeles, and also supports The Variety Club where has hosted their telethon seven times raising over $25 million.

Young and the Restless' (and soon to be Days of our Lives') Eileen Davidson is an author and has written a number of paperback books. Here's one: Dial Emmy for Murder.

Another soap star author, is Deidre Hall (Marlena, Days of our Lives) who has written two books full of beauty and recipe secrets: How Does She Do It, and Kitchen CloseUp.

Her Days of our Lives co-star, James Reynolds (Abe), runs a theatre company in Pasadena, CA with his wife called the Fremont Theatre where he either stars in or directs plays -- all this while starring on the soap.

We could go on and on sharing what keeps your favorite soap stars occupied when they are not backstabbing, DNA switching, evil twinning, or returning from the dead on their respective soaps, but we think you get the idea. Along with entertaining us every day, five days a week, they are talented in many other areas, are passionate about many other things, and are all around really creative people.

Have we missed your favorite's star's favorite non-soap pastime? Let us know in the comments below.

 

 

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