Black actors don’t want to be your sidekick

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges Black actors face in daytime soap operas, emphasizing the need for more meaningful roles beyond sidekicks.

From Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee on The Guiding Light to the first Black super-couple, Jesse and Angie on All My Children, Black soap actors have been on the canvas. According to an executive at CBS, Black women overindex as soap watchers, which has led to the first new daytime soap in decades. Beyond the Gates debuted with a core Black family in February 2025. It’s an exciting time to be a Black soap fan. Even though there’s been Black representation, Black writers and actors have often had to push to be more than sidekicks, according to soap writer Shannon Peace. “You see the faces; they’re there,” Peace said. “But what are the storylines? Why do we still feel often like they’re being backgrounded or there being support staff, to prop [up] other characters or other families? And when I say other characters or other families, I mean white characters or white families.” Peace said she doesn’t see that problem in primetime television, but it still exists in daytime. “I feel in primetime mode, for the most part, they’ve done away with a Black sidekick, with a Black friend — that Black best friend — and you have Black characters in meaningful front-facing roles that are driving story…

People in this episode

Guest: Shannon Peace

Topics covered

• Black representation
• soap operas
• television
• culture
• media

Keywords

• Black soap actors
• Ossie Davis
• Ruby Dee
• Beyond the Gates
• daytime television
• Black women soap watchers
• storylines
• primetime television

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: The Guiding Light, All My Children, Making: Stories Without End

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