Monday's episode of Live! with Kelly and Ryan featured a blast from the past for One Life to Live fans. Jonathan Groff, who played Henry Mackler as part of the soap's 2007 teen storyline, dropped by to discuss season two of his Netflix series Mindhunter and, while doing so, also shared some tidbits about his soap opera days.
Host Kelly Ripa was keen to hear about Groff's first day on the set of OLTL, confessing that she has always been a huge fan of the ABC soap (and used to play All My Children's Hayley Vaughan, as daytime fans know).
"I do remember my first day because I was doing Spring Awakening on Broadway at the time, and One Life to Live was my first time ever being on TV," Groff recalls. "So I got this offer, and I was like, 'Yes, I would love to be in a soap opera,' and we finished Spring Awakening at 11:00 p.m. and I woke up the next morning at 4:0 a.m. to walk uptown to go to do One Life to Live, and I called my agent and left a message, and I said 'You have to get me out of this, I can't wake up at 4 o'clock in the morning!'"
Live! with Kelly and Ryan then aired a clip of Groff making his TV debut on One Life to Live, where he showcased his robot dance moves. Check out the video below and let us know what memories you have of Groff's OLTL stint.
After leaving OLTL in 2007, Groff went on to star in shows like Boss, Glee, Looking, and Mindhunter. In 2016, he received a Tony Award nomination for his performance as King George III in the Pulitzer Prize-winning production of Hamilton on Broadway. Groff made his Broadway debut as Melchior in Spring Awakening, for which he received a Theatre World Award, as well as Tony, Drama Desk, and Drama League Award nominations. He's set to return to the New York Stage in the off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors! and will return as the voice of Kristoff in Disney's highly anticipated Frozen 2, which is being released this November.
What do you think about Groff's OLTL memories? Have you ever regretted taking a job after you'd already committed? Did you know AMC's Kelly Ripa was a huge fan of OLTL? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
