We chatted with Daniel Hall (Scotty, The Young and the Restless). Daniel is such a down to earth guy. True story. He was washing dishes when we called him. Love it. We learned a lot about Daniel. We talked about his musical background, his first gig in the Big Apple, working with Ruby Dee, what he’s doing now and of course Y&R.
While growing up, if there was a popular musical Daniel performed in it, Oklahoma, West Side Story, Carousel, Jesus Christ Superstar. Given Daniel’s passion for musicals, it made perfect sense for him to major in musical theater in college. But we all know what happens when you make plans.
In New York, their style of auditioning is that a person auditions for several schools at one time. The schools gather at a single location and an auditionee goes down the hallway auditioning for different schools i.e. Indiana, Syracuse, Michigan. The day Daniel was auditioning, The University of Michigan was there holding auditions but only for straight theater not for musical theater. But Daniel figured they were there and so was he, so why not? So, he auditioned for The University of Michigan. Daniel didn’t think his GPA would be high enough for him to get in. Ha-ha. What does he know? LOL. The University of Michigan wanted him. About a month after his audition he received a letter asking him to apply. He did and was accepted.
The University of Michigan kept Daniel very busy while he was there. One of his most memorable moments was when he worked with Ruby Dee. It was a big moment for him. “I worked with Ruby Dee in an anti-lynching drama about the old South. We had memorized our parts. She was reading it for the first time and just blew us off the stage. She was so professional, an incredible talent and a force to be reckoned with. It was an incredible experience for me.”
Daniel’s focus shifted from being a “theater guy” to television acting. He hired a commercial agent and began booking voice-over work and commercials. Next came television. His first television role was a guest spot on Law & Order: SVU. His first dip in the soap pool was on Guiding Light. Daniel had a cute story about his initiation into soaps. “I played opposite of Emme Rylan, who played Lizzie Spaulding, as a character named Jake. He was supposed to have one episode but had four or five. In one of my opening scenes, Lizzie meets Jake. She goes ‘what’s your name?’ And I go, ‘Jake, like the snake.” Laughter. “It was my first big line. The director looked at me and was like ‘I know just say it. Don’t think about it.’” Laughter. “That was my intro to the soap world. “I commented it made sense because his hair was similar to that of the wrestler Jake the Snake. Daniel agreed and we had another good chuckle. He was such a delight to talk to.
After eight years or so Daniel believed his time in New York had come to an end and it was time to make the move to Los Angeles. An east coast man at heart, he was a bit hesitant at first. But he knew it was time. He didn’t get roles right away after moving to L.A. But boy what a first show to get….his first role in Los Angeles was on Mad Men. Not too bad huh? His character danced in a scene with Betty, played by January Jones, to make Megan Draper, played by Jessica Paré, jealous.
From there, Daniel starred in Newsroom, Rizzoli & Isles, Graceland, Mixology and Quarry, a joint project for HBO and Cinemax, an incredible show about the 70’s and sort of anti-Vietnam. Next was The Young and the Restless. (Daniel had previously auditioned for the role of Adam Newman. Justin Hartley was cast). Daniel’s agent received a call from Y&R that they wanted him to come back and audition for an upcoming role, Scott “Scotty” Grainger.
Daniel gave us all the details on his audition for Scotty. “They tested me against four or five other guys. I tested with Sharon Case. We had great chemistry. I was told that Sharon and I had something that no other actor who auditioned had. We had the same type of connection, the same je ne sais quoi.” Daniel credits him being chosen to his chemistry with Sharon and that hair. “I think they liked the wild hair because he (Scotty) was coming back from a war-torn area. They wanted him to look a bit more “scruffy” and the longer hair fit more into the role.”
Daniel’s time at Y&R, “was a whirlwind. I developed a hard work ethic with the continuous scripts to memorize. There really are no breaks. But it was so much fun.” Daniel raved about working with the Y&R cast such as; Christian LeBlanc, Tracey Bregman and Eric Braeden. “Eric was an incredible and exciting guy to work with. He pushed the envelope in a scene.” Daniel also enjoyed working with Melissa Ordway and loved the dynamic between Scotty and Abby. “They had a snarky back and forth that played well with the characters.”
During Daniel’s time at Y&R, there was a change of head writers. He started under Sally Sussman and then about four months in, Mal Young became the head writer. He had a conversation with Mal about his and Scotty’s future towards the end of his one year contract. “Melissa became pregnant towards the end of my year contract. I had a chat with Mal. He said Melissa was going to be off the show for a few months and Scotty would go to France for while. Maybe when she gets back on set, we will bring Scotty back.”
As we know, Melissa and Abby returned but Daniel and Scotty didn’t. Daniel said at that point the show seemed to have shifted as far as casting. We asked Daniel if he was open to coming back.
“Of course, it would be a pleasure to come back. I always enjoy doing soaps.”
We congratulated Daniel on his pre-nom for Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series for his role of Scotty Grainger. Daniel complied his reel himself which includes scenes with Scotty and Sharon Newman, Victoria Newman and Abby Newman. Daniel is honored and happy to be mentioned with such a talented group of people.
Daniel never left his musical roots. He comes from a family of musicians. Every year Daniel and his family perform at a benefit concert (original songs and folk music) for the kids of West Port Connecticut. They partner with the Stewie Duck Foundation, which brings water safety awareness to kids. Daniel is also an ambassador for Kind Travelers. Kind Travelers is a company that gives people a chance to save on their travel expenses and support the charities of their choice. Daniel is very proud that “my exposure from being on Y&R has opened these type of doors for me to help others.”
We wrapped up by discussing what’s coming up for Daniel. He’s done some testing for primetime shows. He just finished filming a commercial with Ted Danson. And he’s working on writing his own horror film. And of course, he’s open to Y&R “swinging back.”
Daniel has this message to his fans; “Thank you for the continued support. The fact that you all really care where I go and what I do means a lot. It keeps me encouraged and pushing myself to keep getting out there. If not on Y&R then somewhere else. Thank you so much for the steadfast support.”
We hope to see you soon on our daytime screens, Daniel!
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