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Things You Didn’t Know About Soap Opera Star Billy Miller

Dorathy Gass

April 19, 2017

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Best known for playing the handsome, yet serious, Jason Morgan on General Hospital (GH) and Billy Abbott on The Young and the Restless (Y&R), Billy Miller is currently not on daytime television. However, Miller is talented, charming, good looking, and wows soap opera audiences on any show he is on. But, there is oh so much more to this incredible actor. Below are some things you may not know about actor Billy Miller.

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10. He’s a Texan

While Miller was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he’s a raised Texan boy, spending his childhood in Grand Prairie. An only son, he has two sisters and also happens to be the middle child. He went to high school in Texas and graduated with a communications degree from the University of Texas. While Miller resides in Hollywood now, he’s clearly a Texas boy through and through.

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9. Spent Years In Hospital As A Child

No soap opera viewer likes it when a child character has to be in a hospital, but that was a reality for little Billy Miller growing up. He was a patient at the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children for several years, and in an interview with ABC, Miller recalls a memory of watching GH while laid up at the hospital. Sadly, Miller suffered from a rare condition that is known as tarsal coalition, an illness that hit his ankles’ cartilage.

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8. He Was Once A Bartender

Actors and actresses spend a big bulk of their time doing other odd jobs outside of the entertainment industry, waiting for their big break. Billy Miller was no exception to this rule, working as a bartender before he became a soap opera star. Miller began taking acting classes through Austin’s State Theatre and dove into work as a bartender at that point in time. He even launched his own bartending company called 4M, and has bars in California and Texas.

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7. He Got His Start In Commercials

Most actors and actresses get their start in Hollywood by doing commercials, and Billy Miller followed that path as well. He moved to LA after finishing college and snagged a deal with Wilhelmina modeling agency. Miller would start doing commercials after that, for clients like Pizza Hut, JC Penney, Pokerparty.com, as well as Electronic Arts’ The Sims.

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**6. As The World Turns Alumni?**

By the young age of 37, Billy Miller had an outstanding soap opera career. While he’s best known for his role on GH, many other daytime drama fans remember Miller playing the role of Billy Abbott on Y&R, a part producers had a hard time recasting after Miller departed from the soap years later. Many also may remember his All My Children (AMC) stint, playing Richie Novak. But did you know that he almost had a part on As the World Turns (ATWT)? In his twenties, he had an audition with the soap, but unfortunately lost the part due to bad management and the agency. This caused Miller to take a two year break from acting. The good news is the experience didn’t keep him down and out for too long!

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5. Studied Abbott

In 2008, Billy Miller would step into the world of Genoa City and shake the foundation of Y&R to its very core! Still, at that point in time, he was the recast actor in a role that had been very established on the show… that is, before Miller added his own twist to the character. In a MichaelFairmanSoaps.com interview circa 2008, Miller relayed how he studied the Billy Abbott character on YouTube before gaining the role. As Miller put it, he wanted the character to be a formidable guy… not someone who would be afraid of Cane. Seems like Miller nailed it!

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**4. Walking Away From Y&R ‘Scary’**

Walking away from an established show and character can be an overwhelming idea. However, Billy Miller handled it with stride. Miller once said that walking away from his Billy Abbott role and Y&R was a move that was big and scary. He also touted the warm and welcoming environment that GH provided to help streamline his transition and how lucky he was.

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3. Loves His Co-Stars

Billy Miller has had some incredible and lovely co-stars during his career as a soap opera actor. As he has stated in a January 2015 interview, Miller feels he has been spoiled over the years, thanks to being surrounded by beautiful women on soaps. He spoke of Amelia Heinle (actress who plays Y&R’s Vicky Newman), as well as Rebecca Herbst (GH’s Liz Webber), and Kelly Monaco (GH’s Sam McCall).

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2. Loves His Co-Stars A Little Too Much…

When Billy first entered the land of Port Charles, he clearly had an excellent connection with colleague Kelly Monaco. The two were spotted in July 2015 frolicking around in the water, seemingly too close for just friends. The truth is, they are (and were) simply that: two friends that were snapped hanging out and the pictures where taken out of context. Monaco would set the record straight via Soap Hub, with the following statement, shortly after the incident: “Billy and I were hanging out with a bunch of friends. We went into the ocean, like many friends do. The picture looks like it’s a little more intimate than it is.”

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1. Being Compared To Steve Burton

The soap opera industry was abuzz when news hit that Billy Miller would be replacing Steve Burton’s Jason Morgan character on GH. After all, Burton had literally grown and evolved in the role which also happens to be one of daytime drama’s most iconic characters. Miller has come to terms with the idea that he will always be compared to Steve Burton’s rendition of the ‘Stone Cold’ GH character and in a August 2015 interview he relayed that he and Burton are friends (after all, they were colleagues on the Y&R together and at one point shared a manager). He also stated that they’ve talked about it and both seem to understand that every actor will always have their own take on a character. Perhaps soap fans should understand this too!

Dorathy Gass

Dorathy Gass is an avid fan of daytime drama and has been watching Days of Our Lives, General Hospital, and Young and the Restless for over two decades now. As a full-time freelance writer, she gets to combine her love of soap operas and writing through her Fame 10 articles. Also a mother of two busy girls and a mommy blogger, she's been published multiple times over in Huffington Post Parents and Scary Mommy.