Louisiana
Louisiana actor Monti Sharp looks back at 1990s ‘Guiding Light’ role
More than 30 years after his Emmy-winning turn on “Guiding Light,” Monroe native Monti Sharp still remembers the moment that changed his life − when a small-town actor heard his name called on national television.
“And the winner is − Monti Sharp from Guiding Light.” The words, spoken by “The Young and the Restless” actress Kimberlin Brown at the 1993 Daytime Emmys at New York City’s Marriott Marquis Hotel, are still embedded in Sharp’s memory.
“Something shot through me and my body jerked,” he said. It took his “Guiding Light” co-star Amelia Marshall − his onscreen sister − to give him a little push toward the stage.
“It was a very surreal moment,” Sharp said. “It was just all kind of a real enchanting time. Huge surprise to me.”
From Ouachita Parish to daytime TV
Sharp, the youngest of five children born to an attorney and educator, described himself as a “ferocious reader” who spent weekends at the Ouachita Parish Library devouring books. It was there, he said, that he discovered Richard Corson’s “Stage Makeup” − the book that first opened the door to the world of theater and set him on his artistic path.
“I was just fascinated by that book and I checked it out and I kept it for quite a while until they came out a subsequent edition − third, fourth and fifth edition,” Sharp said. “I used to send away for catalogs where I could order things like nose putty and all these different things. I just wanted to try them out. I think that opened my mind up to the reality of theater.”
He spent several years on the road performing in regional theater before landing the role of David Grant on “Guiding Light.” He said he a casting director saw him in a production at The Public Theater in New York City and left a note in his mailbox alerting him about an audition she thought he should pursue.
“I think my manager or my agent at the time reached out and they scheduled the audition ,” he said. “That was a whole new audition process to me. Totally different from auditioning for theater. So I went into it with a kind of − looking back − naive view of it. I thought ‘I’m used to audition for plays. Ok’ but that process lasted a long time and eventually got to the point where we did a screen test. I showed up to the studio to do a screen with Nia Long and that was kind of interesting because I didn’t have the role but I knew I was this close. I think there was maybe two other guys there. I think Flex Alexander [and] I forget the other gentleman’s name. So I did it. I just had fun and we just really got along very well and then I went home and I just kind of forgot it because I was doing plays and other stuff.”
Sharp said his agent called and asked him to come by the office, delivering the news in person that he had won the role. Hearing he’d gotten the part was “exhilarating,” Sharp said.
Sharing the screen with Nia Long and more about Sharp’s turn in Guiding Light
Sharp’s first major storyline on “Guiding Light” centered on a forbidden romance between his character and Kat Speakes, portrayed by Long. The relationship put his character at odds with Kat’s father, Hampton Speakes, who was dating David’s sister, Gilly Grant. The storyline ultimately cemented his Emmy win.
“My character was introduced on the show as sort of this mysterious guy who no one really knew if he was a good guy or a bad guy,” he said. “Kat and I ran away together and we spent the summer on the run, trying to be in love and escape her father [and] the community who thought I was bad. That was a pretty exciting entrance. They really milked that entrance of my character and played into the mystery and all that and I think that’s what really captured people put me in the position to be nominated certainly.”
Sharp believes audiences connected with his earnest portrayal of David Grant because he approached the role with the discipline shaped by his theater background. Sharp said he was determined to do more than simply show up, tape his scenes and collect a paycheck. He wanted the work to matter, he said, and approached the role with a genuine effort to find artistic and theatrical meaning in it.
His portrayal helped cement his character’s fanbase and earned him the 1993 Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Male Newcomer in addition to his Emmy. He was also named one of TV Guide’s ‘Soaps’ Sexiest Stars’ and went on to receive additional Emmy and Soap Opera Digest Award nominations.
Coming from the theater, Sharp said he and like-minded co-stars “were like magnets,” pushing one another to elevate the material beyond soap-opera conventions.
“It’s a very, very fast and very demanding workflow,” Sharp said. “Very different from any other type of work, certainly episodic television where you might be doing one script that whole week as opposed to one script per day.”
What Monti Sharp noticed about the treatment of Black daytime actors in the 90s
Sharp said the soap world of the early 1990s didn’t feature many Black actors as central characters, and issues surrounding race sometimes surfaced behind the scenes.
“There were some wild things that happened that needed to be dealt with,” he said. He approached those situations “not combative, but pretty cocksure,” a stance he believes challenged the show’s writers and producers to respond in kind.
Sharp said he began noticing that Black daytime actors weren’t getting the same visibility as white actors. Walking past newsstands, he said, he would see Black magazines featuring Black talent, but white publications almost never featured them on the cover unless they were part of a group, which he said was rare.
“There was a lot of segregation in the coverage and in the presentation of the product to the public,” Sharp said. “I recall we were doing these − because I was popular at the time − we were doing these public appearances. Go Maine for a couple of hours and sign some autographs with other people from the show and I went on one of these things at some point with a popular character from another show and we just started talking about what a gig this was and he said something like ‘Can you believe for like two hours we’re getting x amount of dollars’. I was like ‘You’re getting ‘X’ amount’. He was like ‘How much you’re getting?’ I said ‘I’m getting ‘Y’ amount’.”
Sharp said that when he questioned the pay gap, he was bluntly told that Black talent did not earn the same as white actors − even with his rising popularity and recent award wins. He recalled being told he should feel “fortunate” to be invited to fan events and was asked whether he wanted to continue, a response he described as a “gut punch.” Sharp said it was one of the first moments that ‘soured’ his relationship with the industry.
Despite his award wins, Sharp’s character’s storylines and screen began to shrink. When he said he raised questions, he was told a major story was coming − one that never materialized. He recalled speaking with one of the show’s writers who later confided that they had been fired after pushing for more material for Sharp and the actress who played his onscreen sister.
Beyond Guiding Light
Sharp’s post-“Guiding Light” career spanned daytime, film, and primetime television. He took on roles in “As the World Turns” and “General Hospital,” appeared in the film “Dead Presidents,” and made guest spots on shows ranging from “ER” and “Modern Family” to “NCIS: Los Angeles,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” and most recently “9-1-1.”
Sharp said these days, between television and film auditions, he has shifted more of his creative energy towards visual art − a passion that long sat in the background of his acting career but moved to the forefront during the pandemic.
He returned to Monroe in February 2024 to exhibit his work at the Northeast Louisiana African American Heritage Museum.
For updates on his artwork, he encourages visitors to join his mailing list at sharpartstudio.com.
Follow Ian Robinson on Twitter @_irobinson and on Facebook at https://bit.ly/3vln0w1.
CALVIN, La. (WVUE) – A small community in north-central Louisiana is working to preserve an important piece of its history.
During the Great Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps put young men to work replanting by hand the state’s only national forest.
The tiny community of Calvin, tucked away in the resulting pine forest, holds only a few other remaining crumbling clues of that work, as Dave McNamara finds in the Heart of Louisiana.
For more, visit the Heart of Louisiana archive here.
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BATON ROUGE, La. (Gray Louisiana) – Louisiana drivers will soon no longer need annual vehicle safety inspection stickers for most personal vehicles.
Gov. Jeff Landry signed House Bill 1085 into law Tuesday morning, ending the state’s mandatory vehicle safety inspection sticker program for most personal vehicles. The bill was authored by Rep. Larry Bagley, R-Stonewall, who has worked for years to pass the change.
The law replaces the current inspection sticker, often called a brake tag, with a $6 QR code sticker tied to the vehicle’s registration.
Fifty-nine of Louisiana’s 64 parishes will abolish the inspection stickers and use QR codes instead. Drivers in East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Livingston, Iberville, and Ascension parishes would still need emissions testing under federal law.
The changes are set to take effect Jan. 1, 2027.
There will be a grace period from June 30 until Jan. 1, 2027. During that time, law enforcement will not issue citations for failing to display an inspection sticker.
Supporters of the bill have argued the inspection process is outdated and inconvenient for drivers. Bagley previously said the QR code would include limited vehicle information, such as the VIN, and would be available to law enforcement through special equipment.
The change will not apply to every vehicle. Some commercial vehicles, school buses and certain farm vehicles would still be subject to safety inspections. Some local governments would also still be able to require local inspections.
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LAFAYETTE PARISH (SCOTT) — As hurricane season officially begins, Louisiana homeowners have a new opportunity to strengthen their homes against severe weather through the Louisiana Fortify Homes Program, an $80 million initiative offering grants for hurricane-resistant roof upgrades.
The program is providing 3,000 grants to eligible homeowners seeking to replace traditional roofs with FORTIFIED roofs, a roofing system designed to better withstand high winds and heavy rain during hurricanes and severe storms.
State officials say the effort is intended to reduce storm damage while also helping homeowners lower their insurance premiums.
“The fortified standard itself has been proven, thanks to Alabama’s work with their program, which was tested by Hurricane Sally several years ago,” said John Ford with the Louisiana Department of Insurance. “So we have a lot of confidence in the standard.”
Homeowners can now enter a lottery for a chance to receive a grant worth up to $10,000 toward the cost of a FORTIFIED roof installation.
Ford said the program has already produced positive results across the state.
“We get great feedback. People are getting stronger roofs, and they’re seeing real reductions on their insurance premiums We’re very positive with where the program’s gone, and we feel like it’s only going to get bigger from here.”
The program requires additional oversight during the roofing process, helping ensure installations meet strict standards.
“Traditional roofing scenario, you have a contractor and a homeowner, but nobody’s verifying what that contractor’s doing,” said Jason Lopez, a certified Louisiana Fortify Homes contractor with Acadiana Roofing in Scott. “That’s been a problem with some of these hurricanes that come through. People have gotten some shoddy roofs.”
He added that the upgraded roofing system provides significantly greater protection than traditional roofs.
“A fortified roof is waterproof before they put the shingles on,” Lopez said. “A lot of your damage comes from when a hurricane or high winds come through, tears shingles off, and water goes straight into the house.”
Lopez added that Louisiana insurance companies are required to offer discounts for homes that receive a FORTIFIED designation.
“To me, it doesn’t make sense to put a traditional roof on,” he said. “If you live south of I-10, you should get a fortified roof.”
The Louisiana Department of Insurance expanded eligibility for the program this year to include Acadia, Jefferson Davis and Lafayette parishes, along with previously excluded portions of Iberia, St. Martin and Vermilion parishes.
Registration for the grant lottery is now open through June 19 at 5:00 p.m.
A complete list of eligibility requirements and application information is available here.
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