Nathan Fillion

Unlike some ex-soap stars, Nathan Fillion is not ashamed of his daytime past. The in-demand actor is returning to ABC’s One Life to Live to help celebrate its 10,000th episode. He hardly needs the gig: Fillion played Kate’s husband on Lost last season, starred in the hit indie film Waitress and will join Desperate Housewives this fall as Susan’s new gynecologist. "I guess a lot of actors don’t like to admit they once did soaps, but it was important for me to go back to where I got my start," says Fillion, who played star-crossed lover Joey Buchanan from 1994 to 1997 on the ABC drama. "I will never forget what OLTL did for me personally and professionally."

Still, the two-day stint (airing Aug. 16 and 17) was "bittersweet," he notes, because he went back to bury his TV grandpa, Asa. The character was played by Phil Carey, the lovable crank who quit the show last spring in a contract tiff. "Phil didn’t like everybody but when he liked you, he liked you, and he was very kind to me," Fillion recalls. "To honor him was a very big deal." — Reporting by Michael Logan