From The Guiding Light, a legendary soap opera series, to Kingdom, a gritty show about MMA fighters and their lives outside the ring. From Hart and Dinah to Alvey and Roxanne. For Frank Grillo and his wife Wendy Moniz, their careers and personal lives have officially come full circle on this week's episode of AT&T Audience's Kingdom. They met on the set of The Guiding Light in the late 1990's and reunite on screen this week playing a former MMA fighter turned coach and a lawyer trying to get him out of trouble.
You can't write a story this sweet or real. Two hard working actors meeting on a show, falling in love, having a couple boys, staying together, and eventually meeting on another show. Sometimes in Hollywood, on screen couples become off screen lovebirds. The romance that starts on the screen becomes a real thing away from the set.
It's very rare that that romance remains nearly 20 years later. Grillo wasn't a purging avenging fighter back then on the big screen. He was an often topless heartthrob and Moniz was one of the signature faces of the CBS soap opera that so many people remember and adore.
I'll be flat honest. I never watched a single episode of Guiding Light. I never had any intention of tracking down old episodes. That was until I became a huge fan of Grillo and then noticed Wendy was a part of it as well. I can freely admit that I just watched quite a few scenes on YouTube with Hart and Dinah and say that it suddenly got really dusty in this room. I'm not crying but it's hard to miss the chemistry these two share on a screen.
On Kingdom this week and over the rest of Season 2B, Grillo and Wendy share a lot of scenes and they are great and seamless. The two actors trade verbal jabs like a pair of graceful dialogue warriors. Alvey is a jaded coach who wants the best for his sons but seems to want the worst for himself. Moniz's Roxy is a new face in his life that tries to get him to realize that life isn't so bad after all and it's okay to not beat yourself up over the casualties of your life.
She's tough as nails and matches Alvey in every conversation because she isn't afraid of him. Alvey's biggest weakness is strong women who won't back down, and Grillo's scenes with Moniz are so well played. It's like pulling Hart and Dinah, rolling them through a wicked time traveling cement truck with a sense of humor, and pushing them out as two entirely different characters. Both of them haven't lost an ounce of fire. You leave every scene of theirs wanting more.
Hollywood may be the land of make believe and wonder, but on occasion it can create a real life romance that starts with a romantic cinematic journey and reunites there down the road. Frank Grillo and Wendy Moniz may be the toughest husband-wife duo in Los Angeles. Watch them work this Wednesday on AT&T's Audience Network at 9 p.m. central time. Afterwards, check out those YouTube videos from The Guiding Light and prepare to get a little misty.
As my good friend and talented actress/singer Camille Marolf told me, "It's so exciting for me to learn that Hart and Dinah from The Guilding Light are together in real life. They were two of my favorite actors from that soap opera. Wendy especially."
When you love the world of TV and film, it's easy to fall in love with certain characters and hope they are together somewhere somehow. With Frank and Wendy, it's actually true. Exciting indeed.
