Former Home And Away star Bruce Samazan has lifted the lid on the dark side of soap opera fame, following the tragic death of ex cast-mate Dieter Brummer last weekend.
Samazan, 50, who quit acting in 2000 to become a real estate agent, told Private Sydney on Sunday that the blessed life of a soap star can also become a curse.
'There is definitely a shelf-life to that sort of fame,' said Samazan, who also appeared on Neighbours and E Street in the nineties.
'There is definitely a shelf-life to that sort of fame': Former Home And Away star Bruce Samazan 50, (left) has lifted the lid on the dark side of soap opera fame, following the tragic death of ex cast-mate Dieter Brummer (right) last weekend
'I'd go to auditions and be told that I was too commercial, that I had no creditability as a serious actor because I'd done soaps,' he lamented.
Samazan said he had no choice but to turn his back on acting and find a more reliable source of income.
'For a while that was hard to accept, because TV was the most fun you could ever imagine for a young bloke,' he said.
'For a while that was hard to accept': Samazan, who quit acting in 2000 to become a real estate agent said he had no choice but to turn his back on acting after being repeatedly told he was 'too commercial' and had 'no credibility' as a serious actor
While the former soap star has since returned to acting for fleeting guest roles over the years, Samazan said he's thankful to have real estate as his back-up plan.
It comes days after Hey Dad! actress Sarah Monahan reflected upon the stigma attached to being a child star who leaves the acting world for a 'normal job'.
The 44-year-old, who met Brummer during her brief role on Home and Away, said on the TV Blackbox podcast that former child stars often face criticism and humiliation when they decide to quit showbiz and take up a normal job.
'People like to call us has-beens': It comes days after Hey Dad! actress Sarah Monahan, 44, (pictrured) shared an important message about the stigma attached to being a child acto
Monahan noted that Brummer may have faced similar struggles after he retired from acting to become a high-rise window cleaner.
'I think a lot of people are very unsympathetic when your flame burns early,' she said.
Monahan, who quit acting in the early 2000s after she was sexually abused by paedophile actor Robert Hughes on set of Hey Dad!, said former child stars are held to an unfairly high standard.
'I think a lot of people are very unsympathetic to when your flame burns early': Monahan, who met Brummer during her brief role on Home and Away, said that former child stars often face criticism and humiliation when they decide to quit showbiz and take up a normal job
'People like to call us has-beens if we don't stay in the industry and people will be like, "You're just a washed-up, has-been former child star." And it's like, "I'm sorry if I did more before I was 18 than you've done in
