Y&R'S RICHARD BURGI: I'M GLAD TO BE BACK.”

With five soap stints under his belt (the last as GH’s Paul Hornsby from 2015-16), Richard Burgi was already a bonafide daytime veteran when he was tapped by Y&R to play the recurring role of the wealthy and ruthless media magnate Ashland Locke. “How my name got bandied about, I have no idea, but they called and said, ‘There’s an offer for you to do YOUNG AND RESTLESS, there’s really no big commitment, it’s superloose,’ and I said, ‘God, that sounds awesome.’ ” the actor relayed on the Dishing With Digest podcast. “I didn’t have to travel, I didn’t have to quarantine, and the hours are brilliant; I love daytime hours and I love the challenge. It was nice to know that I’m still wanted in daytime.

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Burgi already had a couple of connections to Y&R. “I had worked with Jason [Thompson, Billy; ex-Patrick, GH] on GENERAL HOSPITAL and I remember Peter Bergman [Jack] was a lovely guy when I met him at something like a press junket or through mutual friends but that was my only experience with Y&R,” he recounts. “I’ve always loved Eric’s [Braeden, Victor] work. I’m sitting in Doug Davidson’s [Paul] dressing room and when I realize how long he’s been on the show, I’m just astounded by the longevity and the fortitude to stay with that. They gave me a manila envelope and I thought it was a script but it happened to be Melody Thomas Scott’s [Nikki] book and I couldn’t put it down. Here’s another one who has been on for 40-plus years and it was jaw-droppingly compelling reading her story. I have so much compassion and respect for my colleagues.”

Because of strict Covid safeguards, Burgi found his first day on the Y&R set to be “strange because I never got to really connect with anyone [since] we all have masks on. Everybody was super-lovely and welcoming. I think I went through the first day without screwing up. I hadn’t done daytime in a while and had to digest all of the dialogue. I was a little nervous that I wouldn’t be able to do it, so I was really prepared.... It was a bunch of lovely people trying to collectively make a buck and keep people entertained during this crazy time.”