Being on The Young and the Restless is a seriously sweet gig. So much so that recent Screen Actors Guild Awards winner Justin Hartley almost turned down his audition for the hit primetime series This Is Us to continue playing Adam Newman.
The actor recently had an impromptu conversation with a television reporter on a plane to Vegas and reportedly revealed that he initially balked at the idea of auditioning for his This Is Us character Kevin because he loved being on Y&R.
"He liked the part, and shooting in Los Angeles [enabled] him to be there for his teenage daughter," states the reporter, referencing Hartley's daughter, Isabella, whom he shares with his first wife, Lindsay Hartley (ex-Cara Castillo, All My Children; ex-Theresa Lopez, Passions).
Hartley, who played Y&R's Adam from 2014 to 2016, is no doubt relieved that he decided to audition for Kevin, after all. As fans know, This Is Us has become one of the most popular television series in recent memory and has shot the Illinois native to superstardom outside of daytime.
This Is Us picked up a SAG Award last night in the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series category. The NBC series was the network broadcast nominee in the category. It is the first win by a major network show in the category since ABC's Grey's Anatomy nabbed the award in 2006.
In addition to Hartley, the ensemble cast includes Eris Baker, Alexandra Breckenridge, Sterling K. Brown, Lonnie Chavis, Faithe Herman, Ron Cephas Jones, Chrissy Metz, Mandy Moore, Chris Sullivan, Milo Ventimiglia, Susan Kelechi Watson, and Hannah Zeile.
For more fun nuggets from Hartley's plane ride, check out the original Buffalo News article here.
What do you think about Hartley's reveal that he almost missed out on This Is Us because he was so happy at Y&R? Do you secretly wish he had skipped the audition and stayed in Genoa City? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
