There's never a dull moment in The Young and the Restless' Genoa City, but a new character set to hit the canvas later this month will damn well make sure of it! Dynasty alum Gordon Thomson (ex-Adam Carrington) is set to make his debut as Daryl Tulane, a man connected to Chelsea Lawson (Melissa Claire Egan) and her mother, Anita (Catherine Bach), on Monday, July 29. And the actor teases that his new alter ego, who hails from Baton Rouge, is quite the character.
"There's a bit of chicanery with Daryl," Thomson teases in a recent edition of Soap Opera Digest. "He's a little horny, he's funny and he's a scam artist. He's not a criminal, but he verges on it."
Interestingly enough, Thomson shares that he had to audition for the role of Daryl, even though he has a long history in daytime (he played Aristotle Benedict White on Ryan's Hope in 1981, Adam Carrington on Dynasty from 1982 to 1989, Mason Capwell on Santa Barbara from 1990 to 1993, A.J. Deschanel on Sunset Beach from 1998 to 1999, FBI Special Agent Hal Freeman on Passions in 2000, and Walter on Days of our Lives in 2009).
"I don't know if anybody is offered anything anymore. I think everybody truly auditions these days," he says, adding: "I auditioned with 20 or 30 other guys and it was a wonderful collection of actors."
Though the CBS soap made him go through the rigor of auditioning, Thomson admits that his previous soap opera experience was definitely a bonus that helped him land the role.
"I think my past work helped, because the network and the show used my background on Dynasty and other soaps to sort of advertise my presence, which is very nice of them," he shares. "It also shows me how lucky I am to look back at decades of my life professionally, and see what a very satisfying and lucky time I had."
Longtime fans of the soap may recall that he's also been on Y&R before, playing Patrick Baker back in 1997, which could have also helped convince the show's execs that he'd be a good fit for the part of Daryl.
"I worked with Christian LeBlanc [Michael] and Lauralee Bell [Christine] and we were all lawyers," Thomson recalls of his previous Y&R stint. "Christian and I had a very fun time together and Lauralee was really sweet. I got to see Christian this time and it was really nice. He's a very funny and talented man. I [also] worked with [head writer] Josh Griffith on Santa Barbara as well as [executive producer] Tony Morina and [supervising producer] Lisa De Cazotte and some people in wardrobe. Daytime is a wonderful community and I'd forgotten what it's like to be a part of the family."
Thomson is sadly only slated for a handful of Y&R episodes this go-around, but the actor hopes that the door remains open in the future.
"I hope Daryl returns," he enthuses. "I've gotten my feet a little wet and I'd like to come back and do it again."
What do you think about the description Gordon Thomson gives for Daryl Tulane? What do you think brings the character to 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.
