SOAP OPERA DIGEST
n When you joined B&B, did you have
any idea how dark Thomas was going to
go? “No, not at all. Coming in, I knew there
was going to be some fun, interesting,
dynamic storyline ahead, but I did not know
to what extent these stories were going to
go. I think what’s interesting is we’re seeing
a version of Thomas that has existed all
along but has never gone this far before,
and what you’re seeing is not just him but
Ridge back in the day, or what Steffy just a
few years ago could have done if she was
pushed to an extreme.”
Not reporting Emma’s accident was harsh.
Are you worried about fan backlash? “Well,
there has been a response from pretty much
everything Thomas does, for sure. He’s not
exactly a white knight character right now.
He’s doing a lot of bad things, but it’s com-
plicated. I don’t think he’s a bad guy but he
is doing some horrible things with poor jus-
tifications — but I also think
that people can relate to that.
People have issues that mani-
fest, and they end up doing
the wrong thing for what they
think are the right reasons.”
Does Thomas feel bad
about manipulating his son,
Douglas? “Well, it’s certainly
not his finest moment in par-
enting but in Thomas’s mind,
the end justifies the means.
You’ve seen this little boy!
Thomas just wants his son to
have a mother who loves him,
but his methods to achieve
that goal could use some
work.”
That’s putting it mildly! “Thank
you. That’s the goal. But in
his head, this is all rooted
in normalcy, even though it’s
the most abnormal situation
ever.”
Does Thomas really believe
that he and Hope can have a
romantic future together?“He
loves her and he loves her for his son,
but Thomas wants Hope to see that as clear-
ly as he sees it, so it is as if he’s trying to
paint this picture; he knows that if she sees
the same picture, she’ll be on board and
then it will be perfect. It will be what’s meant
to be. He just wants Hope to be on the same
page with him.”
How far is this going to go? “It’s been crazy,
but things are coming to a head, I promise
you.”
Do you think we’ll see Taylor resurface at
some point in this story? Given her back-
ground as an unbalanced shrink, it seems
like a natural beat to play. “Oh, yeah. That
would be great. We’ll see where the story
goes but right now, where Thomas’s head is
at, he could definitely use his mother. She
has been through many trying times, in many
scheming circumstances, and maybe she
could level with him and really talk to him
about why he’s doing what
he’s doing. Sure, that would
really be fun to play, so we’ll
see where it goes.”
And what about Ridge?
“Well, obviously there’s a
lot that can occur there.
They already have a compli-
cated father/son relationship
because of everything that
happened with Caroline
and Douglas, and honestly,
Thomas may be more like his
father than either one of them
wants to admit. This is just
a great story with so many
twists, and believe me, there
are many more to come!”yD
t
ro
lovJILLJO
HNSON/JPIwith Matthew
Atkinson
(Thomas, B&B)
RATINGS RACE:
WEEK OF JULY 1NIELSEN MEDIA RESEARCH- YOUNG AND RESTLESS 2.
- BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL2.
- GENERAL HOSPITAL 1.
- DAYS OF OUR LIVES 1.
The numbers listed after
each show are ratings
points. Each ratings point
represents 1,199,
homes. These numbers
now reflect DVR playback
within the same day.