It's exactly two years ago this month since Thorsten Kaye was announced as the new Ridge on Bold and The Beautiful.
Ronn Moss played the role for 25 years so I've always thought that it must have been difficult for Thorsten to take over. I've wondered what it's been like for him so I decided that it's time to find out and caught up with him to ask:
Tashi: What's been the most difficult thing about taking over the role?
Thorsten: It's all difficult but you know if you get lost in watching videos and finding all the things you are Not - because you won't be... someone played somebody for 25 years - there's a lot of things that you won't be.
You have try find the things that you
can be
and maybe try to find something to make this character your own and make him different from what he was because he can't be what he was before. Not with me.
In the beginning when people said, "Ah, you've got to fill these big shoes," and stuff - that didn't bother me because it's a continuous story. What bothered me was the sins of the guy before you. You know, when you play a storyline and everyone goes, "Oh, it's funny because years ago he did this,". I'm like, "I didn't do that and I would have probably done this differently."
But the character has been created and you can't ignore the past. You can't dwell on it but you can't ignore it and I sometimes find that complicated.
Tashi: So much has happened with him, how could you possibly know everything?
Thorsten: I know nothing *
laughs*. I think actors sometimes... especially American actors, get so caught up in research that you forget to play the character. Where you say," I should do this and I used to do that and I'm left handed," - none of this *bleep!* really matters. What matters is trying to connect with the person you're working with and to entertain an audience.
There are a thousand things that could go wrong but at the end of the day if someone watches and says, "You know what? This is alright." That's all you want. We're not curing any diseases here.
Tashi: What's been the easiest thing about playing him?
Thorsten: *
laughs* I like being an actor and there are some really good players on this canvas. You look at John McCook (Eric)... it's always easy you know but it's fun to play with Eric or Scott Clifton (Liam) when he shows up. There's just a lot of cool people to play with.
It's been a lot of fun and it's easy - all of it is easy.
Tashi: Lucky you - it's so nice to have a job that you find easy.
Thorsten: Let me open a can of worms. What gets to me is when actors get all... same with athletes - when they get all dark and say, *
intense voice* "Listen, you know my character...".
We do things that other people do for fun. Like people who play cricket or basketball, they do it because they want to. If you're lucky enough to be an actor and to play with beautiful women and wear Armani suits and get paid for it, I think we all need to just be quiet for a moment. It is a pretty cool job.
Tashi: Interesting you say that because I chatted to Kagiso Modupe from one of our South African soapies Scandal! earlier this week and he said he's so grateful to have turned his hobby into his employment. Many actors complain but it should be a fun life.
Thorsten: It is and listen, I complain - I'm not saying that I don't but we complain because we care and always think we can do better.
You know, if you're an athlete, you know you're fastest because of the time - somebody's timed you and they say, "This is how fast you ran, you're faster than the other guy," or you knock somebody out in a ring. People can see where you stand but as an actor that's just someone's opinion.
Sometimes as artists... it's like - I'm on the beach in Venice right now and there's a lot of art on the beach and some of it I just don't understand. I look at it and think, "This looks like two pieces of metal that somebody screwed together." We're always defending ourselves and sometimes we try to make it harder than it is.
Acting is difficult but it's not complicated and that's what we've got to keep in mind.