‘The Bold and the Beautiful’ Actor Thorsten Kaye Opens Up About Returning to Set After Lockdown
Actors going back to the sets of their popular TV shows in the age of COVID-19 have some awkward stories to tell of late. Some might find it surprising any shows are resuming when so many virus cases are still surging.
Nevertheless, The Bold and the Beautiful is now resuming production, with actor Thorsten Kaye offering some interesting insights.
Those who watch this soap opera regularly know Kaye as the notorious Ridge Forrester. Yes, Ridge is the one who can never decide which woman he wants to be with for the rest of his life. Over the years, that bounces from his obsessive love for Brooke to Shauna.
When returning to set, Kaye revealed some interesting things that may prove going back was a little risky.
How long was ‘Bold and the Beautiful’ shut down?
Coming back to the set was no doubt surreal since the show was on hiatus for four long months. Soap opera fans probably feel like a year passed due to the times we currently live in.
The storylines on Bold and the Beautiful certainly have not changed since hiatus began. With the current resumed storyline involving Ridge accidentally marrying Shauna while drunk in Vegas, things are going to become crazier than ever in the plots.
How things are going off-camera is another thing. Kaye was interviewed by TV Insider recently about his first week back on the show. He mentioned his immediate concerns about safety, something everyone else is obviously thinking about.
One thing he said is that characters kissing is now off limits. There was a lot of skepticism how this would work since the show is so much about romance (usually gone wrong).
Said Kaye: “Denise Richards has her husband (Aaron Phypers) come in to do those (kissing) scenes, and that guy is a beast. I don’t know how many hours a day he goes to the gym, but I’m glad he does because if they’re doing just neck down, I’m perfectly fine with that.”
What about spontaneity on the set?
Kaye could not lie about how different things are in the CBS studio where Bold and the Beautiful is still shot. In pre-COVID times, everyone on set was allowed to joke around and commune afterward to chat.
At one point, Kaye mentioned he loved hearing stories from fellow actor John McCook (who plays Eric Forrester) while the cast unwound after long days of shooting. Sitting around shooting the breeze with a beer like this obviously made for a good life. Now, it no longer exists due to social distancing.
Even some of his fellow actors are a bit tense, which is understandable when they play risk with their own health coming back to work. Another thing Kaye says he misses is the joking around with production crew, despite strict safety measures being in place, according to Deadline.
Kaye continued: “What kind of keeps us going is the people, hugging it out or just making jokes with camera guys and all that. That’s part of what we do. I don’t think we’ve found that comfort level yet, but that’s not going to affect the work in any way.”
Is ‘Bold and the Beautiful’ taking a risk coming back this fast?
With things not quite the same, as Kaye mentioned, how safe is it, really, for the actors? While they do have an extensive and detailed plan to keep everyone properly socially distanced, actresses like Denise Richards (who plays Shauna) says she is not worried, per CBS, since the show tests the actors every day.
Also, additional close-ups will be done with mannequins, something already creating a lot of jokes on set. Perhaps that’s the real key to normalcy on Bold and the Beautiful: The absurdity of abnormality will bring everyone together after all.
