‘The Bold and the Beautiful’: Why Don Diamont Had Scott Clifton Reshoot Their First Scenes Together

Some actors just won’t stop until things are perfect. On The Bold and the Beautiful, Don Diamont is a perfect example of this, knowing that his scenes have to be enticing to viewers and in order to accomplish just that, lines must be read in a specific way. Recently, Diamont and Scott Clifton, who play Bill and Liam, respectively, on the show, sat down to talk about some of their favorite memories over the years. Here is why Diamont had Clifton reshoot their first scenes together on The Bold and the Beautiful. 

What is Bill and Liam’s relationship on the show?

As viewers know, Diamont and Clifton play a father and son duo on the show, but the characters haven’t always been a part of each other’s lives. According to an interview with  Soap Opera Digest, Clifton’s character, Liam, appeared on the scene back in 2010, and Bill learned that he had a son that he never knew about. When asked how Bill felt about his surprise son, Diamont said that it really “took him back.”

Diamont made sure to say that when Bill first found out about Liam, he didn’t really believe it at first. He didn’t want it to be true and “didn’t want” a son. Clifton chimed in with his thoughts, saying that he was told by the executive producer of the show, Brad Bell, that Liam and Bill weren’t going to get along all that well at first. The actor added that Bell said that “You’re going to be like oil and water but it’s going to be about the relationship between you two.”

Clifton didn’t know who his character was before filming

Clifton talked a bit about how he never saw the Bold and the Beautiful before being cast in the role of Liam. He looked back and remembered being in executive producer Brad Bell’s office all those years ago, when Bell said that he didn’t know what kind of actor Clifton was. He then asked Clifton if he wanted to know who his character really was, when the actor replied with “Hell, yeah!”.  It was then that Clifton learned that he was going to turn out to be Bill’s son. 

After Clifton spoke about how he learned just who Liam was going to turn out to be, Diamont said “I had to play it like Bill was really not interested in having a kid, and if he’s going to have a kid, he’d want a kid made in his own image and Liam was anything but that.” He added how it created conflict at the beginning of their relationship. 

Why did Diamont have Clifton reshoot their first scenes together?

The two actors continued remembering what it was like, and Clifton made sure to add that “My first scenes with Don, it was like he was my dad right away. I hadn’t found out he was my father yet and the way the lines were written, Liam gave Bill a bunch of attitude.” He spoke about how Diamont pulled him aside after the first take and told him that there was work to be done. Diamont said at the time that “We have to earn them rooting for us as father and son. There is plenty of time for you to give me sass, but right now, I’m your boss and we need to play that so later, those father/son moments are earned”. Clifton realized that Diamont was right, so they redid the scene where Liam was not giving him attitude and “it worked so much better.” Good thing that Diamont gave Clifton that great advice, and that they still have amazing chemistry over a decade later.