‘The Young and the Restless’: What Happened to the Actor Who Played Daniel Romalotti Jr.?
Daniel Romalotti Jr. is a fan-favorite among The Young and the Restless fanbase. The character has been played by numerous actors through the years, namely child actors before writers aged-up. Two former actors played Daniel very briefly before one man took over. Consequently, he’s the version of Daniel Y&R fans remember most. Who is he and what is he doing now?
Who played Daniel Romalotti Jr.?
Germany-born Michael Graziadei played Daniel Romalotti Jr. on The Young and the Restless from 2004-2016. He was believed to be the son of Danny Romolotti (Michael Damian), but it was later discovered he’s the son of Brian Hamilton (Steven Culp and William Wallace respectively).
The actor renewed a three-year contract in 2009, but when 2012 rolled around, he opted out of the daytime soap to pursue other projects.
However, some may remember Graziadei’s return in 2013 for four episodes. At that time, his storyline helped aid on-screen mom Michelle Stafford’s exit from the show. She eventually reprised her role, but Graziadei has yet to do so.
In the time since filming wrapped for the final time in 2016 (to celebrate 11,000 episodes), Graziadei’s appeared in over a dozen other projects such as Scorpion, a recurring role in Good Girls Revolt, Chicago P.D., True Detective, All Rise, and the latest season of the drama fantasy series, The Magicians.
The actor worked a second job while on ‘Y&R’
The Nashua High School, New Hampshire native may have worked long hours on the set of The Young and the Restless, but that didn’t stop him from earning a second paycheck elsewhere.
According to IMDb, Graziadei worked as a bartender at the Saddle Ranch on Sunset Blvd in California. Aside from navigating two jobs, the actor, who was 25 years old when he first took over the role of Daniel, played a teen on the soap.
In real life, Graziadei is just 14 years younger than his on-screen mom, Stafford, making their Y&R relationship a little less believable.
Would Graziadei reprise his role on ‘Y&R’?
At the moment, Graziadei appears to be enjoying life. His most recent social media posts include videos of his guitar-playing skills as well as having a drink by the ocean.
The Daytime Emmy Award nominee currently has a girlfriend and picks up projects here and there but seems to be in o hurry to get back to the long days on a soap opera set. As for whether he’ll return at some point, it’s up in the air. Fans may remember that Y&R‘s Daniel moved to Georgia. The character isn’t often mentioned and he hasn’t been re-cast.
However, Graziadei’s return for his half-sister Summer Newman’s (Hunter King) engagement party in 2016 gave fans hope he’ll do it again. In the world of daytime soaps, anything is possible.
The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS.
