Diamont, like so many other people, is sheltered at home because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: If you were on theB&Bset today, would there be a celebratory cake?
DON DIAMONT:Oh, there’d be fireworks, a marching band, a cake!
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I have no idea.
So how will you celebrate?
How I spend every day!
Barry King/WireImage
Just doing our thing at home.
I don’t think there’s any party planned.
It’s gone in the blink of an eye, right?
CBS
If you go over all the events of your life, you realize how much time has gone by.
Is there something hanging in the balance with Bill?
There’s always something hanging in the balance!
CBS
He’s always getting in trouble.
His relationship with Katie [Heather Tom], I would say, is hanging in the balance.
Let’s go way back when you first auditioned forThe Young and the Restless.Do you remember that?
Yes, I do.
I used to say I was fired and voted best newcomer in the same week.
There were probably seven or eight guys when I screen tested.
And this is back when they actually did screen tests!
I remember the makeup guy, Shane, saying, “I know you’re going to get this.
You’re going to get it.”
But I think he said that to every guy.
I did feel confident.
[Former Y&R executive producer/current B&B supervising producer] Ed Scott directed my screen test.
That’s how far we go back.
I screen tested with Brenda Dickson [the original Jill Foster].
I was warned that she was quite a character.
I was told to just kind of be ready for whatever.
She blew smoke in my face during the screen test.
She was pretty out there.
What were you told about the role?
I know those Daisy Dukes sold at an auction back in the day.
I think they got a pretty nice amount.
I remember autographing them for a fan club event.
Was this a running joke?
Would you ever be fully clothed?
I still joke about it.
If they could have had me naked, I’m sure I would have been just naked.
I was absolutely the new meat on the show at that time.
I devised some brilliant plan to make the department more efficient.
I moved pretty quickly into a three-piece suit.
Honestly, it didn’t bother me to start off that way.
I wasn’t an idiot.
You want to build a fan base.
If it had just continued, I’m sure I would have been upset.
But I had no issue with it at the time.
I had to build the fan base.
And fans liked you, didn’t they?
The character became pretty popular, pretty fast.
I wasn’t a hated character.
I think Brad was sincere.
He wasn’t just after Traci and her money or to be part of the Abbotts.
He had genuine affection for her.
I got crazy amounts of fan mail, though they liked to keep that stuff [secret].
Got a little inside information at the time!
So then why did they get rid of Brad 23 years later?
I guess there was some palace intrigue, but I don’t really know.
And you drowned in a frozen lake.
Yes, the Navy SEAL drowned in a frozen lake while rescuing a kid.
She had all this information on this former commandant and the commandant’s grandson.
It was pretty prophetic, that storyline.
Now you haveHunterswith Al Pacino on Amazon.
He was on the run and protecting his grandmother.
If anybody was trained to handle that situation, it was him.
But it was the best thing that ever happened to me, I can tell you that.
You really weren’t out of work for very long.
Thanks to Brad [son of Bill Bell], no.
He created a character for me onThe Bold and the Beautifulthat would be the role of a lifetime.
I was just so blessed.
I always talk to my kids about this.
It’s a cliche, but I’m living proof that when one door closes, another door opens.
Brad gave me the ball and let me run with it.
He is an incredibly collaborative showrunner.
I’m also grateful toPeter Bergmanand Eric Braeden and Michelle Stafford and Eileen Davidson and Beth Maitland.
They said, “You’ve got to bring Don onto your show.
You need him on your show.
He deserves to be there and this shouldn’t have happened.”
He is an emotionally challenged guy.
He tries to do the right thing.
But he also had a very challenging childhood and some of those emotional scars wreak havoc sometimes.
His emotional life gets the better of his intellectual capacity.
And what about his wardrobe?
Does he get to wear more suits?
He’s not a suit wearer.
He’s a jeans and button-down shirt guy.
You’ve been sheltered at home for over two weeks now.
Are there small things you miss about work?
Breaking my TV son’s balls!
I love my cast mates.
I just miss interacting with them on a daily basis.
I guess what I definitely miss is just walking into that studio.
I’ve been walking in there for 35 years.
I never take that for granted.
I am always aware of how lucky I am.
