“After eight lengthy years in jail, they lastly let me out,” quips Ray Smart in character as Ian Ward, who has returned to The Younger and the Stressed as public enemy No. 1. “I paid my debt to society and naturally, I’d come proper again to Genoa Metropolis and reestablish my previous relationships.”
Smart’s return engagement started when the present’s head author and government producer, Josh Griffith, reached out a number of months in the past. “He stated, ‘Ray, would you be considering coming again to fire up issues?’ And I stated, ‘Properly, yeah, I’ve been ready for this to occur for eight lengthy years!’ ” shares Smart. “Within the meantime, I did a sequence known as Contemporary Off the Boat for ABC, so I wasn’t precisely out of labor, however I wished to return again to Genoa Metropolis as a result of I loved myself a lot the primary time I used to be there.”
That first stint, which lasted from 2014-16 and earned the actor a Daytime Emmy for Visitor Performer in a Drama Collection, holds fond recollections for Smart. “I did quite a lot of nasty issues the primary time I used to be on the town,” he recollects. “I began fires and I kidnapped individuals and I did all types of issues and loved all of it. I labored with Justin Hartley [ex-Adam Newman] as my accomplice in crime; he’s now the star of Tracker. And my confrontations with Victor Newman, performed by Eric Braeden, I at all times loved. He’s considered one of my favorites.”
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This time round, Smart has been paired with Colleen Zenk (Jordan Howard), and collectively, their alter egos are wreaking havoc all around the canvas. “She’s been great,” Smart enthuses. “She’s my excellent accomplice in crime. We have now the identical manner of working, so it’s only a pleasure to do scenes together with her. She’s a veteran of many, a few years and I actually respect every thing that she’s accomplished prior to now. We simply have the best time collectively.”
Due to the thriller surrounding the story — Ian and Jordan could have one thing to do with Heather’s homicide and framing Sharon for it — Smart’s comeback was saved beneath wraps. “They needed to hold my identification a secret for the longest time, even to the opposite forged members and the crew,” he says. “They known as me ‘Mr. X’ as a substitute of Ian Ward. For the longest time, my parking area stated ‘Mr. X’ on it.”
When he arrived on set, “Mr. X” was saved separate from the remainder of the forged. “They very cleverly saved me in scenes that have been away from a lot of the different individuals and simply working with Colleen, who clearly knew the key as a result of she was a part of the key,” Smart explains. “They stunning a lot sealed me off from all people else and anybody that did are available contact with me, they’d make them swear on their life to not give away the key. Now that I’ve been revealed on the present, everybody can name me Ian once more, and I like that a lot better.”
As soon as he was capable of transfer concerning the studio freely, “It felt like previous residence week,” Smart reviews. “I in a short time obtained again into the routine.”
He was thrilled to reconnect together with his former costars. “All the time Eric Braeden. I like him. And naturally, Mel [Thomas Scott], who performs Nikki [Newman]. Love seeing her once more, and among the others that I labored with earlier than — Josh Morrow [Nick Newman], I like him. It was nice to see them and it was nice to see among the previous administrators, like Owen Renfroe and Sally McDonald, and among the previous crew and among the previous make-up individuals. However there are loads of new individuals, too, so, I needed to introduce myself to them, they usually didn’t fairly know easy methods to take me and this ‘Mr. X’ enterprise. It was very mysterious to all of them.”
Now that Ian’s presence has been established, Smart teases, “It’s sort of broad open and all people realizes that I’m simply on the town to trigger as a lot bother as I probably can.”
The Younger and the Stressed, Weekdays, CBS, Examine Native Listings