All My Children alum Michael E. Knight dishes on how Dr. Simon Neville fits into The Young and the Restless' Genoa City and why he didn't sign on for the online version of AMC.
October can't come fast enough for All My Children fans who are looking forward to Michael E. Knight's (ex-Tad Martin, AMC) debut as The Young and the Restless' Dr. Simon Neville on the 15th. But what exactly can viewers expect from his new alter ego, a shady neurologist who is tasked with helping crazy Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John), who recently kidnapped his unconscious ex-wife, Hilary (Mishael Morgan)?
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"He's very cool, kind of eccentric and a rule breaker," the Emmy winner TV Insider of the devilish doc. "And hilarious, though he doesn't mean to be. He makes no apologies for being brilliant and always thinks he has the highest IQ in the room. He's here to keep the [Hilary] situation under wraps. And that's all I'm allowed to tell you...he says, twirling his mustache."
As most soap fans already know, Knight's Y&R gig reunites him with head writer Charles Pratt, who also wrote for AMC for a spell. And believe it or not, the actor has always sung the scribe's praises. "I can't complain about the guy," Knight reiterates. "Tad had been stuck in a rut for five years and had been married to Dixie [Cady McClain, ex-Kelly Andrews, Y&R] two or three times when Chuck came along. He said, 'I keep hearing about Tad the Cad, but where is he? You're Father Knows Best. All that's missing is a sweater and pipe. I want to break you out of this.' So he had Tad get shot in the head and develop a personality disorder, and after that the sky was the limit."
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However, despite his love for the character and for the show, the actor chose not to stay on with AMC when it moved from ABC to Prospect Park, stating it was a rough time in his personal life (as he'd just divorced One Life to Live's Catherine Hickland [Lindsay Rappaport]), and he needed to take a step back from the show. "I was sorry I didn't do the Prospect Park thing. But only sometimes," he admits. "Those last few years on AMC were rough because we were always under the Sword of Damocles, wondering what would happen to us. Is it over? Will we last another year? That's why it's so great to be at Y&R. It's the number one soap and a beautifully oiled machine. Everyone is so happy and no one is worried that the show might get the ax. [Laughs] And you get your own parking space with your name on it! Being there is effortless and stressless. It's like one big exhale."
For more from Knight, check out TV Insider's full interview here.
Are you looking forward to Knight's debut as Y&R's Dr. Neville? Do you think he's up to the challenge of playing a character other than (and different from) Tad? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below, on our message boards, or by submitting Feedback.To stay up-to-date on the latest soap news, be sure to like us on Facebook and follow @soapcentral on Twitter.
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