Y&R's Burgess Jenkins opens up about his difficult portrayal of Billy Abbott

The Young and the Restless' Burgess Jenkins will soon be exiting the CBS soap, but that doesn't mean his portrayal of classic character Billy Abbott hasn't been rewarding, so says the actor in a new interview.

Though he recently confirmed that he'll soon be leaving The Young and the Restless for personal reasons, actor Burgess Jenkins admits that playing legendary character Billy Abbott has been an enjoyable experience -- minus a couple of emotional pitfalls.

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The North Carolina native shared with Soaps In Depth that most of his story since he hit the canvas in June 2014 has been very complex. "I had to put myself through hell for those scenes [when Billy learned Gabriel was really Adam (Justin Hartley)]," he admits. "There were so many layers of emotion: anger, sadness, guilt, rage."

But perhaps the most challenging scenes were those involving Delia's death. "I have an eight-year-old daughter, same as Delia, so the storyline had a rawness of palpable to me," he says. "I didn't have to go too far to imagine the horror of a parent living this nightmare. It is truly a parent's worse nightmare to lose your child to an accident that you could have avoided. You can't just say you are angry in a storyline like this. You have to feel the pain to make the audience feel your pain."

And that, he explains, leads to severe exhaustion. "You are emotionally worn out," Jenkins explains, adding that your "mind becomes like Jell-O, your body says enough."

A rep for Y&R declined to comment on whether or not the show will recast the role of Billy once Jenkins exits the canvas, but rumor is the casting department may be eyeing Jason Thompson (ex-Patrick Drake, General Hospital) for the character. Time will tell whether or not this proves to be true!

What did you think of Jenkins' portrayal of Billy? Do you think viewers were too hard on him? 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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