Richard Burgi chats his Y&R debut

The Young and the Restless viewers are about to meet power-hungry businessman Ashland Locke, who portrayer Richard Burgi says loves poking the inner souls of Genoa City residents.

Ashland Locke is about to make his grand entrance in The Young and the Restless' Genoa City, and the ground will be shaking from Wisconsin to Wenatchee when he makes his much-anticipated arrival. The guy is rich, powerful, connected, and ruthless -- and his portrayer, Richard Burgi, reveals that he's definitely going to create major waves on the CBS drama.

As fans know, Ashland is making a visit to Genoa City to hear offers from people who want to buy his company. What he doesn't know, however, is that his wife, Tara (Elizabeth Leiner), had an affair with Genoa City resident Kyle Abbott (Michael Mealor) -- and the son that Ashland shares with Tara actually belongs to Kyle.

In a recent episode of the Dishing with Digest podcast, Burgi opened up about the marriage dynamic between Ashland and Tara.

"It was just sort of an amalgam of relationships I've seen either in politics or my life, with that older man/younger woman dynamic," he says before joking, "I don't have a problem playing a clich!"

He goes on to share that he had a few in-depth conversations with Leiner, who was a social worker before becoming an actress, about the complexities of Ashland and Tara's relationship and how to best bring it to life.

"It's a combo platter of things that I'm just goofing around with," he says. "What would compel her to have an affair, you know? What could I do to support that storyline, or create some context that would give the relationship a reason for discord?"

As for what will play out on-screen outside of Ashland's marriage to Tara, Burgi reveals, "They teased something with the gal that I had worked with on GH, Michelle Stafford [Phyllis Summers], who is just a kick... we did like a thing, a little scene, and I wasn't sure if they're throwing some seeds out there... But who knows. I don't ask. But it was really fun."

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He continues, "They've had with me a few people, and [Ashland] is looking to stir up the pot in more ways than one. Peter [Bergman, Jack Abbott] and I have a lot of fun together, and you know, I'm poking the bears, poking at their inner souls... I said I'm glad that we're six feet apart and social distancing -- and there is someone on set who makes sure that happens -- because I'm sure that Jack and Kyle would like to take a swipe at Ashland!"

What do you hope the writers have planned for the character of Ashland Locke? How do you feel about Y&R casting Richard Burgi in the role? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.

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