Between head injuries, explosions, Amber’s relentless pursuit and the constant breakups and makeups with Hope, BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL’s Liam has been going through the wringer. Scott Clifton talks about the agony and ecstasy of playing emotional characters.
Soap Opera Weekly: You’ve played three characters on daytime now. Who would you say is the most angst-ridden; who has had to suffer the most?
Scott Clifton: I have different ways of answering that, and I’ve thought about that a lot before. Liam has been okay up until now. I think Liam probably has led the most normal life — a lot of kids grow up without a father, and I think this is a very relatable kind of suffering that’s very mild and subtle and takes place over a long period of time. Dillon from GENERAL HOSPITAL — just because he was a teenager and drama queen, he was very, very angsty. But I think that comes with the whole context [of his age]. Everything was angsty, angsty, angsty. And ONE LIFE TO LIVE’s Schuyler… I think Schuyler’s the one that had, arguably, the worst life and the most traumatic history. You hear about this drug abuse in his past and you’re led to believe that he’s like gotten over all that and overcome it, and then in the end you find out that maybe he didn’t get over it. So, yeah, I mean probably Schuyler has the worst hand — considering right now he’s in jail. With Mitch Laurence, his cult leader, psychopath father [laughs]. Once they get out they’ll be the cult leaders of Llanview. The Jim Joneses.
Weekly: Relative to that, Liam’s definitely got it better.
Clifton: Yeah, we can have some perspective here. But that doesn’t mean that Liam’s problems aren’t paramount to him right now. And they can always get worse, as we know, from being faithful soap followers!
Weekly: Right. We’re like, “Liam’s okay; he’ll be fine,” and we probably just jinxed him!
Clifton: “Oh, yeah by the way…Liam’s father is Satan [laughs]!” Wait, I forgot that Liam’s father was Bill. That wasn’t even a Bill reference!
Weekly: Same difference, right?
Clifton: You’re like, “Eh. Whatever. Same thing.” [laughs] No, Liam and Bill’s relationship has gotten really great. I really love the kind of material they [give us]. With me and with Don [Diamont, Bill] too, that’s been really cool. It’s not the same relationship it was in the beginning, and I think that worked out.
Weekly: It’s really quite lovely. There’s a heartfelt, sweet relationship between the two of them even though Bill’s this tough alpha male. It makes me tear up sometimes!
Clifton: Aww. I know! I don’t know why — like, my dad has been fine — but what makes me tear up, too, is the fatherhood issues. Like Field of Dreams. Come on! Come on! You can’t get through that movie, as a red-blooded male, and not cry your eyes out by the end. “Hey Dad, want to have a catch?” [laughs]
Weekly: That’s absolutely true. I think that’s the movie guaranteed to make every man weep.
Clifton: Yeah it is. It’s the No. 1 movie!
