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Clint Howard sheds some light on his mysterious character Tom and how he is able to help Deacon [Sean Kanan] and Finn [Tanner Novlan].
A 60-year-plus veteran of TV and Film, Howard will make his debut on the daytime drama, Bold and Beautiful, on Friday, April 26 and he will continue on Monday, April 29. He plays a homeless man with a pivotal piece of information that may be just what Deacon and Finn need to hear.
“I’m kind of living back behind a liquor store, behind a dumpster, and have made myself a nice little place,” the actor teased, setting the scene. “Deacon and Finn stumble upon me just by chance in the alley and they asked me a couple of questions. They help me out and I help them out. And they go on their way doing their thing and I go my way and what happens is mysterious and yet it’s cool. Pivotal. Because I end up helping them.”
The show hasn’t released much about the character but the casting was purely serendipitous. The actor shared how an old friendship, an intriguing storyline, and a chance meeting all collided to make it happen.
“Both my wife Kat and I, we’re good friends with the Kanans, Sean and Michelle,” the actor disclosed. “And Sean and I happened to be at the Hollywood Collectors Show. Sean had a table and I had a table and we were meeting fans and taking pictures.”
Howard revealed what happened next. “By absolute chance, one of the producers of the show [B&B], Casey [Kasprzyk, Supervising Producer] was just attending the show himself, and he wandered by Sean’s table and they were having a conversation about what was going on Bold and Beautiful.”
“Casey told Sean that they had just written this role, this character of this homeless guy, Tom, and they were looking to find somebody to play homeless Tom,” he said. Sean led the producer over to Howard’s table to repeat the story. The actor, who already looked ready for the part with long silver hair, and a shaggy beard, didn’t miss a beat. The rest was magic.
“I stood up at the table and immediately kind of did a spontaneous audition where I dropped into character and I played a homeless guy,” the versatile actor recalled, before he laid out the scenario. “Casey enjoyed it. I guess he enjoyed it enough because the next morning, my agent called me and said, ‘They would like to use you on Bold and the Beautiful.’ That’s amazing. And of course, that is music to an actor’s brain, to my soul.”
This isn’t the first time that B&B has tackled homelessness. Back in 2010, when Stephanie (Susan Flannery) was battling stage 4 lung cancer and wanted to use her time to help those in need, executive producer and head writer Brad Bell hired 30 homeless extras to add authenticity to the storyline. Now 14 years later, the homeless problem in Los Angeles is more relevant than ever.
“It’s such a hot topic,” Howard agreed. “I mean, it’s nice to see that Bold and Beautiful is doing something with it.” Even a Hollywood veteran like Howard has been touched by it. “It is still a problem. Listen, I’ve had my experiences knowing guys that have slept in cars and slept in trucks and slept in inoperable motor homes. And even occasionally when the weather’s good, they just go ahead and just sleep in the park. And my goodness, you know. It’s sad. But I’ve also seen people bounce back. It is possible to triumph out of a really poor situation.”
Could B&B fans see more of Tom in the future? The actor weighed in. “Do you think we’ll perhaps see more of Tom in the future? Listen, personally, as an actor, I would love it.
“I would love to be on Bold and the Beautiful for a while because first of all, I really like Sean. I saw this as an opportunity and a challenge…[to]…bring my own sensibilities to the project.”
