B&B’s Scott Clifton On The ‘Clock’s Ticking Mentality’ Driving Liam (Exclusive)

Go Your Own Way: Scott Clifton’s Liam wants to keep his dire diagnosis private on Bold and Beautiful.

Since Liam collapsed on B&B after a confrontation with his dad, Bill, which led not only to emergency brain surgery but to the devastating diagnosis of an inoperable brain tumor, the character has been determined to keep news of his health problems close to the chest. Not even ex-wife Steffy’s stirring pleas for him to let his other former spouse and baby mama, Hope, know what’s going on have swayed him. But why? Soap Opera Digest checked in with Liam’s portrayer, Scott Clifton, for his take on Liam’s stance.

 

“There are two phases to this,” Clifton begins. “There’s before Liam finds out his diagnosis and after he finds out the diagnosis. In the handful of episodes [when Liam had been hospitalized, but didn’t yet know about the tumor], why Liam was so adamant about not telling anyone what happened wasn’t really explained in the scripts, so I just kind of had to make a choice and sort of guess [his motivation].”

So, he explains, “What you kind of saw me playing there is that Liam has just had this huge conflict with his father where Bill is like, ‘You need me, you would be nothing without me, you’ve been suckling at my teat your whole adult life,’ right? And then, of course, Bill leaves and then Liam has this [episode]. I think the anxiety and the stress got to him, and I imagine there was just a little bit too much blood rushing to his brain and he faints and he loses consciousness and he hits his head.”

Which is not a wholly uncommon occurrence in Liam’s life. “Liam has had maybe four or five traumatic brain injuries just on this show alone,” the actor points out. (To wit: He suffered his first on-screen concussion in 2010, the year he was first introduced on B&B; a mishap in an airplane bathroom caused him to knock himself unconscious in 2016, which led to dizzy spells and ultimately another fall where he knocked his head, resulting in amnesia; he hit his head on a tree branch in 2018; and in 2021, Liam lost consciousness on the side of the road after Vinny leaped in front of his vehicle.) As a result, Clifton theorizes, “I think he’s a little self-conscious of that at this point, and he’s got it on his mind that he’s needy, because his father has just put this idea in his head, you know? He’s [wondering], ‘Do I burden other people? Do I ask too much of other people?’ So there’s that, and then there’s just the fact that it’s one more head injury. I think to Liam, it just feels icky to go, ‘Hey, I need everyone to feel bad for me now.’ ”

At that juncture in the storyline, Clifton says, Liam wasn’t only trying to avoid the appearance of seeking pity. He notes, “Liam’s misfortunes have also rescued him from his own karma in the past — like a lot. Liam has this unfortunate habit of never really having learned his lesson because something hits him in the head and then everybody has to feel bad for him and then everybody moves on! So,” he concludes, “I think it was sort of an amalgam of self-consciousness and self-awareness about Liam’s own history — and that’s just [why he was choosing to conceal the latest developments with his health] when he was in the hospital and he’s hit himself on the head.”

Secret Admirer

Once Liam finds out that he’s dealing with far more than a concussion and is, in fact, dying from a brain tumor, “that really kicks the secrecy into high gear,” Clifton proclaims. “When Liam really does sort of absorb this, and he recognizes that he doesn’t have much time left, it really becomes about setting up the people in his life for success and happiness once he’s gone. That obviously includes his daughters [Kelly and Beth] most of all, but it also includes making sure that Steffy and Finn are happy together and that they’re going to be okay, and making sure that Hope is not going to be left alone and spiraling, and that she won’t self-destruct.”

Indeed, even as Liam is resisting telling Hope about his diagnosis, he has made it clear to Steffy how important it is to him that the women’s long-running feud be put to rest. “His thoughts go toward Hope a lot,” Clifton nods, “and making sure that [her relationship with Steffy] is going to be okay.”

As the actor sees it, “He doesn’t want anyone to find out that he has this inoperable brain tumor because he has this sort of ‘clock’s ticking’ mentality. It just feels like such a waste of time to him to have conversations with people where they’re just feeling bad for him, or having to navigate other people’s feelings about losing him. It’s a really interesting kind of mindset for him to be in — he really doesn’t want anyone to know, but at the same time, he’s trying to work behind the scenes to set everybody up [for the best possible life after he’s gone].”

Clifton sees Liam’s approach to what could be his final days as “pragmatic” rather than emotional. “Which I believe is a flavor of Liam that we haven’t seen much of,” he adds. “And I kind of dig that.”

Down For The Count: Quinn (Rena Sofer) took advantage of Liam after one of his many previous brain injuries.