Bold and Beautiful Comings And Goings: Is Lisa Yamada Out As Luna Is Pronounced Dead?

In a dramatic turn of events, Luna Nozawa was pronounced dead on the July 10 episode of Bold and Beautiful after she shot her grandmother, Sheila Carter, as well as Liam Spencer, and Liam turned around and shot her! But is this really the end of the road for the character, played since September 2023 by Lisa Yamada, who is a newly minted Daytime Emmy nominee?

Sweet But Psycho

Although new to soap operas, Yamada was already an accomplished actress and voice-over artist (perhaps best known for her role as musician Parker Tanaka on Freeform’s anthology series Cruel Summer) when she first appeared on B&B as a bright-eyed Forrester intern assisting RJ and Eric with their secret couture line.

Reflecting upon her introduction to the canvas, the actress shared with Soap Opera Digest in February 2024 that she had some major nerves when she first reported to work. “My first day on set, I was absolutely terrified because in the soap world, we move so quickly,” she revealed. Thankfully, she added, her colleagues were a big help in her adjustment. “I was really lucky because my first-ever scene was with Jennifer Gareis [Donna] and John McCook [Eric] and Josh Hoffman [RJ], and they were, like, the most welcoming group of people, and I just felt really taken care of. And after these last few months, I feel like kind of a veteran now, like I’ve got it under control.”

At first, Luna was a seemingly sweet and virginal good girl who was smitten with RJ Forrester and just wanted her mom, Poppy, to tell her who her biological father was. But shortly after a DNA test proved that Bill Spencer was her father, the truth came to light: Not only had Luna manipulated the paternity test to reveal Dollar Bill was her dad, but she killed two men and framed her mother to protect her secret, then drugged and locked Seffy in a cage when she grew suspicious!

Of her character’s quick slide to unhinged psycho, Yamada told Digest earlier this year that after playing a sweet girl for so long, she never suspected that her character was actually a homicidal maniac.  “It was a shock,” she stated. “But I love playing darker characters and I’m really lucky because I basically get to play two different roles on the show. I totally leaned into it. I was like, ‘Hey, if I get to be the murderer, then I’m gonna go full-out!’ That was really fun. That whole week was pretty crazy.”

After Luna tried to kill Steffy the first time, the actress briefly exited the show in the fall of 2024 when her alter ego was sentenced to jail. However, by the end of the year, she was back on the canvas when Bill had Luna released to his custody after she convinced him that her life was being threatened by the other inmates. Having played the character so far off the rails the first time around, Yamada took a calculated approach for her second B&B tour. “I feel like she’s been through a lot — but I don’t totally want to [commit to the idea] that she’s no longer crazy and is in her redemption era,” she noted. “I definitely think there’s a little bit of crazy to her still, and that’s what makes her fun. We play around with, like, ‘Is she fully manipulating the situation and playing the victim, or is she actually remorseful?’ I kind of have fun with it.”

Twisted Family Tree

But there would be no redemption for Luna. If anything, she only grew further bonkers after learning that Finn, whom she had grown up believing was her adoptive cousin, was actually her biological father. The shocking news sent Luna into a tailspin, but Yamada was excited to explore her new family tree. “I’m sure everyone, myself included, has been questioning Luna’s paternity since I first joined the show, so it’s satisfying to finally have some concrete answers!” the actress told Digest in March of the paternity shocker. “Thinking someone’s your cousin your whole life, only to find out he’s actually your father? That’s insane news for Luna to wrap her head around! It’s like every single memory she has with Finn from her childhood is a complete lie. This shifts her entire reality.”

In the months since, lunatic Luna’s hatred for her stepmother, Steffy, festered as she grew closer to her biological grandmother, iconic soap villain Sheila Carter — ultimately culminating in the deadly shoot-out that took place in the July 8 episode. Looking back at her time so far on the soap, Yamada previously expressed her gratitude to executive producer and head writer Bradley Bell. “Starting out as a sweet Forrester intern falling in love ‘for the first time,’ and then doing a complete 180 last year to become a murderous villainess — this show has fulfilled me so much creatively and helped me grow as an actor,” she said in the March interview. “Not every actor gets the chance to play two completely different characters, and I’m truly appreciative of Brad for giving me that opportunity.”

More To The Story?

While Luna has now been declared dead, a rep for B&B declined to confirm that the character’s demise marks the end of Yamada’s time on the show. And if this isn’t the end of the road, well, stranger things have happened in the B&B universe — Luna’s own father, Finn, returned from the dead after seemingly taking a fatal bullet in 2022, for example, and Sheila, her grandmother, has cheated death multiple times. Then there’s always the possibility of Luna appearing as a ghost or a vision in a nightmare, or of Yamda resurfacing as a Luna look-alike!

Whether this is truly the end of the B&B road for Yamada, she’s already keeping busy with her other major project: The Legally Blonde prequel series, Elle, for Amazon Prime Video, where she plays the recurring role of Amber. Produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine company, the series follows Elle Woods’s journey through high school, exploring the experiences that shaped her into the iconic character from the film franchise. Filming is currently underway in Vancouver with the series expected to premiere on the streamer in summer 2026.

Do you hope that Luna is poised for a B&B comeback, or do you hope reports of her death are not exaggerated? Let us know in the comments below!