Exclusive: Nathan Owens ‘Can Breathe Again’ Now That True Y&R Identity Is Revealed
On the Monday, February 3 episode of Young and Restless, viewers learned that the character Nathan Owens began playing in early January is not, in fact, Damian, the son of Amy Lewis and the half brother to Nate Hastings: His true identity is Holden, a decoy employed by the real Damian (played by daytime newcomer Jermaine Rivers).
Served With A Twist
Owens knew before he reported to work on his first day at Y&R that this twist was in store. “I pretty much found out when I found out I got the job, but not when I was auditioning for it,” he explains. “When I was auditioning for it, I actually auditioned for Damian, the real Damian.” A few weeks after he learned that the show “wanted to go a different route” in casting Damian, “I got a call about another option, about being the right-hand man of Damian.”
When the prospect of playing Holden was presented to him, Owens says, “I was over the moon! I was like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ It was on a couple of levels, because I’d already written [the idea of a role on Y&R] off. And then for them to come back to me and offer up something [else]…. In my head, the way I thought about it is that they just liked me and what I did, and they just wanted to find a spot for me on the show, and that’ll get the heartstrings going! You can be pretty tough on yourself in this industry, so when something like this happens and falls in your lap, it’s a blessing.”
As he began prepping to take on the role, “It was clear that I was going to be disguised as, or acting as if I was Damian, for a bit, to kind of suss things out, suss out the situation. And I was like, ‘Okay, here we go!’ ”
The actor dug into the challenge of being introduced as someone who wasn’t who he appeared to be. “As an actor, I thought a lot about, ‘Okay, what would this boss [Damian] be like, and how would I act as if I was Damian in front of Nate Hastings versus who I am as Holden?’ I was like, ‘Maybe I’ll put on a little bit more of a swag, a bit more of a tone in my voice,’ stuff like that. I added a couple of little things like that — nothing too crazy, but just something like you would typically do when you’re trying to disguise yourself as someone else.” Owens adds, “You’ll see a bit more of Holden come alive as this progresses and the more that we see Damian and as more of Holden’s story and history with others on the show gets uncovered, you’ll see him reveal more of himself, versus his version of Damian.”
According to Owens, “Holden is a very, very charismatic man. He is … I don’t want to say a Lothario, but he’s a charming dude and he’s very single. And he has quite the interest in alcohol [laughs]. He’s definitely worldly and cultured, but there is a bit of a mysterious darkness to this character that I want to tap into even more as the story progresses. It’s all very new to me; I’m curious [about him] and I’m finding out more each day. I want to go as deep as they’re ready to go with it, as dark as they’re ready to go with it! I think there’s a lot you could do with this character and a lot of storylines he could be placed in and cause a little ruckus.”
Owens has already forged a solid backstage bond with the actual Damian, Jermaine Rivers. “I was wondering who it was for a while, and then Jermaine came in and we hit off immediately,” Owens enthuses, describing his new castmate as “just a really wonderful guy. Seeing Jermaine turn into Damian and us going at it on screen has been really cool. We worked together behind the scenes, working on our scenes together, and then to finally get to see it all come to fruition on stage, we were like, ‘Oh, wow. That was good, man! Nice! That was a great choice that you made!’ He’s a very generous actor, as well. Y&R is a team [sport] and he’s a really great teammate to have and to work with.”
It is a resounding relief to the actor that the cat is now out of the bag. “I can breathe again,” he grins. “It’s been difficult to keep the secret. It’s especially difficult when you’re having a discussion with anybody about storyline and stuff like that. I have a hard time with that, because for some reason, my initial gut reaction is to be like, ‘Yeah, these are all the things that are happening right now! I’m a terrible secret-keeper. I’ve done a pretty good job, though!”
As for what Owens wants Y&R viewers to know about what they can expect from Holden, the actor hints, “I would want to tell the fans that they will soon learn that my character has a past with someone in town. And maybe a certain lady. So he will be busy keeping secrets as he settles in and, and as the drama continues.”
More Than Meets The Eye: Owens’s Holden in a scene with Sean Dominic (Nate) and Zuleyka Silver (Audra).
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