By Michael Fairman

“On-Air On-Soaps” sat down with Ronn Moss this past week for a feature for TV SOAP Australia, where “B&B” is now airing on primetime! As the story heats up this week many lives and characters are on a collision course, thanks to Rick, Brooke and Ridge’s impending nuptials and Phoebe’s return. Fasten your seat belts for a rollercoaster ride . . . the Forrester way!

TV SOAP:

The Ridge/Rick feud and storyline is really heating up and getting interesting. Rick is doing some reprehensible things!

RONN:

Yeah, he is. Rick is getting obnoxiously devious, and he is a spoiled brat who needs to be put in his place.

TV SOAP:

What about when Rick fell over that very tall building and plummeted to the ground, thanks to seemingly, Ridge?

RONN:

People will go to any lengths to get attention, won’t they? (He laughs)

TV SOAP:

How is working with the reinvention of Rick as a ‘bad boy’, played by Kyle Lowder?

RONN:

Kyle is wonderful. I love it. He is a great combination of strength and whiny little tot! A whiny little snot-nosed, “Brooke’s son”!

TV SOAP:

Lest we forget, Ridge has been snot-nosed in the past?

RONN:

So I recognize it in others. Rick needs somebody to wipe his nose.

TV SOAP:

Recently, “B&B” fans were taken down memory lane with the Brooke and Ridge wedding from 15 years ago. In 2008, the characters went back to Zuma Beach, the place of the location, and met up there again for a significant moment in their
relationship. How was that to play?

RONN:

It was fun to go back to the same place to film. It’s nice because of its remoteness, and for the storyline. Just to go back and do it on our own with nobody else around, was nice this time. We had such a lavish wedding there before, so it was sentimental and all that stuff. It seemed like the most logical and economical place to go this time.

TV SOAP:

In the Zuma Beach location shoot, how did you like the lush romance of it all? Did it at times seem corny to you?

RONN:

I did not really think that. Actually, I thought it was quite nice. They built these beautiful sets on the beach, and it was lovely that it was just the two of us.

TV SOAP:

The show had gone back and forth, and back and forth with Ridge, either between Taylor or Brooke. Wasn’t that frustrating for you?

RONN:

In the last few years I have always said, “I have got to move on to something else other than Brooke and Taylor. You are not letting Ridge and Brooke have a go at it here. You never have for 20 years.” They just tease the fans to the point where I don’t think the fans really cared if Brooke and Ridge got back together, because the tease was over. Now I find when we are back together, and the characters are actually married again, that I am actually enjoying it.

TV SOAP:

Do you think now the show will make a commitment to let Ridge and Brooke be a somewhat stable couple for a while and let them stay married?

RONN:

They don’t usually do it, but maybe the transition will be now. I am hoping, anyway.

TV SOAP:

Starting in December, there is a huge story point where Rick and Phoebe get into a car accident with Rick at the wheel and Phoebe dies! Oh, this will be juicy! Rick looks responsible for killing Ridge’s daughter.

RONN:

We have a lot of great stuff coming up, and we will see how it goes. Even Winsor Harmon (Thorne) remarked to me on his way out of the set this morning, “Did you see yesterday’s show? It was really cool!” It’s just that we are getting back to three simultaneous stories on air. We were used to relying on one or two stories a day, but now it makes it more interesting, and adds more spice in the mix of “B&B”.

TV SOAP:

How do you see Ridge’s romantic stance, navigating between Brooke and Taylor?

RONN:

It’s always been Brooke for Ridge, for the last long while. With Taylor, I think Ridge just takes the time to consult with Taylor to let her know, “We had these kids together, and I will always be in your life no matter what… but I am going with Brooke.” It’s a destiny thing.

TV SOAP:

After the Rick/Taylor romance, it looked like Ridge might end up back with her, but then it didn’t. Did you know you were going to end up with Brooke at this point?

RONN:

I didn’t really know, but I was hoping I would not ping-pong back and forth between Brooke and Taylor again. Fortunately, we are still going, and what we thought would happen did not. As characters we thought, “Well, that’s it for Kelly and me. It’s on to Hunter.” Then that didn’t happen and it got siphoned back to us, and I went, “Wow, that was unexpected, even for us!”

TV SOAP:

What would you say is your acting technique when rehearsing and preparing scenes?

RONN:

Mine is “flailing” from day to day, that’s how best I would describe it. (He laughs)

TV SOAP:

John McCook (Eric) said to me in a recent TV SOAP interview that you are the true icon of “B&B”. He went on to say, “You are so known for that square-jawed, good looking guy, and your acting has gotten better and better.” What would you say to that?

RONN:

I would say, “The payments I have been giving him all these years are working!”

TV SOAP:

How is working with John, after all these years?

RONN:

I love working with John. He is a hoot, and we always laugh when we are together. It’s hard for us to keep a straight face, because we get each other laughing and can’t stop.

TV SOAP:

John and I also discussed how at times the men on “B&B” are portrayed as weak in storyline. How do you feel about that statement?

RONN:

I think John has always had an issue with that, because they always made Eric the wishy-washy guy. So, Stephanie seems to be the big matriarch of the show, when in fact, John has very much his own strengths. But yes, the guys in a drama series are at times made to be unconscious or a buffoon, which makes the other character a little more knowing. Well, somebody’s got to do it right!

TV SOAP:

Ronn, do you notice a difference in your portrayal of Ridge since you started on the show, and how the different storylines have affected him and shaped how you’ve played him over the years?

RONN:

I am kind of in a position, and so looking in the mirror everyday I didn’t see that. You would probably be a better judge of that than I would. I am too close to it to really know if Ridge had evolved or grown, or not grown.

TV SOAP:

What can we say to your fans in Australia to look for down the line in the Rick/Ridge feud? Will there be a big showdown?

RONN:

I think there has to be an impending showdown because Rick is not finished. He thinks he is supposed to be in control of all things Forrester.

TV SOAP:

So, Rick’s whole demeanor and new attitude was partially spurred on by feeling he was second best, or even third best, in his father Eric’s mind?

RONN:

He thinks the whole world owes him everything, but he does not have the experience to back it up. He had not put in
his time to learn the business, and that is
Ridge’s big contention.

TV SOAP:

Do you see Ridge as the hero?

RONN:

Yes. I don’t know if that actually plays out on air, but in my own demented mind it does. (He laughs). I would like Ridge to be the hero, but it does not always pan out that way. I have had my ass kicked too many times on the show one way or another, and I have to bite the bullet and go, “Well, it is what it is.”

TV SOAP:

Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke), and you have worked together so very long. Does it get difficult doing the same sort of scenes over and over again?

RONN:

It’s not that simplistic. We both love working with each other. I can speak for her on that, too. We are comfortable working with each other, so it makes things a lot easier that way. However, the one thing we both share is how hard it is to keep doing this and have our lives outside. Even though it’s a half hour show, we still carry the brunt of it, and Kelly has her own family and I have my own family.

TV SOAP:

Speaking of your family, how are your daughters? How is fatherhood going?

RONN:

My little Callie, just turned ten. Fatherhood is lovely, and one of the best parts of my life. I think it keeps me on my toes. I constantly have to rethink, “Am I doing this right?” I have to concern myself with my girls’ development, and how they perceive the world, and how they are thinking. I have to be subtle enough to encourage them in the right direction, because I very much take my job as dad seriously. I take it so seriously that I joke about it with them as much as I can, just so they don’t know I am taking it so seriously! It’s the number one job for me, more than anything else. I consider every action or raised eyebrow I do important, because it may affect how they perceive it.

TV SOAP:

How do you like the plot point where Ridge was pulling the plug on his own father in his hospital room? What did you think when you read it in the script for the first time?

RONN:

That was pretty amazing, actually. I was just feeling the scene as it was for real. Having Ridge feeling he was hearing that his dad talked to him, I can totally understand
how that could affect somebody.
Then, after the fact being told,
“No, you are hallucinating.”
We have all had a situation
where our reality gets blurred.

TV SOAP:

Do you ever get to work with Brandon Beemer (Owen)?

RONN:

I have not had that much of a chance to work with Brandon, but we have been hanging out more off set than working together. Brandon is a lovely human being. He is a true to heart kid, and true to spirit.

TV SOAP:

What do you think we can expect from Ridge Forrester in 2009?

RONN:

I think Ridge is going to take more control than he has in awhile. That would be over the company, and his relationship. He seems more decisive now, and I am very much enjoying that.

TV SOAP:

What about how Rick manipulates things? How will that manifest itself in trying to destroy the newly found happiness of Ridge and Brooke?

RONN:

I don’t think so at all. I think Ridge will get smarter in how he deals with the amazing woman in his life, Brooke. He will get smarter to the things that are trying to undermine it, like Rick.

TV SOAP:

Did you ever vocalize to “B&B” head writer and executive producer, Brad Bell, any frustration you may have had with your character, in regards to the Brooke/Ridge relationship?

RONN:

I have never actually asked him anything about that. But years ago, I told him of my frustrations, that they never leave us together long enough to do anything. I leave it up to Brad to write the show. If I have a cool suggestion, I might take it to him. But I don’t usually have time.

TV SOAP:

What are your Holiday plans?

RONN:

I just want to stay home and enjoy Christmas, and New Year’s with my family and friends around me, because traveling is just too much of a bitch….. and there we go!

TV SOAP:

What would you like to tell all of your fans ‘down under’?

RONN:

Give my love to my Australian fans. I am hoping we can work something else out in the future for me to see you, and at the very least, providing some new music they can find on my website, www.ronnmoss.com. I want to tell them to please keep in touch.