Photo Credit: Gilles Toucas

A red hot new duo is emerging as one of the most popular on-screen couples in recent years on The Bold and the Beautiful!  Played by Heather Tom and Thorsten Kaye, the fictional Katie and Ridge have recently admitted they have feelings for each other, and now are coming to the realization that they indeed … love each other!

But oh, the complications!  Katie’s sister, Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) has been the woman of Ridge’s affections for decades!  But after returning to Los Angeles and learning of Brooke’s tryst with Bill (Bill Spencer) and how it hurt Katie, something changed for Ridge; no matter how much he tried in his heart and mind to make it work with Brooke.  They even headed to the altar!  Cue the fainting spell/faux heart attack of Katie’s that stopped the nuptials!

Now, with their feelings for each other undeniable, can Katie and Ridge be together against all odds?  Will their past flames tear them apart?  What will happen now that  Brooke has learned how sis Katie feels about Ridge … and how Ridge feels about Katie? On-Air On-Soaps chatted with Thorsten Kaye and Heather Tom to get their thoughts on working with each other, where they hope their on-screen romance will go, how they set out to make their scenes work “Bold and Beautiful” style, and just how is Thorsten adjusting to life as the new Ridge after the role was played for 25 years by Ronn Moss.  Here’s what the oh-so-sexy, beguiling, and ever so cute duo shared during our conversation!

MICHAEL:

Heather, when you found out Thorsten Kaye was cast as the new Ridge Forrester, what was your initial reaction?  Did you know of Thorsten’s work?

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HEATHER:

I thought, “Oh, that guy!” (Laughs)  I knew of Thorsten, of course!  I was very excited for him to come to the show.  I thought it would be a very interesting casting choice.   I thought we needed to go the complete opposite of Ronn Moss (Ex-Ridge) and I think we have accomplished that, and I think that it has been fun.

MICHAEL:

Thorsten, now your leading lady is a five-time Daytime Emmy winner!  How is it working opposite Heather?

THORSTEN:

I just call her “Five”.  What do you mean the complete opposite of Ronn?

HEATHER:

I mean, he wears a scarf and you don’t!  (Laughs)

THORSTEN:

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Heather and I have been on the same show before, but not at the same time.  So, I have been chasing her for awhile.  It’s fun to work with someone who puts the script first.  I think there is a reason she has five Daytime Emmys … and I have none! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Congrats on your 2014 Daytime Emmy Pre-Nomination, Heather!  What scenes did you submit for the first round of competition for the Outstanding Lead Actress category?

HEATHER:

I submitted the episode where Katie finds out about Brooke and Bill at the birthday party from hell!

MICHAEL:

How do you feel now Thorsten about stepping into the role of Ridge, since you first got here a few months ago?  Are you more comfortable?

THORSTEN:

I am not going to lie to you.  It’s always uncomfortable when you go to someone else’s house and try to fit in.  It’s not that I need to make the part my own, but I have to do something, and I couldn’t do what has been done before.  It’s been good.  The toughest part is getting to L.A and the travel.  I live in Connecticut, and so during the winter months it’s a bit more difficult due to the weather conditions, like the planes are late, but there are always delays, which can be frustrating.

HEATHER:

Photo Credit: Danya Morrison

He has a hell of a commute.

MICHAEL:

So in story, originally Katie told Ridge they cannot be together, or act on their feelings, and urged him to go back to Brooke.  Ridge then went back to Brooke, and even got to the altar before that disintegrated.  So if he now has feelings for Katie, does Brooke still have a place in his heart?

THORSTEN:

I think if you love someone, you try to forgive them.  We have all been there.  You try to remember all the good parts of it, and looking back on relationships from twenty years ago, I tend to remember all of the good parts.  And then you get back to reality and go, “Oh, that’s right.  She does that thing with her tooth … or, whatever drives you nuts! (Laughs)  You remember the good things and not the bad things, and you can’t get around it.  I feel that is kind of what happened with Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) and Bill (Don Diamont).  So you go, “Alright, it was mistake,” but then you have this little doubt in your head.  Then, you see someone else who seems to be not of that persuasion, and you think perhaps that makes more sense to you.

MICHAEL:

Heather, do you like the story that once again pits the two sisters against each other?

HEATHER:

I do like the story.  I like where they are going with it.   I think it’s nice to establish the two camps, and I do like working with Katherine Kelly Lang in this regard.  I think as sisters it is complex and has history … and if we can play the history, then it becomes so much fun to play.

Courtesy/CBS

MICHAEL:

Heather, when you saw the script that said, “Katie faints at the wedding”, were you shocked?  Were you like, “Not another heart attack, please!” (Laughs)

HEATHER:

At first, I was like, “Please God! Tell me I am not having another heart attack!”  Then, I called Brad Bell (executive producer and head writer, B&B). I said, “I just read the script….”  And he goes, “Don’t worry!  You’re not really having a heart attack.  You’re faking it!”  I went “Thank God!”  He knows that I don’t want to constantly have heart attacks!  (Laughs)  No one has more heart attacks than Katie! (Laughs)  But, I did like the aspect that she was faking it.  I thought that was great, because for once she is being assertive and making a choice and really going after what she wants.  So she makes this sort of conscious decision of, “OK, I am stopping this.”  I liked that, and I thought it was interesting.

MICHAEL:

Do you feel it makes her a villain in any way?

HEATHER:

Courtesy/B&BUniverse/CBS

I think it’s against her nature, and so it’s new to her.  I don’t think it makes her a villain.  I think it makes her a human being who does things impulsively, and for the first time ever is going after what she wants and saying, “Brooke, well, you have been telling me to follow my heart all of my life, and so I guess I am going to follow my heart and see where it leads me.”

MICHAEL:

Thorsten, you have worked with so many incredible leading ladies in your career! What is different in working with Heather?

THORSTEN:

She’s got five Daytime Emmys! (Laughs)  Therefore, she is always right, and so the pressure is off of me.  I think we are having fun, and we are trying to make the scenes as organic as possible.

HEATHER:

I think you can see when people are having fun working together, even if it’s a scene where you are bawling.  If you are having a good time with that person, it comes across on-screen.  I think that the material we have been doing is working.  I think that’s because we are approaching it from a place of play and a “let’s see what we can squeeze out of it” philosophy.

MICHAEL:

Courtesy/FacebookKatieLoganSpencer/CBS

Thorsten, you are heading this month to the United Arab Emirates for a location shoot that will air in April on B&B.  In story, it has been revealed that Ridge follows Brooke and Bill there, and acts in some way as Brooke’s protector!  And where’s Katie in all of this?  Thoughts?

HEATHER:

I am sure they have a remote planned for me in the back alley at CBS! (Laughs)

THORSTEN:

It’s always nice to travel somewhere, and in regards to the story, if you spend a lot of time with someone you do feel a sense of wanting them to be alright.  Again, I have no idea what the scripts are for the shoot in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, but I would think Ridge finds out something that could affect Brooke badly, and he would feel it’s his job to tell her that.

MICHAEL:

Is Ridge going to be “Torn Between Two Logans?” (Laughs)

THORSTEN:

I think the choices have been made for now.  Things move pretty quickly at The Bold and the Beautiful so no one is torn, certainly not Ridge and Katie at this point.

MICHAEL:

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What is Katie’s relationship with Bill at this point?  Has she truly moved on from him, once and for all?

HEATHER:

Bill is the father of Katie’s child, and Katie and Bill have a relationship where there is always going to be a connection there.  I think at this point she has moved on.  But it’s daytime, and the wind can blow and I never close a door.  No offense, Thorsten (Laughs)!  You’ve got to keep your options open! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

What did you think of the mini-story beat when Bill showed Brooke what was supposed to be damning photo evidence that Ridge was away in Europe having an affair with a younger man?  All of a sudden that story point was dropped!

THORSTEN:

I thought the same thing.  I was surprised, because it just didn’t go anywhere.

Courtesy/CBS

HEATHER:

It was a quick moment!

THORSTEN:

It always is with me, (laughs) but there are a lot of bubbles in the show and that doesn’t necessarily go with anything, but they are always very interesting.  I personally felt we could have kept going with that longer.  Why else would you go there?

MICHAEL:

Thorsten, what do you see as the main difference in the way B&B works, and their overall story development compared to other soaps?

THORSTEN:

I think at B&B, there is a difference from other soaps where the overall story arc is quicker.  However, at the end of the day, you try to tell good story, and if it’s a little faster and tells good story … then it’s a little faster.

MICHAEL:

Where do you both want the love story to go between Ridge and Katie?

HEATHER:

Courtesy/CBS

I would like to see them drag this out as long as they can! (Laughs)  I think there is a lot of story to tell, and a lot of history with the four characters.  It would be a shame if they didn’t play upon that.  I think the whole insta-wedding was a little silly.  But, I think it is daytime.

THORSTEN:

Whether it’s daytime or nighttime, not all daytime is the same.  But, if on this canvas you are marrying someone, somewhere your character has to make a choice, a real choice that makes sense to them.

HEATHER:

But you have to understand, when you make that choice, this is one thing I don’t like and I always try to play it …  and that is: When you make a choice it does not slam the door on something else.  In the audience, there are a whole group of people that want to root for Katie and Ridge.  There are a whole group of people that want to root for the other couple.  Right now, I think we are in the lead, but I think you have to keep that alive, and then down the road, hopefully not two weeks down the road, but down the road, you explore how that comes back around.  That is just the nature of what we do in daytime soaps.

THORSTEN:

Photo Credit: HutchinsPhoto.com

But as a five-time Daytime Emmy winner (Laughs) … the commitment has to be a real commitment to what you are playing now, and the door is behind you, and you don’t necessarily know you are doing that.

HEATHER:

Yes, but the moments that you play are the unexpected moments in the scene, where all of a sudden you are done with this person, but you have a moment of, “Oh, that’s the person I fell in love with all these years ago.”   And then, you can still be in love with the person you are with right now.

THORSTEN:

And that’s why she has won Emmys and I haven’t!  Now we know! (Laughs)  Yes, I agree with you, but if that happens let’s say in three days, it doesn’t make a huge amount of sense.  If it happens in three weeks, or months, it’s a little easier.  See, for me, I did not get the set-up at first of Ridge with Brooke and then Katie, because one came after the other.  But now I understand it.

MICHAEL:

Glad we got that settled! (Laughs) Thorsten, I have always loved your work.  Do you feel a sense of confidence now in the role of Ridge?  It is very difficult to come in and takeover a role that is so identifiable with another beloved actor for 25 years and to make it your own.  However, from all accounts, you are putting your own stamp on it.

THORSTEN:

Movie actors get hired because of what they bring to the script.  Daytime actors get hired because of what they have brought to the script before, whatever that may be.   I don’t need to be confident.  I am here.  I got the job.  I just have to be good with the person I am working with, and fly home.  It’s the best having a job like this, but having two kids and being away from them, makes it challenging at times, and changes your life as an actor.

HEATHER:

Courtesy/CBS

Yes, the decisions that you make, they have so much more meaning.  There are sometimes risks that you have to take in this business, because that is just the nature of this business.  Sometimes, you just say it would be safe if I just stay over here.  So having a child does make you need to weigh those choices.

MICHAEL:

You both have children in real life.  What is like playing having a child as your soap characters?  Do your real life experiences help with that?

HEATHER:

Well, my child is my on-screen child!

THORSTEN:

Well, that’s just weird right there! (Laughs)

HEATHER:

Some of my characters on the other soaps I have been on have lost a child, or their baby died. I look back on those storylines now, being a mom in real life and say, “I really underplayed that.”  Someone brought up to me the Delia storyline on Y&R, where the little girl gets killed in a hit and run.  That is so unfathomable to think of that.  I don’t know how I would play that.  Having a child changed everything.

THORSTEN:

Photo Credit: Danya Morrison

One of the cool things about being an actor is the more you do it, the better you get.  And as an actor, the experiences you bring with you over the years … that is what makes you better.

MICHAEL:

OK, moment of truth.  Time to see what you truly think of your co-star!  Heather, give me three words that best describe working with Thorsten?

HEATHER:

I am trying to think of a good word! (Laughs)  I would say adventurous, exciting, and motivating.

MICHAEL:

Thorsten, your turn!  Three words about working with Heather…

THORSTEN:

I would say, prepared, intelligent, and open.  It’s a good combination between Heather and myself in the scenes we have.  I think they have come out pretty well.

MICHAEL:

Finally, if you were to preview what’s to come for Katie and Ridge, what would you say?

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HEATHER:

Ridge and Katie will be hot and heavy, and my husband James is on the show at the end of the month.  Thorsten was like, “Do I have to kiss you in front of your husband?”  And I say, “Don’t worry. We do that every Saturday night.” (Laughs)

THORSTEN:

I would say as my preview, always listen to Heather!  She has been right “five” times!