Guiding Light alum, Matt Bomer (ex-Be Reade) was honored with the Vanguard Award at the 43rd Miami Film Festival just a few weeks ago. The award recognized his body of work, his significant impact on film and television and his current roles including on Apple TV+’s movie, Outcome, which also features All My Children legend, Susan Lucci (ex-Erica Kane).

While at the festival, Bomer participated in a live sit-down conversation with Josh Horowitz of the Happy Sad Confused Podcast where he was asked about his early days in television and soap operas, all leading to Horowitz asking Matt to give a 1 minute recap of the life and times of Guiding Light’s Ben Reade!

Bomer played the role of the scheming Ben from 2001-2003, and as discussed, it was never Matt’s intent to land on a soap or stay for any significant length of time, as he has other aspirations as an actor after graduating from the acclaimed Carnegie-Mellon University in Drama.

Photo: AppleTV+

THE ROAD TO GUIDING LIGHT

Speaking with Horowitz, he explained how he came to Guiding Light, “I’d done two episodes on All My Children with Susan Lucci, who’s in Outcome, who I got to just come full circle with. Susan had spoken at Carnegie Mellon and three months later I was on set with her. (On All My Children) I was playing her daughter’s ex lesbian lover’s, new fiancé.”

After that, Bomer was asked to audition for a role on Guiding light, and the rest is soap history. When Horowitz asked Matt to give the lowdown of everything that happened to Ben Reade in story in one minute, here’s what Matt shared!

Bomer began, “He’s a trust fund baby who bet his fraternity brothers that he could be the first to deflower the town virgin, who is like the young female heroine on the show. Then, of course, he falls in love with her, but then she finds out about his attempt to deflower her, so she dumps him. Then, he falls in love with this other girl, but then he loses his trust fund. So, he turns to the only life that one can, which is to become a male sex worker. All of my clients were like women in their forties. I was like 22. I would meet them (on set) at 6:00 AM and do intimacy scenes by 9:00 am. Then, he goes crazy because his girlfriend finds out that he was being a sex worker, and so she dumps him. He goes crazy, kills four people, then kidnaps her to a remote cabin in the woods where he holds her hostage with a syringe full of insulin. Then, when he gets busted, he injects himself with it, but then hangs on one extra day in the hospital to apologize for all his sins.”

Photo: CBS

On his way out Bomer shared, “I told the (GL) writers that when I got there, ‘Look, I’m not not going be here that long. So give me the craziest thing you’ve ever given anybody,’ and they obliged. But my favorite thing was after all that, I remember I was like in my dying makeup, walking off the soundstage and a writer comes up to me and goes, ‘If you ever want to come back, we’ve got it figured out.'”

SUPERMAN

After Guiding Light, Bomer found himself not only in the running for the next Superman movie but to play the lead role, and landing the part. But, as Matt revealed, the movie was scrapped and he never got the chance to play the man of steel.

“I was such an unknown at the time,” recounted Bomer. “I went in on a cattle call, then I got a phone call from the casting people. Then, I went and met with a director and read with an actress. Then, I went back in and screen tested in the Superman suit and signed the contract. I know that I was the director’s choice for the role and then. … it happens, (the movie got canned). It was a great script. It was called Fly By and it was more about Clark Kent when he was younger. He was like a college student trying to figure what it is to have all these powers and how to try to be a normal person and Superman at the same time.  It was all so surreal to be going from a total cattle call to that.”

You can check out the full conversation with Bomer below.

Do you remember Matt’s time as Ben Reade on Guiding Light? How do you think he did when in 1 minute he told the life and times of Ben? Let us know via the comment section below.

Ted Turner, the billionaire businessman, who turned a struggling Atlanta news station into a media empire with first 24-hour news channel, CNN, died on Wednesday, May 6 at the age of 87.  Turner died reportedly ‘surrounded by his family.”

However, Turner’s impact is felt far and wide with how he revolutionized cable television as we know. One such way is how Turner believed in professional wrestling, when other network executives didn’t. Turner, who helped launch TNT and TBS, and purchased World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in the late 1980s and gave it a primetime slot.

Through his leadership, the landscape of pro wrestling was changed forever, leading to the infamous Monday Night Wars” between the WWE and WCW with their flagship shows, Monday Night Nitro vs. Monday Night Raw. Since 2019, wrestling has been back on TNT and TBS in a big way with AEW’s Dynamite and AEW Collision.

Photo: WCW

TED TURNER BELIEVED IN PRO WRESTLING

Last night, All Elite Wrestling opened its broadcast with a tribute to Turner, which led to the 10-bell salute, which is given to someone from the world of professional wrestling had passed on.

AEW commentator Tony Schiavone said at the top of the special three-hour Dynamite and Collision episode. “Ted Turner believed in pro wrestling. He believed in you, the fans, and he believed that pro wrestling belonged on national television.” Schiavone who was also a commentator for WCW noted that it was because of Turner’s vision that pro wrestling found a home on TBS and later in the 90s with TNT, sharing, “Generations of fans around the world knew that we were destination viewing.”

Schavione recalled, “I knew that firsthand. I began in the studio in TBS in 1985. Decades later, because of the foundation that was laid by Ted Turner, we still survive today through the leadership of Tony Khan in AEW, through the leadership of Warner Discovery, wrestling still survives.”

STING RECALLS TED TURNER STANDING UP TO EXECS

Suddenly, in a special appearance, pro wrestling and WCW legend, Sting, came to the ring and addressed the crowd in Charleston, South Carolina and at home. “Can you imagine having an all-in billionaire who absolutely loved pro wrestling? I can’t believe what (Turner) did for us. He was completely committed to us, devoted to us in every conceivable way.”

Sting went on to tell the story of how Turner stood up to the executives at CNN Towers.  ‘We don’t know about this whole pro wrestling thing. I think it’s time to cut them off because we’re always in the red, Ted would share. “I’d look at all of them and say, you wrestlers just keep on doing what you’re doing because I got some deep pockets.’”

“There wouldn’t be a TNT title, there wouldn’t be a Sting. There wouldn’t be a Darby Allin. There wouldn’t be a Tony Schiavone here tonight. You wouldn’t be here tonight. So, thank you, once again, Ted,” Sting said as he concluded his comments. Moments later came the emotional ten-bell salute (you can watch it below)

Earlier on Wednesday, AEW president Tony Khan shared his own tribute on X, expressing, “It’s a very sad day in the world of television and certainly in the world of professional wrestling. The man who gave us this platform, the man who created TBS and TNT and so many great television channels and so many great concepts in the field of television, the late great Mr. Ted Turner has passed.”

So, what are your thoughts on the passing of Ted Turner? How without the billionaire’s love of pro wrestling, WCW and now AEW would not have had the platform they have to bring fans around the world the sports entertainment shows that they love? Comment below.

https://t.co/WiOeIp6esY

— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) May 6, 2026

The Young and the Restless has made some key changes behind the scenes with the news on Wednesday, May 6 that Josh Griffith, who has served as the series executive producer and head writer concurrently, has decided to relinquish the production duties of his tenure, and concentrate on just crafting the tales for the citizens of Genoa City.

Sally MacDonald, the longtime Daytime Emmy-winning director of Y&R who was serving as the soap’s co-executive producer, will now be upped to the solo EP of the top-rated daytime drama series.

As first reported by Soap Central, Griffith will continue as Y&R’s head writer in the restructuring, in the position he has held since 2019 with the departure of former EP and head writer, Mal Young.  Soap Opera Digest also confirmed Griffith was stepping down as the soap’s executive producer.

Photo: JPI

In fact, it was back in August 2018, that the veteran Griffith returned to Y&R as supervising producer. Once, Mal Young departed the show, Griffith became the show’s head writer and co-executive producer with another longtime Y&R behind the scenes veteran in Tony Morina. Later in 2023, when Morina exited the soap, Josh became the sole executive producer.

Throughout his soap opera career, Griffith has written for Santa Barbara, One Life to Live, As the World Turns, General Hospital and Days of our Lives and co-created the defunct Sunset Beach.

MacDonald has been a CBS daytime vet since back in 1983 and joined The Young and the Restless in 1989 as a production supervisor, working her way up to director. The directing team at Y&R that has included MacDonald has won 8 Daytime Emmys along the way and picked up a Directors Guild of America Award.

So, what do you think of Josh Griffith stepping down as executive producer at The Young and the Restless, while keeping his position as head writer? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.