Courtesy/CBS

Fresh faces, exciting new roles, hunky men … will these dudes raise the heat through a cold winter in Genoa City?  Well, that is what the number one soap, The Young and the Restless and CBS Daytime are hoping to do when they announced the casting of several news roles!

Redaric Williams joins the cast of Y&R on Friday as Tyler Michaelson, Leslie’s brother.  Lamon Archey debuted this week as Mason, and relative soap newcomer, Marco Dapper, has returned to Y&R as Carmine Basco for a new story.  Add to this mix, newly arrived soap favorite Ignacio Serricchio as Alex last week, and it looks like Christmas came early for female fans of this daytime drama.

On-Air On-Soaps had the opportunity to sit down with: Redaric Williams, Lamon Archey, Marco Dapper, and CBS Daytime SVP. Angelica McDaniel, after the guy’s appearance on The Talk to get a preview and an introduction to their new characters. We also attempt to get a sneak peek of what is to come, and learn how they are going to put the “Y” back in “Young” and certainly the “R” back in “Restless”!  Here’s our roundtable discussion below!

Redaric, what did you think of the group of actors and characters that you are going to be involved with in story? And, what can you tell us about Tyler Michaelson?

Photo Credit: Kathy Hutchins

REDARIC:  Angell Conwell (Leslie) is amazing! That is an extremely talented woman. I have been so impressed working with her. And, Kristoff St. John (Neil) is on point as well. He is the guy who took me around and told me, “Don’t do this … don’t do that … and here is this.”  He has a balance of authenticity and professionalism about him. I found him open and very receptive.  My character, Tyler, is a graphic designer, but he is not your schooled cookie-cutter graphic designer.  He came from the wrong side of the tracks from a humble upbringing and so he was into spraying confetti as art.  He is an artsy and urban art guy.

Marco, when we last talked, you suspected you would be shown the front door when new Y&R executive producer Jill Farren Phelps, and head writer Josh Griffith, took over the GC canvas! But, look! You are still among us! (Laughs)

MARCO:  I am surprised guys!  I was at Marcy Rylan’s (Abby) original farewell! Then I got an email that I am back on the show.  I thought I would be guilty by association, but no.  I am pleased to be back and that they kept me around.  Now this new story I have is interesting and fun.

Angelica, you had a major hand in casting, Redaric, Lamon, and Ignacio Serrichhio (Alex) and keeping Marco around!  What can you tell us about why you felt these were the right actors for their respective new roles? And what you were looking for when these roles were created?

Photo Credit: Cliff Lipson/CBS

ANGELICA:  Marco was on the show already when I took over my position at CBS Daytime, and we talked about bringing back him. And the thing is, we really have a great story for him, and so it wasn’t a matter of that he was ever gone, it was just a matter for us to figure what we could do to the character.  Obviously, viewers enjoy watching him, so it’s good to have him back.  And as far as Ignacio Serricchio, one thing I will say is being a Latin woman myself; I really wanted to see some Latin characters brought to the canvas. We just saw this great opportunity to bring that element in.  Everything will start firing on all cylinders soon.   Some things will take a bit longer to play out on air for the audience to understand why certain decisions were made.  But with Ignacio, he had worked in soaps before. Daytime fans know him from his work on General Hospital, and he has worked before with new Y&R executive producer, Jill Farren Phelps. With Redaric and Lamon, we were really looking for that void that has never quite been filled with the departure of Shemar Moore as Malcom.  When Shemar left the show, there was that opening that was never properly been filled. We really were looking for a very specific man to fill those big shoes   …  and we found two of them! So we had an extensive audition process. We went through seeing a lot of gentlemen and very talented guys. When we saw both Redaric and Lamon, we thought right away that we needed to have these two guys on Y&R, and we are so happy to have them.  So yes, we were looking to fill one role and this may be the first time that they may be hearing this! (Laughs)

Will Tyler be giving Cane (Daniel Goddard) a run for his money with Lily (Christel Khalil) in the romance department?

ANGELICA:  Well, you will just have to tune-in and find out.  With Redaric, he plays the character of Tyler, and there are a lot of layers that will be explored and his background. He is an artist who is young, hip, who gets social media and marketing, and how to reach out to make people understand the brand and compel them to get on board with things that are happening with Newman or Jabot.

Photo Credit: duffimages.com

So right now, we are all left wondering who of the group here is going to turn out to be a Genoa City bad boy?  And on that note, would you much prefer to play bad than playing a good guy on a soap?

LAMON:  I would welcome the bad side for sure.  I like playing bad characters, and as you said it’s more fun and you get to play more.

MARCO:  Bad is always more fun to be as an actor.

REDARIC:  You would think initially looking at Tyler he is a bad guy, because he comes in like a bull in a china shop. But I think deep down he is a good guy and he has good intentions.  However, girls like the bad boys! (Laughs)

Lamon, you have an extremely interesting background in that your other job (other than modeling and acting) is that you work with animals as a tech in an animal hospital!  How did that begin for you? You must be a serious dog lover! And everyone knows, man’s best friend is his four-legged friend!

LAMON:   I was up in the bay area and close to ten years ago I was looking for a job. I have always, always loved dogs. I called over to animal hospital and they said they were hiring and could I come over?  So, I became the “poop guy”.  I was in there cleaning up poop in cages.  But I was lucky enough to find really cool doctors who taught me the ropes.  I eventually became qualified to be with doctors in surgery, assisting them and doing lab work and drawing blood, and giving vaccines.

So Lamon, what is your favorite kind of dog?

Photo Credit: Brian Kaminski

LAMON:  My favorite kind of dog would be my dog, a bull terrier named “Jolie”, after Angelina Jolie! (Laughs)  I have now actually been working on-call since I have been modeling and working in television, and so they were nice enough to say, “Whenever you are available, we will give you a call,” and it’s been working out great.  I have not quit and hopefully they won’t fire me!

Angelica, what can you reveal to us about who Mason is?

ANGELICA: With Mason, you will definitely see him crossing paths with Victor and Jack and we are going to take you on a journey. You are not going to find out everything on the surface with Mason.

Lamon, we know in your first scenes you got to work with Daytime Emmy winner and powerhouse actress Michelle Stafford (Phyllis, Y&R). What was that like? Was it a bit intimating for you?

LAMON:  She was awesome and my first scene was with her.  I was super nervous. Michelle had a lot of dialog in our first scene together and so she was nervous as well.  And, I won’t lie …  her being nervous was like for me, “Yes, someone else is nervous besides me!”  So in a way, that helped me out a lot to make me feel more comfortable.

So soapers, now that you learned a bit more about Redaric, Lamon, and Marco, what actor and character are you looking forward to following the most as they cross paths with the citizens of Genoa City?   Perhaps … all the guys? Let us know!