The Young and the Restless’ Peter Bergman (Jack) recently received his astounding 24th Daytime Emmy Nomination. It’s no wonder why Bergman remains the actor that so many look up to, and are so honored to be in the company he keeps come Emmy time.

This year, Peter will be looking to win his fourth Lead Actor Daytime Emmy and first in over twenty years. While Bergman faces tough competition, you can never count the incomparable star out when the 50th annual Daytime Emmys air live from Los Angeles on Friday Night, June 16th on CBS (9pm ET, replay at 9 PM PDT) and streaming on Paramount+.

Peter’s journey to the role of Genoa City’s Jack has been well-documented. Once fired from his first soap role as Dr. Cliff Warner on All My Children (a role he played from 1979 to 1989) he eventually made his way to Y&R in the late fall of ’89. Peter would take over the role of Smilin’ Jack and Victor Newman’s (Eric Braeden) nemesis, previously played by Terry Lester.  Since that time, Bergman has more than made the role his own.

Michael Fairman TV caught up with popular star to get his reaction to yet another well-deserved nomination, his thoughts on the actors in his category, and the emotional ride the Daytime Emmys have been for him through the years, and more.

Photo: CBS

This is your 24th Daytime Emmy nomination. Does it ever get old hat for you?

PETER: No, it never gets old. Here’s how I translate all of them. When it came down to it, my peers, the people in the industry I work in said, “yeah, he’s one of the best ones.”  That’s all it means, and it means all of that.

What scenes did you wind up submitting this year and why did you choose them?

PETER: I submitted scenes that I had with Diane (Susan Walters) in Los Angeles as Jack is finding out her plan. On all these submission tapes, I only put people in who are really good and Susan Walters has proven to be just fantastic. The rest of my tape is with Phyllis (Michelle Stafford), when Jack goes to work to polish some things off, and Phyllis starts getting in his face one too many times and Jack blows up.

Courtesy/CBS

What did you like about your performances in those scenes?

PETER:  What I liked about the scenes with Diane was in all of that anger, we could see Jack’s pain and everything that he went through with this. He’s trying desperately to put this together. Jack’s thinking, “How do I let Kyle (Michael Mealor) know about any of this? How do I know?” It’s all there and there’s a complexity to it. It’s not just Jack yelling at somebody. It’s Jack just torn apart by even seeing this person alive, and dealing with her presence there as they talk about what she’s really after. Again, Susan Walters is quite good in it, so that makes me look good.  It’s the same thing with Michelle Stafford (Phyllis). In the scene, Phyllis comes to Jack’s office and Jack is a little short with her, and she starts going at him, and it’s just the wrong thing to do. She crossed the line.  She went too far.  He runs Jabot for God’s sake! He is Jabot and he lets her have it. But Phyllis being Phyllis, she doesn’t just take what he serves out and it’s quite the battle royale.

Photo: CBS

Do you believe, in all of your years of being nominated, that submitting a shorter reel is a better strategy?

PETER: I believe in a shortish reel is better. I have a lot of rules, one of which I broke this year, but the long ones, no. You want to give them a good taste of who you are and step away. This year mine is shortish … about 10 minutes long.

Photo: CBS

What’s the rule you broke this year?

PETER: Break their hearts. I decided not to break their hearts. We see Jack break a bit when talking about everything that Kyle went through, but essentially this is strength and command in this tape. I’ve always, always endeavored to break the viewer’s heart, assuming they don’t know the show at all. My thought is usually, “How do we grab them and break their hearts?” I didn’t do that this year.

Photos: ABC, CBS, NBC

You’re in category with Maurice Benard (Sonny, GH), Jason Thompson (Billy, Y&R), Thorsten Kaye (Ridge, B&B) and Billy Flynn (Chad, DAYS. I know you’re always the guy who watches everyone’s work during the year.  So, how does the competition stack up to you?

PETER: It’s a fantastic lineup. Put my name in with those guys, anytime. Maurice Benard has proven himself and he’s had a pretty powerful storyline this year dealing with Sonny’s depression and bipolar disorder with mood swings and finally facing things later in his life. Thorsten Kaye is such a wonderful force on The Bold and the Beautiful. There’s a great human quality to his work that I just love. It’s fantastic. Billy Flynn has just this wonderful, passionate energy to his work. He is so committed every single time he’s on the screen. And when you break Billy Flynn’s heart, boy, you can see it. It’s pretty powerful stuff. And Jason Thompson is just one of my favorite actors, ever.  I love his work. I love him, I love everything he does. He’s had very powerful material involving suicide to play along with Melissa Claire Egan (Chelsea, Y&R). I don’t know what each of these actors submitted, but I’m guessing the things I’ve mentioned are in there.

Photo: CBS

You would make an amazing play-by-play commentator at the Emmys, because you know the ‘who’s who’ and ‘what’s what’ and could give us the full analysis!

PETER: I certainly know these guys. These guys I watch!

When we have chatted over the years, I recall you telling me you check out the performances on other shows to see what your colleagues are up to.

PETER: It’s mostly at work that I do that; during my lunch hour, during the break, during something.  The Bold and the Beautiful airs right after us, so I’ll see little bits of that. I end up catching up on all the shows. I kind of consider it my business. It’s an industry I’m in.  The way the Emmys have set this up, and made it so complicated for everyone, they assume no one in daytime television watches daytime television, and I’m not going to be one those people.

Photo: NATAS

Now, you won your three Daytime Emmys in 1991, 1992 and then 2003.  It’s been 20 years since you’ve won.

PETER: Yes, it been over 20 years. 20 years, and all those losses.

I think you’re due for one!

PETER:  Yeah! I mean I think I’ve been due for one. (Laughs) It doesn’t quite work that way. I’ve voted on these things for a lot of years and sometimes there’s two guys that do one thing and another guy who does something completely different, and the other two kind of cancel each other out, and I go with a guy who’s doing something original.

Do you like going into Emmy night having a speech prepared, or just winging it if you win?

PETER: No. I have some idea of who I want to thank. I consider it bad luck to write anything down. When I watch award shows and see actors who make their living telling stories, and they have to read something, it’s amazing to me.

Photo: CBS

I remember when we taped your interview for the Daytime Emmy tribute to Agnes Nixon. Didn’t you say that when you had won when your first Emmy for The Young and the Restless, that the All My Children cast and crew were jumping and leaping up out of their seats for you in the audience?

PETER:  Yes, it was my very first one. I had been away from All My Children for about a year and a half when that happened. People hated the way my job ended at All My Children. It was a wonderfully rewarding response to look out in the audience and directly in front of me see not only ‘Young and the Restless’ people, but also All My Children people, just on their feet cheering for me. It was a wonderful feeling.

This is the 50th anniversary season of Y&R. Did you think you would have this longevity as Jack for as long as you’ve had?

PETER: Oh, no. I thought I could make this job last for six months, and in that six months I could relocate my family. Los Angeles seemed to be the next part of my career life. I figured they’d fire me after about six months. Replacements never really worked at All My Children, or should I say, so few worked. So, I assumed replacing somebody is just impossible, and I’ll do my best, and maybe I could make this last six months and we’ll get relocated.

I had talked with some of your co-stars that are nominated with you this year from Y&R and they all still to this day mention the professionalism of Peter Bergman … how you know your lines all of the time, and how you set the standard for everybody else. Do you do that? Is that what you try to do … be that guy that is the example for the rest of the cast?

PETER:  No, no. I honestly feel that that they pay me to do that, but that it turns out to be a good example for others, makes me feel great. I love that feeling, but I don’t start out to set an example. I start out to do what they pay me to do and hope that it’s enough.

Photo: ABC

Have you always known your lines verbatim, down pat, when you get to the studio each day?

PETER: I don’t know that I’d ever told anyone this story, but I’ll tell you the longer version of this story. I was on All My Children for 10 years. I was pretty disciplined there. However, when my job ended, suddenly out of nowhere, I found myself wondering, second guessing myself, “Could I have done more? Could I have been more prepared? Could I have come to set more? Could I have been more diligent?” I don’t have a moment of question in my head about The Young and the Restless, not a moment’s question of, “Could I have done more? Should I have been more prepared?” I come in prepared so that I never have that feeling again, that I had when All My Children came to end for me. It was an awful feeling. So, it’s nice that it sets an example, but I’m running from my own demons.

When I talk to the other gentleman in the Lead Actor in a Drama Series category, this is such a special thing for them to be in the category alongside Peter Bergman.  How does that make you feel to know that they think of you in such high regard as an actor?

PETER: Oh, that feels wonderful.

Photo: JasonThompsonIG

I know, Jason Thompson thinks the world of you, and plays your brother on Y&R. Is it odd to be up against him in the same category?

PETER:  Not at all. I think he’s very deserving and there’s no one I’d rather lose to. He’s a wonderful actor, and I love that world recognized him. I think its high-time the show really recognized him. I just think he’s the future of the Abbott family.

Will you be rooting for Peter to take home the gold for the first time in 20 years for his work as Y&R’s Jack Abbott? What did you think of the stories he shared when he was let go from All My Children as Dr. Cliff Warner, and Peter’s analysis of this year’s Lead Actor category at the upcoming 50th annual Daytime Emmy Awards? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.