It's not very often that longtime soap opera star Thorsten Kaye (Ridge Forrester, The Bold and the Beautiful; ex-Zach Slater, All My Children; ex-Patrick Thornhart, One Life to Live) gives interviews, so when he does, the industry starts buzzing. Particularly when he gives one in which he reveals that he plans to take a break from his show, as he recently did in an intriguing international interview with the Belgian outlet HLN.
The actor, who took over the role of Ridge from original portrayer Ronn Moss in 2013 and has since been flying back and forth from his home on the East coast to B&B's studios in Los Angeles, shares that family time is super important to him. Thus, he has promised his wife, actress Susan Haskell (ex-Marty Saybrooke, OLTL), and their two daughters, McKenna, 17, and Marlowe, 14, that they'll be taking a "small world trip together" as soon as they are able.
"I have already agreed with my boss [B&B executive producer Brad Bell] that next year or the year after that he should write me out of the story for a few months," Kaye shares (via a translated version of the original article, below), adding that he and his family are "really looking forward" to the vacation that will likely include a stop in the actor's birthplace of Frankfurt, Germany.
Kaye's interview also touches on the subject of replacing Moss at B&B, which he says initially made him nervous, especially because he signed his contract with the CBS soap not knowing that he was set to play Ridge!
"I must say that I broke into a sweat when I heard the role I had signed for," the actor shares, adding that he has Haskell to thank for calming his nerves. "My wife pointed out to me... When Sean Connery gave up as James Bond, everyone thought that secret agent 007 was over. Then came Roger Moore, and other actors after him. And James Bond still attracts many people to the cinema."
Speaking of attracting fans, Kaye also confesses in the interview that he is still, to this day, confused about the fate of All My Children, where he played the frontburner role of Zach Slater from 2004 to 2011 and again for the show's brief online run in 2013.
"The series was cancelled in 2011; I still don't understand why," he shares. "We still had a lot of fans. The stories were still captivating. But well, every actor and actress is bound by such incomprehensible decisions."
Fortunately B&B came calling when it did, and even though his role at the soap keeps him away from his family more than he'd like, he's thankful that the opportunity has given him a way to support said family -- who, by the way, will not be moving to Los Angeles as long as he has a say in it.
"I don't see Hollywood as an ideal place for my two daughters to grow up. I think it's pretty blasé here [and] the temptations here are too great for teenagers, in my opinion," Kaye explains. "In Hollywood, it is not so important what you can do or how you are, but the outfit or designer clothes you parade in the street with. That is not the real world."
To see Kaye's HLN interview in its original Dutch format, click here. Or, to read an English translation done by a Thorsten Kaye superfan, click here.
How do you feel about the possibility of Thorsten Kaye taking a break from B&B? What are your thoughts on the actor's views of Hollywood and the unfortunate ending of his former soap, AMC? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
