Three-time Emmy winner Scott Clifton chatted about the show’s 35th anniversary and he revealed his favorite storyline on “The Bold and The Beautiful” over the years.
The late U.S. Army general and former Secretary of State Colin Powell once said: “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.” Scott Clifton is a true renaissance man that exemplifies this wise quotation.
Scott Clifton: Portraying Liam Spencer
Clifton is drawn to playing Liam Spencer for several reasons. “My favorite thing about playing Liam is the family that he is a part of, and belongs to,” he said. “I am so lucky that I get to do the scenes that I get to do with Darin Brooks and Don Diamont because Liam is a Spencer and that family name has a lot of mythos attached to it. If I were playing any other character, I wouldn’t get to have the great rapport that I have with Don or Darin and I wouldn’t get to play those scenes that the fans enjoy so much.”
Motivations as an actor
On his daily motivations as an actor, Clifton said, “Feeding my family, honestly. I love that I have this incredibly rare and steady job where I get to go and do something fun and work with people that I love and I get to feed my family. I get to live a totally privileged life.”
“What inspires me creatively are just movies and performances that I see in other actors. Even if I am not trying to, I notice myself having absorbed the performances that creep into your blood, and they become a part of you, and that is so great about what we do,” he said.
‘The Bold and The Beautiful’ turns 35
“The Bold and The Beautiful” just celebrated its 35th anniversary on the air on CBS. “That was cool,” he admitted. “We had a really great celebration on set. Any time we hit any of these milestones, we look back and ask ourselves ‘how has it been that long?’ Time flies, and it’s pretty cool to be a part of something so iconic. The show is becoming even more iconic as it goes on.”
“It’s a privilege to become a character that is a larger and larger percentage of the show’s total history,” he said. “There is something exciting about that, to feel like you are more and more a part of the bones of the show.”
From a global standpoint, “The Bold and The Beautiful is the most popular soap opera in the world.
B&B: A career-defining moment for Clifton
“Getting ‘The Bold and The Beautiful’ was a defining moment in my career, everything changed since then. The impact that the show has had on me has made all of the other shows I have been on pale in comparison even though those experiences are salient in my memory,” he said.
“Being on a show like this has taught me a professional maturity that I didn’t have before and I will never lose again no matter what happens. It taught me a family ethic about how to think of the people that I work with,” he elaborated.
“My memorization has improved a great magnitude since booking the job,” he added.
Favorite storylines over the years
On his personal favorite storylines, he disclosed, “My favorite storyline ever was the Adam and Eve one with Quinn and Liam, where Liam lost his memory and was in the cabin with Quinn. It was so unique and interesting, it was my favorite storyline. I also got to work with Rena Sofer, who is so different than me in regard to her acting process and how she learns her dialogue. It was just us in that one set for months and months at a time and yet it never got dull. It was always exciting for me the entire time. I just enjoyed that storyline so much.”
The digital age
On being an actor in the digital age, Clifton said, “Interestingly, it doesn’t really affect me that much at all. I own a subscription to Paramount+ and I love it and all of the shows on there. I don’t have cable anymore, I only use streaming. I think it’s good that it’s going that direction.”
Sean Kanan
Clifton had great words about working with actor Sean Kanan, who plays Deacon Sharpe on the show. “Sean is great. He is a character actor, which is very cool. You see him in all of these different things, he is a chameleon in that regard. He has always been so good to me. He gave me the best piece of advice, which, unfortunately, I didn’t take at the time,” he said.
“Sean told me to learn Italian since that would make my life so much better. Then, that year, we went to Italy and we shot shows there and then I got what he was talking about. I have loved Sean ever since, he knows what he is doing,” Clifton added.
Looking back over the last five years
Reflecting in a rearview mirror over the past five years, he remarked, “I see a huge shift from my focus from my career back to my family. In the last five years, my son was born and that changed everything.”
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Clifton said, “Balance.” “That is the lesson that I am struggling with and failing to learn,” he said.
Alternate career choices
Regarding his alternate career choices, he responded, “I don’t know how I would make a living if it weren’t for acting. If I had the chance, I would spend more of my time on philosophy, which is a great love of mine.”
If he were to have any superpower, he shared that it would be “the power to ask himself any question and know the answer to that question.” “That would be the greatest superpower ever,” he said. “Also, rewinding time would be pretty cool too.”
Success
On his definition of the word success, Clifton said, “Success is being happy without anything outside of them needing to change.”
For the dedicated soap opera fans, he expressed his sincere appreciation. “Thanks for sticking with us, it’s a long road and you guys have been there every step of the way. We hope to have many many more milestones ahead with you there. It’s the biggest compliment in the world that there are so many people that feel like they know me — it feels really good — and I want to feel like I know them too,” Clifton concluded.
To learn more about Scott Clifton, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.
For more information on the popular daytime drama “The Bold and The Beautiful” or to stream the show online, visit the official CBS website.
