Actor Tanner Novlan chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about “The Bold and The Beautiful” about his character Dr. John “Finn” Finnegan, his wedding to Steffy (played by Jacqueline MacInnes Wood), and his o-screen parents.
Tanner as Finn
Finn’s backstory recently revealed that he is the biological son of Sheila Carter (played by Kimberlin Brown).
“I love playing the character Finn, and I love that we don’t know a lot about him, and we get to watch this unfold,” he said. “It is such a great and wonderful opportunity that reaches so many people. I am always excited to see what extra layers and depth Finn gets from the writers every time I get a new script.”
“We have some juicy scenes coming up now that we are finding out a little bit more about his backstory, and what exactly makes him tick,” he foreshadowed. “It has been really fun.”
On-screen parents
He had nice words about working with actors Ted King and Naomi Matsuda. “It was great to work with them, they came in and we had a natural connection,” he said. “What is great about ‘The Bold and The Beautiful’ is that it always casts such lovely, great people, into our family, and they are no exception to that, and that made it really easy.”
“It has been interesting to also work with Kimberlin Brown,” he said, who plays Sheila Carter, his biological mother. “Kimberlin plays an iconic character so it has been a privilege watching her tap into that manipulative and villainous character. She has a quality to her that I kind of get where she was coming from, so it has been really cool and an honor to work with her.”
On Finn and Steffy’s wedding, he remarked, “The wedding was so fun to shoot. It was really fun to shoot those big wedding scenes and to have John McCook, Thorsten Kaye, and Katherine Kelly Lang there, all in one scene. We had a lot of laughter off-camera.”
Jacqueline MacInnes Wood
Earlier this month, two-time Emmy award-winning actress Jacqueline MacInnes Wood praised her acting partner Tanner Novlan, who plays her love interest. “I adore Tanner. He is a fellow Canadian and we work really well together,” she told Digital Journal about Novlan.
“Jacquline is the best, she is my north star with all this,” he said, reciprocating the complimentary remarks. “It’s an absolute privilege to work with Jacqui every day. She’s a powerhouse and I am just taking her lead.”
Digital age
On being an actor in the digital age, he said, “I think it’s a great thing. Anytime more projects get the green light and more stories are told. I’m a moviegoer, I will always go to the movies and I love character-driven comedies and dramas. Streaming gets a little bit in the way of that, but for the most part, I’m all for more projects being made and more stories being told.”
‘Ice: The Movie’
Tanner shared that he enjoyed being a part of “Ice: The Movie,” where he played Grant opposite Mike Manning (who played Jake Alden). “I worked with Mike two years ago on that film. He’s the best, we have kept in contact,” he said.
On the greatest lesson that acting has ever taught him, he said, “To have faith in myself.”
Regarding the title of the current chapter of his life, he responded, “Go, go.” “I’m in ‘go mode’ right now,” he said. “I’m definitely in a busy part of my life having a new daughter, Poppy, and building a family and doing the show.”
He acknowledged that a commonality that he sees among champions is “dedication.” “The work ethic and dedication. 100 percent,” he said.
Novlan defined the word success as “family.” “I am very family-focused and family-driven right now,” he said.
For his dedicated daytime fans, he said, “Thank you and keep tuning in. There is a lot more to come. I am really excited.”
To learn more about actor Tanner Novlan, follow him on Instagram and on Twitter.
For more information on “The Bold and The Beautiful,” or to stream the show online, check out the CBS official website.
