On his experience on Clyde Cooper, Vilasuso said, “It was a lot of fun. We didn’t take ourselves too seriously. Peter had a vision, and I met with him, and I loved what they were doing. Peter is a really interesting director, and I give him a lot of credit. We had a really good time shooting it.”
“Playing Clyde Cooper was a little bit of a character study for me,” he said. “I had to flex a different acting muscle, and Peter was very particular.”
Presently, Vilasuso stars as Rey Rosales on the hit CBS daytime drama, The Young and The Restless. “That has been fantastic,” he admitted. “It has been such a treat to work on such a landmark show on television with an incredible group of talented and creative people. It has been such a blessing and a joy to go to work. It truly has.”
When asked how Vilasuso handles being so dialogue-heavy (with 40 to 80 pages of script a night), he responded, “As soon as I get the script, I start reading the lines immediately. It’s all about diligence. As I get closer, I read the lines even more, redundantly, and I bother people to run lines with me. Whether it is my wife or people on set. Whoever is willing and able to.”
Throughout his acting career, Vilasuso has been nominated for two Daytime Emmy Awards, where he won in 2002 for “Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series” for his work on Guiding Light. “As a young 21-year-old, I wanted to enjoy that moment,” he recalled. “Those were some excellent years.”
Speaking of Guiding Light, Vilasuso had nothing but the kindest words about fellow former cast-mate Frank Dicopoulos. “I just saw Frank about a month and a half ago. I hadn’t seen Frank in 15 years. He’s fantastic,” he said. “What a solid human being Frank is. I have a lot of love for Frank.”
For aspiring actors, he encouraged them to “create,” “be artistic,” and “to work.” “Look for directors that really speak to you and develop a relationship with them,” Vilasuso said. “You have to be a person that people can rely on. Study who you really respond to and what actors really speak to you.”
Digital transformation of the entertainment business
On the impact of technology on the entertainment industry, Vilasuso said, “Technology is necessary and so is innovation. I am watching series on my phone because I don’t have time. I have two children and I have to find time to actually watch things and to stay stimulated by good television as well. I think the CBS app is great and very user-friendly. There is so much content out there.”
Regarding his use of technology as an actor, Vilasuso said, “If there is something that I don’t understand in the writing, I would just Google it. For an actor, it is important to really understand what they are saying. It is all about the preparation and the execution.”
Vilasuso continued, “I would use YouTube a lot too, in terms of character studies and behaviors. We are now in the age of video and audio, and writing might take a back seat to how people understand things.”
He defined the word success as “Having the desire to innovate and grow as an artist, parent and as a husband.” “Success is meeting your goals and also looking for ways to improve,” he explained.
For his fans, Vilasuso said, “Thanks for sticking it out with me. I am grateful to where I am in my career, and a lot of it is because of the fans.”
To learn more about Emmy award-winning actor Jordi Vilasuso, follow him on Twitter, and on Instagram.
