When Soap Opera Network broke the news that Justin Hartley’s first airdate as Adam Newman would be Wednesday, November 5, it felt like the actor’s Genoa City premiere date couldn’t come fast enough. And now that the actor has finally spoken up about joining the sudser in a new interview, the anticipation is even greater! Some fans have expressed their fear that taking over the role — which was previously played by Michael Muhney — will be an uphill battle for the actor, and guess what? He’s not only aware of the challenges, but is tackling them head on!
“People are going to have their opinions, which I think is great — I welcome it and love it,” the former “Smallville” and “Revenge” actor tells The Wrap in his first interview since joining the CBS sudser. “You can tell me that you hate me, you can tell me that you love me… I’ve been very, very fortunate to have had the kind of response that I’ve gotten, because I know it could easily go the other way.”
As for whether or not his portrayal of Adam will mirror Muhney’s or if it’ll be his very own, the actor says it’s a mix. “I wouldn’t say that I’m going to try to emulate Michael at all. He did a great job with the character, there’s no question about it, and I have a lot of respect for him and his work. But I think it happened at such a rapid rate, and you’re thrown into it, and you have a choice to make. My approach was, this is how I would like to play the character, and this is what I would like to do, and this is what I’m comfortable doing and this is what I would enjoy spending the next however [many] years of my life [doing], if it happens to be that, and going in there every day enjoying playing this character. That said, let’s give credit where credit’s due,” he says.
“A lot of this stuff that I’m going to be doing and a lot of the great story that I’m sort of inheriting only came about because the people ahead of me had done a great job with the character. If he went in and stunk up the character, there’d be no reason to have the character — it wouldn’t even be there, it would be gone. I have a little bit of experience going in and playing a character — I played a character on ‘Smallville’ that had been established for decades and decades before I took it. People are going to have their opinions, which I think is great — I welcome it, and I love it. As long as people are talking about it, you know? I am having a blast doing this.”
For more from Hartley regarding his new journey as “Y&R’s” Adam, check out the rest of his interview here. And to see the 10 things Adam has missed (or maybe not missed) since he was presumed dead, check out Soap Opera Network’s feature about the character’s return to Genoa City!