‘The Bold and Beautiful (B&B)’ star Scott Clifton (Liam Spencer) celebrated his 11 year anniversary on the soap on Monday, July 19 and opened up about what a ride that 11 years has been. From humble beginnings: “I think I only had to shoot one scene,” to leading man, Clifton loved how his initial introduction to audiences was super lowkey.
“I had fewer lines than an under-five. I was just a tech guy in the background, so there was nothing that implied in any way I was someone you should think twice about.”
‘The Bold and the Beautiful’: Scott Clifton (Liam Spencer) Celebrates 11 Years on the Soap by Describing his First Weeks, Who He Wishes he Would Work With and…the One That Got Away.
Unfortunately, Clifton wasn’t as ‘under the radar’ as he assumed. A veteran of both General Hospital and One Life to Live, soap fans couldn’t be hoodwinked into thinking Clifton would be hired into such a small role.
Of course, they were right, and it only took his character to be slapped by the late great Susan Flannery (Stephanie Forrester) in his first week to know Liam had officially arrived.
“Before we taped the scene, I told Susan that she could feel free to slap me for real,” Clifton recalled. “She really let me have it, so much so that I just sort of stood there. I knew I was ruining the scene, because I froze… and then bless her heart, she slapped me again, and that brought me right back into the moment!”
A Stephanie slap aside, Clifton still didn’t realize how big a player Liam would be- and yes, we mean that in every way possible.
He described meeting with executive producer and head writer Brad Bell and learning he would be the son of Bill Spencer (Don Diamont). However, the perpetual love triangle between Liam, Steffy Forrester (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and Hope Logan (Annika Noelle) was not discussed…at first.
Eventually–as in a year later–Bell did describe to Clifton his intention that Liam would be the new Ridge Forrester (Thorsten Kaye) in the next gen Ridge/Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang)/Taylor Hayes (Hunter Tylo) sandwich. Still, Clifton sees the ping pong game as “sort of a fun gimmick. It’s something that has kept my character busy, but the real love story for Liam has been the relationship with his father.”
It was that relationship that was explored and tested in the most recent storylines. Now that Liam is out of jail and committed to Hope (we hope), Clifton chats about some of his characters past relationships on the sudsfest (that weren’t Hope of Steffy).
One of the most memorable storylines was Liam, believing he was Adam “married” to Eve, really Quinn Fuller (Rena Sofer). While it was typical soap ‘suspension of belief’ storyline, to Clifton it was one of his favorites, namely because he was working with Sofer, and only Sofer, for months.
“Rena and I are the exact opposite type of actor,” he explained. “She’s very disciplined and structured, memorizes her lines a week in advance. I’m pure chaos compared to her. Yet somehow, we clicked. My scenes with her were some of the most gratifying that I’ve ever done.”
Yet Quinn was not the “one who got away”. That distinction doesn’t even belong to Steffy. No, not Ambre Moore (Adrienne Franz) or Sally Spectra (Courtney Hope) either, but…
“Ivy Forrester (Ashleigh Brewer)was the one who got away,” Clifton divulged. “Ivy was awesome! I mean, first of all, she was so hot, like Elizabeth Taylor reincarnated. And you know how people say someone is lovely inside and out? That’s Ashleigh. She’s nice and kind-hearted and thoughtful and interesting. I had a complete blast working with her!”
There are a couple of other cast members Clifton wished he could work with more on set, namely the OGs Lang and John McCook (Eric Forrester), as well as ‘Ridge 2.0’, Kaye.
“Thorsten Kaye is the sort of actor I aspire to be,” Clifton gushed while adding that though he gets to share scenes with Lang, “it’s usually just Liam and Brooke talking about Hope. We’ve never gotten to do anything meatier.”
We are sure Bell will fix that in the future when he needs Brooke to return to her philandering ways…and turn to Liam. It wouldn’t be the only thing Liam would have ever done to hurt Hope (and Brooke has done the same to a different daughter…how do we think Hope got there in the first place?) In fact, boneheaded like that moves seem to be Liam’s M.O.- often infuriating audiences.
How does Clifton feel about some of his alter-ego’s dumber than dumb moves? “He ticks me off sometimes,” Clifton confesses. “But here’s the thing: I’m kind of a hired gun. My philosophy is that my job is to make it work, no matter what the storyline is. So, if you have Liam go to a club the night before his wedding and show up the next day with blue hair and fake tattoos doing a whole Romeo & Juliet scene in his underwear, I’m going to find a way to make it work.”
Oddly specific, but we get his point, he’s paid to do as the writers and directors say -so stop dogging on him!
What Clifton does love hearing from fans is how much the enjoy the relationship between Liam, Bill and Bill’s other secret son, Wyatt Spencer (Darin Brooks). Clifton believes the family dynamic is “the most natural thing on the show, and we all love our scenes together.”
As reel life sometimes blurs with real life, Clifton and Brooks have gotten and stayed close thanks to numerous shared life experiences over the years they’ve worked together. “We both got married, we’re both dads. These are experiences which change you, so it’s good to have someone you can talk to who is going through them, too.”
So, 11 year down and (hopefully) many more to go, what does Clifton see for Liam in the near future? For one, he thinks (fingers crossed) that the ‘waffle king’ has finally made the decision to be with Hope.
“Steffy has Finn, and she’s moved on and even the last few times that Liam and Steffy have wound up sleeping together, it’s been written as if it was a mistake, not a sign that they were heading for a reunion,” he clarified. “So at least for now, it seems as if Hope has won. Or lost, depending on how you feel about Liam!”
Well, that’s to each their own! You decide as you watch The Bold and the Beautiful, weekdays on CBS!
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