‘The Young and the Restless’ (Y&R) spoilers reveal that Michael Graziadei, who plays Danny Romlotti Jr., was excited about his character taking guitar lessons from his crush, Tessa Porter (Cat Fairbanks).
‘The Young and the Restless’ Spoilers: Josh Griffith Suggested a Musical Storyline for Daniel and Tessa
He recently dished to Soap Opera Digest about Tessa teaching Daniel the guitar and how the fans are really digging Daniel and Tessa’s arc.
Executive Producer and head writer, Josh Griffith, had the idea for Graziadei to use his real-life musical talents to enhance his storyline.
During Graziadei’s first run on Y&R, which lasted from 2004 to 2013, Daniel showed no interest in music. However, when Graziadei returned to the soap in 2022, Griffith brought up the idea.
The actor was reluctant at first, as music was something special just for him. Griffith dropped it until the storyline of his budding romantic feelings for Tessa came up.
Of course, fans know that Daniel and Tessa started to grow close when Daniel’s love interest, Heather Stevens (Vail Bloom), was murdered.
Griffith decided to incorporate the idea that music is a source of healing for Daniel after Heather’s death.
In the process, Daniel fell head over heels for Tessa. However, there is the added complication that Tessa is already married to Mariah Copeland (Camryn Grimes).
Cait Porter is a gifted musician. It was the perfect opportunity for Graziadei and Porter to showcase their considerable talents.
Graziadei was floored by the idea of his character learning the guitar. It was an interesting tie-in with both the characters and actors.
The best part? It was a challenge for Graziadei to make it look like he sucked at playing the guitar. The actor beamed,
“So, I was into it. And since Daniel was a novice at the instrument, he adds, “It felt like I had no pressure.”
‘The Young and the Restless’ Spoilers: Graziadei Admitted He Had to Play it Off Like He Had No Idea How to Learn the Guitar
Ultimately, the actor is happy that their characters were able to connect through music. It’s a beautiful start to what looks like a potentially beautiful love story.
Graziadei admitted,
“It’s something I’ve always kept for me, kept to myself, and now I’m getting to share it a little bit with people, and everybody’s interested.”
He discovered that the fans were thrilled that Daniel was learning to play the guitar on the show, and especially excited about Daniel and Tessa.
At a luncheon, Graziadei said that the fans were coming up to him, asking him whether he really played the guitar.
Graziadei laughed and commented, “Daniel seemed to progress fairly quickly.” However, when Daniel first picked up the guitar, Graziadei had to pretend like he had no idea what he was doing.
The actor explained why it was challenging to put on a show as if he were clueless about how to play the guitar:
“Because you’ve trained yourself, and there’s just muscle memory, and everything that goes into it for all these years, and you just know how to do it.”
Graziadei added,
“That’s why I thought it was kind of fun, because I had to trick myself into figuring out how to mess up chords and have improper fingering technique on the fret board, and whatever it is, even if it’s knocking the guitar out of tune so it sounds bad.”
Viewers were in for a major treat during Christine Blair’s (Lauralee Bell) and Danny Romalotti’s (Michel Damian) wedding when Daniel and Tessa performed a song they wrote about the bride and groom.
It was a gorgeous song. Both guitar playing and singing were poignant and had significant meaning for their special day. The song is called “After All This Time.” It was very moving and well worth the wait.
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