The Bold and the Beautiful star Jennifer Gareis has an acting career spanning three decades. The actress got her start as Grace on The Young and the Restless before moving to The Bold and the Beautiful as Donna. Gareis has become a famous name in the soap world, but if she’d followed her original career plans, things might’ve been different.
Key Takeaways
- Gareis began playing B&B’s Donna in 2006.
- Her first soap role was as Y&R’s Grace.
- Gareis’ initial career plans didn’t include acting.
Jennifer Gareis: Number Cruncher
Growing up, Gareis didn’t have any interest in acting. In fact, her interests were more in math, which is why she considered a different career choice.
“I almost was an accountant,” Gareis revealed during a Take Five interview on the Bold and Beautiful’s CBS Instagram. “Crunching numbers all day long.”
Gareis graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in accounting from Franklin and Marshall College. But afterward, her career took a different turn as she entered the beauty pageant and modeling circuit. Before long, the acting bug took over, and Gareis was making appearances onscreen.
One of her first acting gigs was with one of Hollywood’s gorgeous men. “I was dancing with Pierce Brosnan in The Mirror Has Two Faces.”
Gareis’ next acting job would be her breakout role as Grace on Y&R. Grace was Sharon’s (Sharon Case) best friend, who seduced Nick (Joshua Morrow) and later found her long-lost daughter, Cassie (Camryn Grimes).
Gareis’ Y&R tenure lasted from 1997 to 2000, but she reprised her role for appearances in 2002, 2004, and 2014. In 2006, her biggest soap role came when she was cast as the new Donna on B&B.
20 Years As Donna
When Gareis took over as Donna, B&B fans saw a whole new side of the character. Donna began showing signs of being a seductress and as a woman who goes after what she wants. Someone similar to her sister, Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang).
Most of Donna’s storylines throughout the years have centered on her on-again, off-again relationship with Eric (John McCook). The couple’s first marriage ended in 2010 due to his children’s disapproval and Eric’s lingering feelings for his ex-wife Stephanie (Susan Flannery).
In 2022, the pair rekindled their affair while Eric was married to Quinn (Rena Sofer). Following his divorce, Eric and Donna continued their relationship, and Donna moved into the Forrester mansion. The couple remarried in 2024 after Eric had a health crisis that made him contemplate his future.
These days, Donna finds herself caught in the fashion war between Forrester Creations and Logan. Although Donna tried to remain neutral, she eventually cut ties with her sister Katie (Heather Tom) after Will (Crew Morrow) accidentally punched Eric.
The family feud is far from over, and odds are Donna and Brooke aren’t done with Katie. Will the Logan sisters ever reunite and find peace? Or is the Logan family forever shattered?
