Exclusive Interview: How The Bold and the Beautiful Star Delon de Metz Learned Zende’s Backstory

Delon de Metz debuts this week on The Bold and the Beautiful as Zende Forrester Dominguez. The actor has done his homework to make sure his interpretation of the character is congruous with what viewers are used to seeing.

Delon de Metz On Zende Forrester

Zende returned to The Bold and the Beautiful story canvas about five years ago, but he actually made his debut closer to 20 years ago, so there’s a bit of history to learn. How did de Metz learn his onscreen alter-ego’s backstory?

“I got some [information] from casting,” de Metz tells Soap Hub. “I got a lot from Ed Scott [supervising producer]. He gave me a very, very complete download after I started inquiring. I was kind of jumping in not knowing the series as much as the fans do. So, I did a lot of research.”

That research included going on the Internet and reading story summaries and watching scenes on YouTube. That helped de Metz “get the flavor of the character and what he’s been through.” The actor adds, in fact, that the show’s whole production team was helpful in giving him the 411 on Zende, but he didn’t want to overdo it.

“I didn’t want to obsess,” de Metz notes, “because I want to be able to put my own spin on [the character] to make sure that my own [interpretation] shows through as well.”

As The Bold and the Beautiful viewers recall, Zende was introduced when Kristen (Tracy Melchior) and Antonio (Paulo Benedeti) were honeymooning in Africa. The bride and groom had misplaced a roll of film and Zende found it and brought it back to them. A bond quickly formed and upon discovering that Zende was an orphan (his parents had died of AIDS), Kristen and Antonio adopted him.

Later, the family of three moved to Florida. Zende (then, Rome Flynn) returned to Los Angeles and fell in love with Nicole (Reign Edwards). The couple married and moved to Forrester International so that Zende could pursue his professional career.

Zende showed what a supportive husband he is when Nicole had second thoughts about giving up her baby, Lizzie, to Rick (Jacob Young) and Maya (Karla Mosley) after agreeing to be the surrogate mom. Zende was there for Nicole and supported her while she worked through this heavy emotional issue.

What’s bringing him back to town now? Don’t miss de Metz’s debut as Zende on Wednesday, October 7. The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS. Check local listings for air times.