It’s been quite some time since Matt Borlenghi played drug dealer Ziggy Deadmarsh on The Bold and the Beautiful. That was in 2002, in and around being in several other TV shows and films over the years. His soap journey landed him in Salem in 2008 to play Mayor Anthony Marino on Days of Our Lives, and he was a fan favorite as Brian Bodine on All My Children. Among his numerous credits are A Nightmare on Elm Street: The Dream Child (1989), Castle, and appearing as Lyle The Pawnshop Guy on Cobra Kai. Now, he’s got a fun new part in a Lifetime movie.
He Reined Things in
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam was a popular 1980s band that had several hits including I Wonder if I Take You Home, and Head to Toe. Lifetime has created a biopic about the band, called Can You Feel The Beat: The Lisa Lisa Story, which is part of their series on visionary women called Voices of a Lifetime. Soap Opera Digest caught up with Borlenghi who was given the part of record producer Barry Conner in the film. (Find out about DAYS’ current mayor, Paulina.)
Borlenghi was given free rein to change things like dialogue as he saw fit. He explained that his character is based on a real-life record producer who worked with Lisa Velez aka Lisa Lisa, explaining, “They changed the name of the guy, who died several years ago, and so out of respect for his family and memory and all that, I didn’t want to be a total piece of s–.” Meaning, that he played the character as a manipulator but reined it in out of respect for the producer’s surviving family.
READ THIS: Take a look at what’s coming up next on B&B.
The Band Had a Tough Path
“It was really cool to work with the real Lisa, and with Jearnest [Corchado], who plays Lisa in the film,” Borlenghi said, adding Lisa and her best friend Toni watched the production and had to relive many of the trials and tribulations they went through back in the day. This included the band immersed in a world of drugs, violence, personal troubles, and more, which Borlenghi remarked was, “Really powerful.”
“I am really curious to see how this film comes out and if it ends up playing as powerfully as I imagine it will,” he stated. He had shown his wife the trailer, noting that she wasn’t necessarily a fan of everything he’s done, but really wants to see this new film. In adding some redeeming qualities to his character, he hoped the family of the real life producer he portrayed would think, “‘Okay, he didn’t totally wreck Dad,’ or, ‘He didn’t totally wreck his memory.'”
Can You Feel The Beat: The Lisa Lisa Story premieres on Saturday, February 1 at 8 p.m./ET on Lifetime. (Learn about B&B’s Sean Kanan’s return to Cobra Kai.)
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