Rebecca Budig Dishes on Her Thrilling Reunion with Thorsten Kaye on Bold and the Beautiful

Fans weren’t expecting to see Rebecca Budig step into the role of Taylor on the August 6 episode of The Bold and the Beautiful. But she’s been doing a great job so far as the fans have warmed up to her, shedding their notions that Krista Allen would return. Budig’s been a major part of the soap world, and she recently opened up about reuniting with her erstwhile castmate Thorsten Kaye, who appeared with her on All My Children.

Taylor Leads With Her Brain

Budig was excited to get the part and knew that it would be a recast of Taylor, she told The TV Watercooler, walking into a part with a long history. In 1990, Hunter Tylo first played the character, but in 2021, Krista Allen took over before being abruptly axed in December 2023.

There’s been a decades-long feud between Taylor and Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang), who fought over Ridge (Thorsten Kaye). He chose Brooke in June 2023, and a saddened Taylor eventually left town. (Find out about the brief time Brooke and Taylor had a truce and became besties.)

In prepping for the part, B&B executive producer Brad Bell explained to Budig that while Brooke makes decisions from the heart, Taylor follows what her head tells her. She liked that aspect, feeling that in real life, “You can be attracted to one person who brings out something in you, while another brings out something else. So, I can see where Ridge would be a little conflicted.”

He’s a Terrific Actor

On AMC, Budig played Greenlee Smythe while Kaye portrayed Zach Slater, and she explained that there were scenes on that show where the two interacted, but there were always other characters involved. Now that she’s working with him one-on-one, she’s very happy. While she considers them friends, they’d been out of touch for a while. She gushed, “I have affection for Thorsten! I always have,” adding, “I always thought he was a terrific actor. Don’t tell him I said that! [Laughs]”

She found working as a scene partner with Kaye to be “Very rewarding and really fun.” Budig’s Taylor dove right in and jumped to her daughter Steffy’s (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) side because the young woman feels Ridge (her dad) is making command decisions without her, and Hope (Annika Noelle) has been eyeballing her husband, Finn (Tanner Novlan). While it seems Taylor might be plotting revenge on Ridge and Brooke, at least she’s finally there for her daughter after being off the canvas for so long.