Not everyone on The Bold and the Beautiful had to audition for their parts, but the actress who’s been on the show the longest recently shared that she did have to read and test for her role!
Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke) was joined by co-stars John McCook (Eric) and Heather Tom (Katie) for an episode of Stars in the House, hosted by Seth Rudetsky and James Wesley. The get-together benefitted Cancer Support Community. During the online fundraiser, Lang, McCook, and Tom recalled how they came to join BB.
Tom actually didn’t have to audition to win the role of Katie. “I was on The Young and the Restless [as Victoria] for 13 years,” Tom, a six-time Daytime Emmy-winner explained. “I’ve known Brad [Bell, BB’s head writer/executive producer] since I was 15. Then, I went to New York for four years and did One Life to Live [as Kelly] and [some guest spots] on All My Children.
“When I was coming back to L.A.,” Tom shares, “Brad called me and said, ‘Hey, I’m bringing on Katie, Brooke’s sister. Do you want to play the part?’ I said, ‘Sure! Sign me up!'”
McCook likewise had previous experience in soaps, having played Lance Prentiss on YR from 1976-80. (BB creator Bill Bell’s only gripe related to casting McCook in the part was that he thought he’d look a bit older — so, the show added gray to his hair for a while to make him appear more like a father to grown children.) “Susan Flannery [ex-Stephanie] and I had been brought on to play the matriarch and patriarch,” McCook explains.
While Brooke was paired with Ridge almost from the show’s beginning, Lang did her audition with McCook. “They read me and said, ‘Oh, we like her. Let’s put her on tape. So, I did my screen test with John,” Lang recalls. “He made me feel so comfortable and so sure of myself that I believed that I could do it. I give him a lot of credit for me getting the part.”
“When she walked in the room, we all said, ‘She’s the one!'” McCook raves of Lang. “Everyone knew it.” Later this month, BB will celebrate its 34th anniversary! The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS. Check local listings for airtimes.
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