EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: The Young and the Restless’ Michael Corbett On Why David Might Not Be Dead

The Young and the Restless gets its current theme week – Nefarious Villains – off to a wicked start today. The soap is going back to 1991 and showing dastardly David Kimble and his ongoing quest to do in both his wife Nina and her pal Cricket!

Catching Up With Michael Corbett

Watch for David to get his in this blast from the past re-airing! Soap Hub caught up with David’s portrayer, Michael Corbett, to look back on this classic episode. Corbett also played bad boys Michael Pavel on Ryan’s Hope and Warren Carter on Search for Tomorrow. His turn on Ryan’s Hope landed him on the cover of People magazine in March 1981. Read on to hear what he’s been up to and if Corbett might return to Genoa City to wreak more havoc on its citizens!

Soap Hub: How long were you on YR before David turned nefarious?
Michael Corbett: I was working with Brenda Dickson (ex-Jill) for about a year. Then, Jill was recast with Jess Walton, who, to this day, remains one of my dearest friends. I did Jill impersonations for Jess when she first started. We hit it off incredibly well. The chemistry I had with Jess, I think, may have led to Bill Bell [YR’s late creator/sr. executive producer/headwriter] creating a front-burner story for me.

After Nina became a widow when Phillip (Thom Bierdz) died (or rather “died,” we later found out), Jill made a reference to all the money Nina (Tricia Cast) inherited – then, David got an idea!
That was exciting for me. I knew it’d be this kind of a story where David would do all these things. People always saw him as the bad guy, but David could never see himself that way. He was merely looking for an opportunity. If he married someone he wasn’t necessarily in love with, but he became wealthy in the process…okay! Bill kept throwing in more backstory. Did David really murder his former girlfriend and leave her on an island? David kept getting all these additional layers.

You’ve already popped up on a few classic episodes.
Yes. I saw the episode where David started to date Nina. He was being very charming, sweet, sincere. He was very capable of being very delightful and then, you’d see what was truly behind that.

At one point, David went to a plastic surgeon to get a new look so he could elude authorities. He brought a photo of Baywatch star David Hasselhoff (ex-Snapper) to a doctor and said make me look like him. Instead, the surgeon carved the word “KILLER” onto David’s forehead!
I laughed so hard when I read that that’s what was going to happen. It was out of left field. Of course, asking the doctor to make me look like the best-looking guy out there was very David!

What memories do you have of shooting the masquerade ball?
I remember being in makeup for hours. It was super-challenging at one point. I’d come in in the morning and they’d put my KILLER scars on and then, that would have to come off, and later, all the Wolfman makeup and costume would go on. Then, there were also times I’d play “Jim,” David’s alias when he was going after Nina’s mother, Flo [Sharon Farrell].

David meets a gruesome fate – however, many feel that he’ll live to scare Nina again!
I think David could have easily gotten out of the trash compactor and thrown another body in there. He could have gotten out and gotten away. If so, where has he been? I think it’s interesting that Chance [AKA little Phillip, David’s stepson, played by Donny Boaz] now works for the FBI. Maybe there’s some connection there where David might be? It’d be so much fun! I’d love to terrorize Nina again!

What’s been keeping you busy lately?
I’m one of the hosts on Extra! It’s amazing. I get to travel all over the world and do all that reporting. I started producing my own TV shows. I created, executive produced, and sold to E! Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry.

Do you miss acting?
I do. I love what I’m doing now. I miss doing a soap because it’s so much fun. I know the genre so well. I just did a big regional revival of Catch Me If You Can. It was the first Broadway revival of that show. My schedule’s pretty full with producing but I’d love to do another soap. Soap operas will always be my first love.

To learn more about Corbett’s current projects, check out the actor’s website by clicking here. The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS. Check local listings for air times.