Matt Cohen’s Detective Burrow is a shady individual in Mitch Bacall’s (or rather Matt Clark‘s) pocket on The Young and the Restless. The cop has an air of hardened mystery surrounding him that’s so thick not even Cohen knows his first name. The actor told Soap Opera Digest that he hopes that the name will give him the opportunity to pay tribute to the Supernatural fandom who’ve stuck by him for years. He also, while speaking to Soap Hub’s Tina Charles, shared that he and his former co-star Jensen Ackles have talked about soaps in-depth and credits the genre as a “great foundation” for actors.
Key Takeaways
- The one name Matt Cohen always hopes his character will have.
- The significance of giving a nod to his role on Supernatural.
- Why Cohen believes soap operas are the reason Jensen Ackles is a generational talent.
Matt Cohen and Supernatural
On Y&R, Cohen plays Burrow as one moment cagey and then the next forthright. He walks a fine line as a detective who’s not doing right because of his partnership with Mitch (Roger Howarth) and the mess it seems to have gotten him in. But 17 years ago, he cemented his place in TV history as young John Winchester on Supernatural. The father of Dean (Jensen Ackles) and Sam (Jared Padalecki) Winchester looms large over the series, but Cohen played him when John was a mechanic, unaware of the demons, angels, and monsters that walked the Earth.
Despite only appearing in three episodes, at one point as the archangel Michael, Cohen has been a fixture in the show’s fandom. Supernatural has birthed a community of fans that has kept the series alive, and who also tend to follow actors from project to project. It’s led to the occasional Easter egg or wink at the fanbase. That’s why Cohen told Soap Opera Digest the following:
I have this big sci-fi following with the show Supernatural, and just a great bunch of buddies over there. I played this character, John Winchester. So I’m always trying to name my characters John something.
But he did state that, though he’s rooting for John to be Burrow’s name, he doesn’t actually have the pull to make it happen. Cohen is just as in the dark as Y&R viewers. Who knows, the writers could dub him John, or be very soapy and on the nose by naming him Winchester Burrow, “Win” for short. Either way, a name reveal would only be one layer of the character peeled back.
Cohen teased that there’s more to come for Burrow, that the flavor of bad the audience has seen so far could have a deeper reason for it. The ride with him will most certainly have twists and turns, especially since he isn’t a “straight, by-the-book detective.”
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due
Soap operas, as a genre, aren’t often lauded outside of the community that enjoys them. They’re campy, over-the-top, and melodramatic. What’s not mentioned enough is that they have fast-paced production schedules, require the ability to make even the most ridiculous piece of dialogue land, and they quickly whip talent into shape.
In his conversation with Soap Hub, Cohen pointed out the rigors of the genre. He also tipped his hat to soaps for molding his former Supernatural co-star Jensen Ackles into the actor he is. Ackles was Eric Brady on DAYS from 1997-2000.
We talked in depth about it. I see Jensen about 20 times a year at conventions. We travel with — Creation Entertainment does this convention circuit. And we talk about it all the time. And Jensen, in my eyes, is the biggest movie star in television history, and that’s why he’s in so many different TV shows, because TV’s almost not big enough of a platform for him, but he’s so good on TV that we keep him here.
He’s great on TV because he started in soaps. Now those aren’t his words. I’ll put them right into his mouth, though. He’s a longtime friend of mine, and he knows as well as I do…work ethic, the way you show up prepared and ready to go. It just shows in your performance on set. Jensen’s never delivered a bad line of dialogue since he’s been on primetime. And again, when you start in soaps and you take it seriously and you want to do great…you’ve got to get good fast if you’re going to be in soaps. It’s just a great foundation.
Cohen isn’t alone in his perspective that soap operas produce great talent. Actors who’ve worked in the genre before tend to give soaps their flowers. They also call a spade, a spade. When you’ve got 80 pages to film in a day and five episodes that air per week for most of the year, there’s very little room to falter. You either tap out or you make a name for yourself like Cohen and Ackles have.
