‘Days of Our Lives’ Alum Nathan Owens Teases ‘Very Delicate,’ Mysterious ‘Y&R’ Role

Nathan Owens will make his Young and the Restless debut on January 8 in a new, enigmatic role.

Owens, whose career began in 2012 when he was cast as Days of Our Lives’ Cameron Davis, had some jitters about returning to the medium. “I’m not going to lie to you, I was a bit nervous,” he admits. “I know the speed at which the soaps move, so the preparation is key. I remember that being one of the issues I had when I was on Days, it being the first acting job I ever got. I was so green; I didn’t really know how to operate in that space and I kind of drowned a little bit because it was a bit difficult at that time. But I’ve seen a lot since then, so now I know the preparation that it takes.”

Though he only spent a year in Salem, Owens says he took a lot from the experience. “It really showed me how to prepare yourself in this industry in many different ways,” he reflects. “I was a lot younger at the time, and I wasn’t as focused as I think I should have been for something so big. I think my time there really gave me better insight going forward, about preparing and focusing and having discipline to make sure that you’re there and professional and a good scene partner. It really gave me a lot of tools for the rest of my acting career, not just in soaps. And I made some really good friends.”

Paul Skipper/jpistudios.com

After his Days run wrapped, Owens landed on Marc Cherry’s comedic drama, Devious Maids. “I was auditioning a lot after I left Days,” Owens recalls. “I actually did an ABC showcase in that interim period, which really put me on the map, I think, with a lot of the ABC shows. Thankfully, the folks at Devious Maids saw something in me and scooped me up for a couple of seasons, which was really fun.”

Owens played Jesse Morgan, a fitness instructor. “I liked the fun that you could have with the dramedy,” he shares of being in the campy series. “The cast was so amazing. We would do our dinner nights, and we really got to explore Atlanta when we were in production there. That was pretty cool because that was my first time ever being there for a longer amount of time.”

He also toiled with All My Children legend Susan Lucci (Erica Kane), who played Genevieve Delatour. “She was really cool,” Owens relays. “She’s a very sweet human being and we had a blast.”

Curtis Baker/Lifetime/Everett Collection

Owens feels the show gave him a good career boost. “It put me on the prime time path,” he explains. “I was exposed to a lot more eyes on me, so I got more opportunities. One was travel. I remember I was in Colombia and I was going through security and somebody spotted me and said, ‘You’re on Devious Maids, right?’ And this was a couple of years after the show had already been canceled, so I was like, ‘Wow, ok.’ But it turns out they have a massive fan base in a few pockets around the world. That’s actually happened multiple times in a lot of different cities.”

Owens next landed on The CW’s Batwoman playing Ocean. “That was a whole other experience in and of itself because it was during the pandemic and it was in Vancouver,” he says. “The quarantine that was involved with that just really tested the mental fortitude of everyone. We all became very close because we kind of leaned on each other through those trying times.”

For the actor, a superhero fan, the gig was “like a dream come true. I used to collect comic cards and comic books growing up, so that was a trip to me, especially when we would go to set and see what the wonderful team had done there as far as the set design and creating the bat cave and all that jazz. I geeked out on all the set designs and the intricacies and the details that they put in. So, stepping on any of those sets and knowing that it was the DC world was amazing.”

Related

Kyle's Love Triangle, Sharon & Phyllis' Life-or-Death Situation, and More in Store for 'Y&R' Next Year

He’s also done a handful of Christmas movies. His latest one, A Season to Remember, aired on OWN last month. “That was really wonderful,” he raves. “And then the one prior to that, The Christmas Sitters, I worked with another Y&R cast member, Melissa Ordway [Abby Newman] and her husband [Justin Gaston, Chance Chancellor]. That was a cool little surprise when I showed up on set and I got to see her.”

Now, he’s hoping to run into a fellow Days alum. “I haven’t seen Eileen Davidson [Ashley Abbott] yet, but she was over at Days [as Kristen DiMera] when I was there, which is pretty cool. I’m looking forward to seeing her.”

Owens reports that Y&R’s cast and crew have been very welcoming and made him feel at home on his first day. “I shook a lot of hands, met a lot of different people,” he remembers. “Everyone was incredibly warm. From the point I parked, I really didn’t know where to go, and I ran into one of the makeup artists, Amanda [Goldstein]. She literally walked me to where I needed to go. Everyone was very kind and inviting. That’s what really stood out to me, the warmth from everybody. The folks that I got to work with on day one were amazing. Sean Dominic [Nate Hastings] is one of them and he was great.”=

Owens can’t say a lot about his new part, which will become clearer as the weeks unfold. “He plays a very delicate role in this scenario, and he’s a very mysterious guy,” Owens winks. “He holds his cards close to the vest and he keeps things tight. I like diving into the mysterious world my character has. I very much enjoy this character and the depth that he can bring to the show.”

The Young and the Restless, Weekdays, CBS, Check Local Listings