‘Y&R’ Star Mark Grossman on Adam Coming to Terms With His Murderous Past
Q&A
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Adam Newman (Daytime Emmy nominee Mark Grossman) has done some reprehensible deeds on The Young and the Restless over the years, but it’s the one he committed at the tender age of 11 that’s currently causing him the most angst.
Apparently, as a preteen, Adam killed A.J. Montalvo, the father of a childhood friend, after he threatened not only Adam, but also his mother, Hope (Signy Coleman). While it was done in self-defense, Adam is haunted by his past action and he can’t help but think that committing this early crime sent him down a dark path.
TV Insider chatted with Grossman about how Adam’s processing all of this and how the latest revelation will affect his relationships. Plus, he opens up about was it like receiving the blessing of ex-Adam, Justin Hartley (This Is Us).
Today’s show starts off with Victor (Eric Braeden) showing up at Adam’s place. Where is their relationship right now?
Mark Grossman: There’s so much to unpack with this story. Victor could have told Adam all those years ago when all this happened, but he kept it a secret. This affects Adam’s relationship with Victor today. Maybe Victor has been protecting Adam all these years?
Perhaps if Victor had been upfront with Adam, he would have had a different life?
There’s always that push and pull between them and Adam has this resentment towards Victor for not being there for him when he was a kid. [Victor’s other children] Nicholas (Joshua Morrow) and Victoria (Amelia Heinle) got all this [attention] but Victor wasn’t always around for Adam. If this was going on, why wasn’t he there for him more? We’re going to see if Adam decides whether or not this will change their relationship for better or worse. And, speaking of Nicholas and Victoria, it’s not lost on Adam that they could use this information [about what Adam did] to their benefit.
Initially, Adam thought Victor had killed A.J. Montalvo, but now, he’s dealing with the reality that he committed the deed.
Yes. Adam went down this road. Unfortunately, he got ahead of himself. Now this big secret has come out. Adam thought Victor was lying to him, playing another one of his games. When the truth came out, he got confirmation from George (Joseph Whipp). Then, Adam went to Kansas and wanted to dig up these memories.
Why go to his ex, Sharon (Sharon Case), for help?
Adam went to Sharon because she’s a therapist and was hoping she could help him deal with these memories. Adam’s a guy who wants to get to the truth and find out the whole story. The memories are starting to come back. It’s been quite a juicy storyline, challenging to play, but also a lot of fun.
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Might turning to Sharon, his ex, affect his relationship with Chelsea (Melissa Claire Egan)?
There’s a lot of history there between Chelsea and Sharon. When Sharon was bipolar, Adam tried to help her with that and he was married to Chelsea then, too. Chelsea’s uneasy for obvious reasons about Adam and Sharon working together. There are a lot of things that can happen if Adam keeps going down this road. He found out about Sharon’s cancer, which was huge for him because his mother, Hope, had died of cancer. There’s so much there among all of them.
Adam’s actions led to his friend Alyssa (María DiDomenico) growing up without a dad. Adam grew up without one, too, so he can relate to that particular burden she carried.
Yes. They’re close like that. It’ll be interesting if Alyssa comes back into the picture and wants to confront Adam. There are other issues out there that are a liability to Adam like what happened with Chance (Donny Boaz) in Las Vegas.
Did Adam mean to do all this?
I don’t think Adam’s a bad person. He’s got a good heart, but he’s always done these bad things. Now, he’s realizing he killed this man and he’s buried it deep down. Maybe there’s a reason that he also did all these bad things throughout his life? [But] if he did kill this man when he was 11, he was defending his mother.
His blind mother! This is clearly self-defense, no?
That’s what I, Mark, am seeing. I’m looking at it as totally justifiable. A person’s going to do anything they can to protect their mother. Adam always loved his mother; he felt he should protect her.
In Kansas, there’s no statute of limitations on murder, but it’s five years for manslaughter.
So, he [could be] off the hook?
In real life, maybe. In “television Kansas”? Maybe not.
There’s also Rey (Jordi Vilasuso) in all this. He’s a cop. He might try to uncover the truth for many reasons not the least of which are Adam’s feelings for Sharon.
Who is Adam’s ally in all of this?
Chelsea and Sharon, for sure. He may trust Chance, too, but not with the full truth.
How much of Adam’s history did you read up on after being cast in the part?
I got my hands on everything I could. There has been so much stuff. I got on the internet and did as much research as I could. Going on YouTube and watching the previous versions of Adam and the dynamics, trying to understand the relationships — especially the big ones with Victor, Sharon, Chelsea, and Nick… I enjoy watching the old stuff to this day because there’s so much.
Belated congratulations on your Daytime Emmy nomination this year for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series – your first year, no less!
Thank you so much. I was so honored as, as you said, it was my first year. I was so happy for Bryton [James, Devon, who won in the category] and Jason [Thompson, Billy, who won for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series]. They were both so great in their storylines. I’m glad that Y&R had a bunch of wins.
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Seeing double today!😜💛 #AdamNewman #Chadam(s) @justinhartley @mgrossman18
Justin Hartley (ex-Adam, now on This Is Us) said you have your “hands firmly on the wheel” when it comes to playing Adam; how’d it feel to hear that?
Justin came to the set one day [last year] and I got to meet him. He was so nice, an extremely nice guy. He also came to Eric’s 40th anniversary celebration in February. He’s a really nice guy. I remember that shoutout he gave me. It made me feel much better. I’m the fourth person coming in to play this role. I can put a lot of pressure on myself so it was really nice of him to do that.
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