The Young and the Restless is in the midst of celebrating Eric Braeden's 40th anniversary of playing Victor Newman, and one of the exciting ways that the CBS soap opera is honoring the character's history is bringing back several blasts from Victor's past -- including Robert Parucha in the role of the Mustache's long-lost brother, Matt Miller. Fans saw the character return to the canvas this week, and Parucha couldn't be more thrilled to be back in the shoes of the character he began playing in 1985.
"It's an honor. It really is," the actor tells TV Insider. "I've not only shared screen time with him, but I've learned a lot from Eric. He's an amazingly intuitive actor. He makes every scene real and authentic."
Luckily, Parucha reports that it was quite simple to jump back into the character of Matt, despite the fact that he hasn't been playing him since the 80s, outside of a short return in 2003 when Matt returned to tell Victor that their father was on his deathbed.
"I took some time to think about the character, the storylines from the past, and Matt's relationships with certain characters, such as Victor having been in the orphanage. I came down to the set a little earlier just to get a feel for it," Parucha says of how he prepared for his return. "I hung out for about an hour. I didn't want to just show up and start shooting."
He continues, "I met some of the other actors whom I didn't know yet. There were a lot of people. Everybody was very encouraging to me, saying it was good to see me back. After I finished the scenes I was in, Eric and Melody [Thomas Scott, Nikki Newman] both had some nice things to say, which I very much appreciated."
It was great to meet up with my favorite leading lady, Melody Thomas Scott, aka Nikki Newman at Eric's 40 year celebration pic.twitter.com/KsXPMV49qF
— Robert Parucha (@RParucha) February 11, 2020
As for whether or not Parucha would be open to more returns to Y&R in the future, he says it's definitely possible.
"I run my own business, so schedule-wise, I can make it work. This return has really lit the fuse for me again. I've been reminded of how enjoyable it is to play Matt and to act once more," he shares. "I think it's great to be back here 35 years later."
For more from Parucha about his Y&R return, check out TV Insider's full interview with the actor here.
In addition to his Y&R role, Parucha entertained soap fans as Days of our Lives' Eddie Reed, which he played from 1988 to 1989.
How do you feel about Robert Parucha returning to the role of Matt Miller for Eric Braeden's 40th anniversary? Would you like to see the character return for a longer storyline? Why or why not? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
