“The Young and the Restless” will soon welcome veteran soap stars Tamara Braun (“Days of our Lives,” “General Hospital”) and Roger Howarth (“General Hospital,” “One Life to Live”) to its cast when the two begin taping their first scene in September.
Ahead of their crossing the threshold of Stage 41 and Stage 43 at Television City, where the world of Genoa City is created, cast member Michelle Stafford (Phyllis Summers) shared words of happiness in a post she shared on Instagram, where she welcomed both Braun and Howarth, while declaring the long-running soap opera “just got a little more bad ass.”
“I could not be happier to be posting this!! Not only because these two are extra extraordinary actors, but because they are my friends!!” commented Stafford, following the news that Braun has been cast as Sienna Bacall, who is said to have “personal connections to several characters” in Genoa City. Meanwhile, Howarth will be playing a “mystery role.”
“Our show just got a little more bad ass,” continued Stafford in her post. She added, “Just so you know, more surprises to come,” while using the official “Y&R” hashtag and the hashtag “Get Ready.”
The casting of Braun and Howarth on “The Young and the Restless” reunites the former “General Hospital” cast members with Stafford, where Braun previously portrayed Kim Nero from 2017-2019 and Howarth played Franco Baldwin from 2013-2021. Meanwhile, Stafford appeared on the ABC soap opera as Nina Reeves from 2014-2019, before returning to the CBS series to reprise her three-time Emmy award-winning role – she most recently took home the golden statue in 2024 for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actress.
On “General Hospital,” during her time as Nina Reeves, Stafford interacted with Howarth’s Franco, where the characters built a bond that later evolved from friendship to romance, and a little blackmail in between. The role of Nina was later recast with Cynthia Watros (“Guiding Light”) taking over soon after Stafford departed Port Charles.
According to PEOPLE, which first reported Braun’s casting, the two-time Emmy winner will begin taping in early September. She is set to make her first appearance on screen sometime later this fall. Meanwhile, according to Deadline, which first reported Howarth’s casting, Howarth is set to begin taping episodes in mid-September, with his first scenes set to air in the fall.
After Franco was 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed off in 2021, “General Hospital” decided to keep Howarth as part of the cast by having him portray the newly created role of Dr. Austin Gatlin-Holt, who was part of the Quartermaine family through his parents, Jimmy Lee Holt and Charity Gatlin, with his paternal grandparents being George and Ida Quartermaine. Austin was 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ed off in the Friday, November 17, 2023 episode. Previously, Howarth joined the soap opera in March 2012 when he took his iconic “One Life to Live” character, Todd Manning, from Llanview to Port Charles. He exited the soap temporarily in 2013 due to an ongoing dispute between ABC and Prospect Park Networks (“PPN”), which at the time had licensed the “One Life to Live” characters in the hopes of launching an online reboot along with its sister soap “All My Children.”
The dispute saw ABC forced to create new characters for Howarth and other actors who had migrated to the long-running soap opera. Franco Baldwin, a character first created by actor James Franco in 2009 as part of an exhibit he was working on for The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA), was the character the show’s writers at the time used to re-establish the actor’s presence in Port Charles.
Howarth’s casting at “The Young and the Restless” marks a return for the actor to CBS, where he spent nearly a decade portraying Paul Ryan on “As The World Turns” and previously portrayed the short-term role of Jory on “Guiding Light” in 1992.
Before portraying Kim Nero on “General Hospital,” Braun was best known for her role as Carly Corinthos, having played the role from 2001-2005 following the exit of Sarah Joy Brow, who originated the role. After making several guest appearances on shows like “House,” “Cold Case,” “Ghost Whisperer,” “Without a Trace” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” Braun returned to daytime in 2008, first on “Days of our Lives” playing Ava Vitali, a character that netted Braun her first-ever Emmy award win in 2009, this time for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and later playing the newly created contract role of Reese Williams on “All My Children.”
Following her exit from Pine Valley in 2009, Braun returned to “Days of our Lives” in 2011, this time taking on the role of Taylor Walker, the younger sister of Nicole Walker. Braun left the soap again that same year, only to return in 2015, this time reprising her role as Ava Vitali, before ultimately heading to “General Hospital” to play the aforementioned Kim Nero, a role which, in 2020, netted Braun her second-ever Emmy award for Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actress.
Braun again returned to “Days of our Lives” in 2020, continuing to appear as Ava off and on for several more years before finally exiting earlier this year, where she revealed she taped her final episodes in July 2024.
During her most recent run on “Days of our Lives,” Braun received two additional Emmy nominations for her portrayal of Ava, one in 2021 for Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actress and again in 2024 for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Daytime Drama Series: Actress.
