The Doctor Is In! Vincent Irizarry Joins ‘Bold and the Beautiful’
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The Bold and the Beautiful has scored a casting coup with the hiring of Daytime Emmy winner Vincent Irizarry!
The fan favorite will bring to life the character of Dr. Jordan Armstrong starting Monday, August 26. Story details are being kept under wraps, but TV Insider hears that Dr. Armstrong will play pivotal role in the baby Beth/baby Phoebe storyline once that tale takes a dramatic turn! (Could a resolution to the on-going tale be on the horizon?)
TV Insider was the first to talk to Irizarry about his new gig. Read on to get the scoop on how his joining B&B came about. Also, we take a look back at some of his other roles including the one that first brought him to daytime — Guiding Light’s Lujack!
Welcome back to daytime! How’d this all come about?
Vincent Irizarry: Thank you. My understanding is that this was at the request of Brad Bell (executive producer/head writer). He reached out to my [representatives] and I learned that they had this role they’d like me to do. It’s recurring and I can say that it has to do with the baby reveal [that Phoebe is really Beth]. I’ll be playing opposite all the main characters. I’m looking forward again to working with Thorsten Kaye (Ridge), who I worked with on All My Children. (Note: On AMC, Irizarry played evil Dr. David Hayward and Kaye was good guy Zach Slater.)
Let’s talk about the role that started it all for you in soaps – Lujack on GL. It was a three-day gig that turned into a contract role. You and Judi Evans (ex-Beth; Adrienne, Days Of Our Lives) became an on-screen supercouple!
Yes. Lujack was not only my introduction to daytime, but also to television. I’d been doing theater for six years between Boston and New York, but this was my first TV job. I got it after I auditioned for Betty Rea (GL’s legendary late casting director). As you said, it was only for three days, but the character took and off and really exploded. I’m grateful for that. Over 35 years later, people still call me, ‘Lujack!’
Vincent Irizarry as Brandon “Lujack” Spaulding Luvonaczek on The Guiding Light in 1985 (CBS via Getty Images)
Do you remember your audition?
Yes. It was funny. Lujack was this street kid, a punk, so during my audition I laid across Betty’s desk and took out a cigarette and starting improvising and she improvised with me. The scene had Lujack going into the girls’ room [at school] to talk to Mindy (Krista Tesreau). I wanted to make a full entrance so I walked over to a side office and said to the people in that room “I’ll just be a second.” After I did the scene, Betty went and got Gail Kobe, the executive producer, so I could do the scene again.
I had just started a gig as a [waiter] at Joe Allen’s in New York. When I was there, my agent called me at the phone behind the bar and said that I’d gotten the part. People at work were asking me if I was going to keep the job. I said, ‘Yes, this is a three-day job,’ but then it went on for a month and a half. I got more days and then, Pam Long (head writer) had requested a meeting with me. I met with her and all the writers in an office in mid-town Manhattan. They talked to me for an hour and got to know me. The next thing I knew, I was offered a contract.
They gave you quite a backstory with Lujack being the long-lost son of Alexandra Spaulding (the late, great Beverlee McKinsey).
Yes. I loved working with Judi and I loved working with Beverlee. I always joke to her son Scott [McKinsey, a director at General Hospital] that I think I was the ‘favorite.’ I love Scott. He’s a great guy.
You moved on to roles in other genres and came back to daytime on Santa Barbara. A return to GL didn’t seem likely as Lujack died, but the show pulled out the old “I didn’t know I had a twin” story.
I came back to Guiding Light in 1991 when [the late] Bob Calhoun was the executive producer. I had recently starred in Lucky Chances, the Jackie Collins mini-series, when Bob wanted to talk to me about coming back onto the show. I said it wasn’t the best time, but he said let me reach out back to you again. Six months later, he did. I came back to New York to meet with [late co-head writer] James Reilly and Bob over lunch. There were discussions about the storyline and I came back, but within no time both Bob and James had left the show!
I loved getting to work with Beverlee again. It was some of the best work I’d ever done. I always enjoyed working with pros including [the late] Larry Gates (H.B.), Beverlee, James Mitchell (Palmer, AMC) and David Canary (Adam/Stuart, AMC), the vets, the pros. They set the bar with their work ethic. I was inspired by all of them. I feel very fortunate and blessed.
Vincent Irizarry as Dr. David Hayward on All My Children in 2003 (Lorenzo Bevilaqua/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images)
Getting back to B&B and Dr. Armstrong, you’ve played other doctor roles so, there’s probably not a medical term you have heard!
Sure. If not, I have friends who are doctors I can call. I remember when I was on Santa Barbara, I was in my 20s playing a doctor (Scott Clark). There was a scene where I had to use the paddles on someone’s chest. A medical reporter from NBC happened to be watching the scenes being taped on the monitor. He called up and said somebody tell him to take the paddles off the guy’s chest – he’s going to do more harm than good! He then became our medical advisor.
Vincent Irizarry at the Daytime Emmy Awards in 2009 (Jesse Grant/WireImage)
You won a Daytime Emmy in 2009 for playing David on AMC. Where do you keep your “Golden Girl”?
It’s on the mantel over the fireplace.
If B&B asks you to stick around, are you open for that?
Sure! There may be some other ailing people who need a doctor on the show! I love working. I love the medium. I’ve been very fortunate enough to work with some wonderful people in this genre. I really appreciate the work and how substantive it is. I love that stories go from week to week and month to month. It’s exciting to me.
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