For the first time in nearly a decade, Michael Damian will be reprising his role as Danny Romalotti on The Young and the Restless. Damian shared the news with fans on social media along with a photo of himself after a day filming in Los Angeles.
Damian originated the role of Danny in 1981 and remained front and center until he left the CBS soap in 1998. Since that time, he has made quite a few guest appearances -- but none since September 2013, when Danny attended Katherine Chancellor's memorial service.
That doesn't mean that Damian hasn't been busy in the last nine years. In his time away from daytime, Damian has turned to work on the other side of the camera as a director, writer, and producer. He's served in all the aforementioned capacities on the films High Strung and High Strung Free Dance. His latest project, Falling for Christmas, will debut on Netflix on November 10 and stars Lindsay Lohan (ex-Alli Fowler, Another World). Damian has another Netflix project in the works, Irish Wish, which also stars Lohan, but the film doesn't have a release date yet.
Damian shared that he learned a lot of his future behind-the-camera skills from his time on Y&R.
"I learned a lot on Young and the Restless, and I learned a lot working with some fantastic directors, and it's always been really super fascinating to me," Damian shared in a 2015 interview on Soap Central's podcast, Soap Central Live. "So, when I started writing, the next phase was actually -- well, what happened was I did a short film, and I wanted to learn every aspect of it, so I went to school and learned about cinematography, bought my own film camera. I bought two Airflex film cameras and started shooting all my own stuff, developing the film myself, transferring it to digital, editing -- learned to edit, learned the technical side. Not that I want to go out there and do everyone's job -- it's just that I wanted to be able to -- when you communicate to someone, you want to know what you're talking about. So, it just helps you understand, also, what they're going through and helps you with your communication when you can talk in technical terms, as well."
The following year, while promoting the second High Strung movie, Damian told Soap Central that he was very much open to returning to The Young and the Restless, but he revealed that the timing for a return just hadn't worked out.
"I've told them many times, if I'm not out of the country or directing, if they let me know when it's going to happen, and I'm in L.A., then absolutely. I always have a great time popping on and shaking things up a little bit," he said. "I'm just thrilled they never killed my character!"
One thing Damian doesn't want in a return? "I don't want to be a home wrecker," he confessed.
Damian's return does coincide with the return of his son to Genoa City. As previously reported, Michael Graziadei is set to step back into the role or Daniel Romalotti later this fall.
Damian shared in a multi-platform social media post today that he "[h]ad a blast today filming" with Michelle Stafford (Phyllis Summers) and Graziadei.
Damian is set to first appear on-screen on December 22 and will appear in "multiple episodes."
Are you excited that Michael Damian is returning to Y&R? What do you think will bring Danny back to Genoa City? We want to hear from you -- and there are many ways you can share your thoughts.
