1980s TV Shows: A Trip Down Memory Lane With… Ronn Moss (Ridge Forrester in “The Bold and the Beautiful”)

Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen

The Bold and the Beautiful is a soap opera which aired on CBS from 1987 until present. At the moment there are around 9,000 episodes shot since it premiered. The show is about the Forrester family in Los Angeles and their fashion empire. John McCook (Eric Forrester) and Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke Logan) are the only two cast members who have remained on the show since it first aired in1987. Ronn Moss played the original Ridge Forrester from 1987 until his departure in 2012.

KB: “The Bold and the Beautiful”: What was the show about?

A wealthy family in the fashion business based in Los Angeles and all the drama that went with the business and within the family.

KB: How did you get the part as Ridge Forrester?

A casting director remembered me from a previous audition I did and suggested me. I had to wear a suit for the audition and at the time I didn’t own a suit and had to borrow one from a friend that was a bit too small for me. I came from being a rock n roll musician so I was a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy.

KB: What did you like about the character and how did you make it your own?

Ridge was a wealthy playboy with the goal of conquesting Caroline against her father’s wishes which made him even more determined. I did many things over the years to mold his character into being that suave romantic guy that you saw and had to learn the proper way to open champagne and tie a bow tie to make Ridge more sophisticated because I came from the world of rock n roll musicians.

KB: Did you had a favorite person to play a scene with?

I enjoyed working with everyone, but Phylis Diller stands out as a guest star on the show that really made me laugh a lot. I really loved working also with Betty White who played my grandmother.

KB: How did a week on the set looked like from getting the script to filming?

We filmed the script we got the day before so we moved very fast and I would run lines in the makeup chair with my scene partners sometimes before we would block the scene then go to tape and shoot that scene. Sometimes I would have 3-5 shows a week to shoot with 30-50 pages of dialogue a day to memorize.

KB: Where was the show filmed?

CBS Studios in Hollywood.

KB: Do you have a favorite episode on the whole show and why this one?

I don’t because I did over 7000 episode. In 25 years and there were too many to recall just one.

KB: Are you still in touch with actors from the show although you left in 2012?

Not really anymore as I’ve been gone over 14 years and life is moving fast for everyone it seems.

KB: Looking back now would you have played Ridge differently?

No, obviously the way I played him worked for 25 years.

KB: How do you explain that this show is still beloved after 40+ years?

There have been daytime dramas on the air much longer and I think fans get emotionally invested in the characters over that much time. However, times have changed and these shows now have a ton of competition with the content choices that we now have on so many digital platforms. I think this show was a half hour escape for many fans and a habit that was hard to break.

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