In a TV interview that aired in his hometown of Edmonton, Canada, The Young and the Restless' Jason Thompson (Billy Abbott) opens up about how the CBS series is handling its unexpected hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking with Global News's Gord Steinke, the actor explains that he had taken vacation time the week that Y&R shut down and had planned to travel to Mexico with his family. However, the COVID-19 situation halted his travel plans and also forced Y&R to go dark for a minimum of two weeks -- which has now turned into six weeks.
"They just kind of let us know that they were going to keep us in the loop," Thompson says of how the show has handled communicating with the actors since suspending production in March. "[Deciding when we will come back] is a bigger decision: Sony is involved, CBS is involved, of course our stage is involved, so there's a lot of people. We get updates at least about once a week, kind of letting us know where we're at and if we should expect anything, but they have no idea when we may be back."
For now, Thompson is enjoying being sheltered in place with his wife and kids in Los Angeles. However, he admits that he misses his family in Canada -- and he's also missing out on the work that's being done on some of the bars that he co-owns in Edmonton.
Says the actor of how he and his business partners have handled the crisis, "They're taking advantage of the time and we're doing some upkeep. We're redoing some bathrooms and floors and things like that.... Like everybody, we're trying to do what we can."
As for how Billy would handle being in quarantine, Thompson laughs at the thought and quips, "He would have blown his top in some way. He always finds a new and different way to do it!"
Check out Thompson's full interview here and let us know what you think in the Comments section below.
What do you think about Thompson's video interview? 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.
