Young & Restless’ Mark Grossman Almost Played [Spoiler] Instead of Adam

The Young and the Restless star Mark Grossman has become a fan favorite as Adam Newman. However, he almost joined a different soap opera. A casting director recently revealed that he auditioned for a major role on The Bold and the Beautiful.

Mark Grossman nearly joined Young and Restless as Thomas Forrester

During a panel discussion on the SAG-AFTRA Foundation‘s The Business, several casting directors discussed casting soap stars. Greg Salmon was among them. He reflected on the challenge of recasting Adam Newman. The role became vacant after Justin Hartley’s departure.

He said, “We had Justin Hartley playing the role of Adam Newman before he went to This Is Us, and now Mark Grossman has. So that was a really tough role to recast. And before Justin, there were two other people, and Adam Newman is central. This is Victor Newman’s son, so it’s an incredibly important character to the show.”

Salmon also praised Grossman’s run as Adam, saying, “But now Mark Grossman’s been playing the role for almost 10 years now, I think, something like that long… But he’s completely made the role his own.”

He recalled Grossman’s screen test with Eric Braeden and other cast members, saying, “His energy was off the charts. This is how Adam should feel.” Salmon added that viewers eventually accepted Grossman, who has now played Adam for nearly a decade.

Christy Dooley of The Bold and the Beautiful then revealed, “He read for us, and he was my choice for Thomas Forrester. And they ended up going with Matthew Atkinson.” She added, “And then he came down to you right after that.”

Although Grossman missed out on the role of Thomas Forrester, he ultimately found success as Adam. His portrayal of the character has been well-received by the audience. He has become one of the most recognizable stars on Y&R.