Why We’re Raising a Glass to Mark Grossman On His Third Young & Restless Anniversary — Plus, How Adam’s Amnesia Helped Make His Early Scenes Unforgettable
“Way to go!” doesn’t even begin to cover his achievement.
When we first learned that Mark Grossman had been tapped to take over the role of The Young and the Restless’ Adam Newman from Justin Hartley (who took it over from Michael Muhney, who took it over from Chris Engen), we’ll admit it: We were skeptical. “He looks a little baby-faced for the part,” we mused, “doesn’t he?”
Above: From the start, Grossman was a… um… hit.
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI
More: Mark Grossman and Sharon Case’s real-life relationship timeline
But it turned out it didn’t matter in the slightest. From his debut on May 13, 2019, the daytime newcomer brought so much pathos to the pivotal part that we were soon less interested in how old he was than in how talented he was. In no time, his combo platter of charisma and vulnerability had made us forget that there had ever been Adams before him.
Despite hitting it outta the park, Grossman admitted to Soaps.com in 2021 that he had spent “the first couple of months just trying to get used to the pace and figuring out who Adam was and how he fit in. I was in nearly every episode those first few months. I’d never done daytime, so I wasn’t used to that amount of material or the pace. It was a lot!
“But everyone was great,” he added. “The vets all helped me figure things out and had such great advice.”
Grossman learned from Young & Restless’ masters of the game.
Credit: Howard Wise/JPI
In some ways, the fact that Adam had amnesia during the early days of Grossman’s run made things easier. “It gave me time to build these relationships and figure them out,” he said. “It’s like you’re learning to dance with all these different partners.”
By now, the actor is all but the king of the ballroom, to extend his metaphor. On his anniversary as the black sheep of the Newman family, stop by the comments below to offer your congratulations and visit our photo gallery of highlights of Adam’s unpredictable life in Genoa City.
