Young & Restless’ Bryton James Reflects On the Role That Changed His Life — and the Job That Nearly Kept Him From Becoming Devon
Monday, January 3rd, 2022
“What does a soap opera want with me?”
Fans often wonder what led stars to landing their soap opera roles and The Young and the Restless actor Bryton James (Devon) shared with Maurice Benard (Sonny) just that during an interview on the General Hospital vet’s State of Mind podcast. The daytime stars discussed various topics, including James’ stance on marriage and children, as well as details into the last day he spent with Kristoff St. John (ex-Neil).
So, where did it all begin for the soap fave? James first admitted to Benard, “You were my introduction into daytime television.” Though his mom watched General Hospital every day, James hadn’t really paid attention, due to the adult storylines, but when Sonny, Carly and Jason appeared he took notice and confessed, “You’ve been my favorite.”
More: Bryon James on the Michael Jackson he knew
However, soaps were the furthest thing from his mind in the beginning of his career. At 3 ½ years old, James began his role as Richie on the sitcom Family Matters. His mom helped him with lines during the nine-year run… he was a kid, he was having fun but said, “I’ve always considered The Young and the Restless to be my first real acting, acting job because I understood what it was to get better.”
Having been a singer as well, after Family Matters ended, he wanted to take his music more seriously and signed with Universal when he was 12 or 13 and did music in Europe for over a year and released a single. After 9/11 happened, James put his music on hold, due to being cautious about traveling, and started auditioning again.
“The first audition I got for a TV show was for The Young and the Restless,” James revealed then shared how the very same day he had an audition for a National Coca-Cola commercial. He remembered saying, “I really want the commercial. There’s no way I’m going to get this soap opera because I’m 17. What does a soap opera want with me?”
And just like that, he landed the role of Devon and had his first scene with Eric Braeden (Victor) and, as viewers will recall, his storyline was with Victoria Rowell (ex-Drucilla) and Kristoff St. John. “I was on a fast track to try to get better, quickly, that’s when I knew… I can do this.” And that he did — and went on to become a Daytime Emmy Award winner!
Watch the full interview segment for more from the actor.
Before you go, take a look at our Young & Restless Year in Review gallery below, featuring highlights from 2021, including James’ part in one of the biggest Genoa City storylines!
Video: Maurice Benard: State Of Mind/YouTube
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Image: CBS screenshot
1/22
<p>It appeared as though Young & Restless was going to give us some ol’ fashioned intrigue, scheming and blackmail while re-teaming Kevin and Phyllis. Kevin exposed the information Gloria had rabbited away on a flashdrive to blackmail Victoria, and Phyllis found out about it, but rather than soapy deliciousness, we got Kevin convincing Phyllis to take the high road and drop the whole thing.</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
2/22
<p>It looked as though history was about to repeat itself when the much younger Sally began to pursue Jack, just as Jill once did his father, John. With Jack’s son Kyle in the picture they could have truly re-created the Jack/Jill/John dynamic, but alas, it was another case of coulda, woulda, shoulda as Jack dumped Sally for being too conninving and never looked back.</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
3/22
<p>We were so used to Young & Restless’ secrets from the past flopping that it was a pleasant surprise when a whopper was revealed… Kyle had a love child! Not only did he have a son he didn’t know about, but the kid came tied to a wealthy and powerful family, the Lockes, headed by a ruthless magnate known as the Locke Ness Monster!</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
4/22
<p>Chelsea and Adam’s latest reunion hit a major snag when his scheming against Billy led to her falling in an elevator, hitting her head, being kidnapped and drugged, and ultimately landing in the hospital needing surgery after suffering a stroke. Adam thought it would be a great idea to jumpstart Chel’s rehabilitation by bringing in ex-wife/therapist to all of Genoa City, Sharon. It all went about as well as one would expect and ended up with Chelsea secretly recovering and framing Adam for the attempted murder of Sharon’s hubby after she became convinced they were carrying on an affair under her nose. When the jig was up and Chelsea was exposed, she agreed to spend some time in a mental facility to avoid jail time.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
5/22
<p>If only the cheating had led to the ‘Who’s the daddy’ drama we were hoping for, it would all have been worth it. Instead, Elena cheated on Devon with Nate, and then on Nate with Devon, who cheated on new girlfriend and his dead wife’s twin, Amanda, not once but twice… and it all amounted to not much of anything. Though Devon sucker punched Nate, who lost his ability to perform surgery, no one got raked over the coals, and no one even stayed mad!</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
6/22
<p>While it was amazing to get a backstory for Amanda (and Hilary!) it was puzzling that their biological mother and father weren’t tied to the canvas in any way. New family members were introduced, however, that made us forget about the reservations we had… but the story was another, well… story. Amanda’s foray into the death of her father was yet another saga that took place in the past with characters we didn’t know and it struggled to hold our interest. After playing out over the year, the reveal that her grandfather was the killer, and his ensuing conviction, were anti-climactic in the extreme. No payoff, but we’re looking forward to Amanda’s mom, Naya, and sister, Imani, a real firebrand, moving into Genoa City.</p> <p> </p>
Image: CBS screenshot
7/22
<p>After Billy’s expose on Adam brought Faith’s past into the future, specifically the story of her kidnapping as a newborn, the mean kids at school took it as an opportunity to bully her. Faith’s “friendship” with older girl, Jordan, seemed to be a saving grace, but actually introduced her to alcohol use and ended in tragedy when Jordan turned out to be behind the worst of the online bullying. Faith drank, drove, and ended up in a car wreck, only to be rescued by Adam, who later donated a kidney to save her life. Faith turned over a new leaf and took up with Moses Winters, who came to live with Devon.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
8/22
<p>After becoming trapped with Nick in a storm, expressing his desire to be on better terms, and subsequently proving himself by coming through for his brother and his brother’s daughter, Faith, Adam continued down the road to redemption he’d begun by reconciling with Victor. Sharon, who he was still in love with, was also involved in the tale, though the two didn’t get back together, only shared a kiss.</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
9/22
<p>When Tara Locke showed up in town with Kyle Abbott’s love child, she managed to get herself invited to move into the Abbott mansion, but reigniting Kyle’s feelings for her promised to be much more difficult. Enter Sally, who wanted to get rid of Kyle’s fiancee Summer for reasons of her own… specifically, her job at JCV. Sally convinced Tara to use the power of Kyle’s love for his son to intimidate Summer into leaving town. The scheme was later exposed, but not until Summer had already dumped Kyle and moved to Italy. In the end, Tara and Sally were exposed and both paid the consequences for their actions.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
10/22
<p>Kyle and Summer reconciled and formed a family with Harrison, his child with Tara Locke, in Italy, where Summer was working for Marchetti. The pair was finally married, but the wedding took place offscreen despite being attended by their parents, which their fans felt was just another instance of their being no payoff in a storyline they’d invested in.</p> <p> </p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
11/22
<p>What started out as a love triangle with Victoria, Billy and his new love, Lily, took a turn when Victoria instead fell for mega-mogul Ashland Locke… even after losing the bid for his company, Cyaxares. The romance was a hit with fans, who were thrown for a loop when Ashland revealed he had stage four lung cancer and only six months to live. Victoria stood by her man and vowed they would live life to the fullest, while working to convince him to fight the disease. Ashland moved in with Victoria and proposed.</p>
Image: Monty Brinton/CBS
12/22
<p>Devon, Lily, and their younger half-sibling, Moses, worked together to honor their father, Neil Winters and came up with a unique idea… a memory walk. Neil’s loved ones all participated in the tribute, which involved walking through spots that were significant to Neil in Genoa City, before ending with everyone dropping a flower at a memorial set up in Chancellor Park. There were loads of heartfelt touches in the episode, such as Sharon wearing Dru’s scarf, and Devon honoring Neil’s love of jazz music.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
13/22
<p>After Abby Newman married Chance Chancellor in a splashy wedding at the Chancellor Estate, planning immediately began to start the family of their dreams, but it was not to be that simple. Abby learned she couldn’t conceive due to scarring from her previous miscarriage and Chance’s sperm was (perhaps temporarily) not up to the task. Enter Mariah, Abby’s sudden bestie who was dying to help give her a child, nevermind that she’d never had one of her own yet, and Devon, who stepped up to fertilize Abby’s egg. The trio and their supporters formed the Baby Chancellor Crew after Chance disappeared on a covert assignement, and the result was a bouncing baby boy named Dominic, or Bowie, if you’re Mariah. Which brings us to…</p>
Image: CBS screenshot
14/22
<p>Stitch came back to town and kidnapped a pregnant Mariah, locking her away in a room by herself, in a twisted attempt to regain Abby’s affections. Abby, of course, was alone as Chance was still on assignment and uncommunicative. Devon teamed with Rey and Victor to get answers when Mariah went missing, she was found whilst going into labor, and Stitch took off. This was all much to the chagrin of Stitch fans, who felt he was thrown under the bus for a nonsensical bit of drama in the surrogacy story.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
15/22
<p>After reconciling with Victor and making a successful bid for Ashland Locke’s Cyaxares, Adam took the helm at Newman Media. While we’re not entirely sure what they do there other than try to neutralize Billy and Chance Comm, one of Adam’s first moves was to hire Chloe to run their fashion division, with the caveat that when Chelsea returned to town she would join her. Chloe hired Sally, who sparked with Adam, and the two shared a kiss on more than one occasion.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
16/22
<p>After using his company, Chance Comm’s platform to do a devastating expose on Adam, Billy next set his sights on Victoria’s new man, Ashland Locke. Though he uncovered details of the man’s sordid past, Locke had already come clean to Victoria, who accepted him warts and all. Billy showed up at their wedding ready with Jesse Gaines, a man who knew Ashland’s past, in tow and was determined to stop the nuptials. In the end, Gaines was neutralized, Billy watched Victoria marry the man she loved, and his efforts to blackmail Adam and Victor by threatening to expose Locke’s past publicly, backfired. Once again, he proved to be his own worst enemy when he couldn’t let it go.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
17/22
<p>Victoria Newman and Ashland Locke formed Genoa City’s newest power couple in more ways than one! They not only merged personally when they were married in a lavish ceremony in Tuscany, but joined their companies together, changing the long-standing Newman Enterprises to Newman-Locke. Other twists and turns have included Victoria falling out with Nick over Ashland’s past, Victoria’s relationship with Adam thawing, first when she invited him to the nuptials, and later when he saved them by stopping Nick from halting the ceremony, and Ashland undertaking an experiemental treatment for his cancer in Peru, which resulted in the news that his cancer is no longer spreading.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
18/22
<p>After Jack drunkenly professed his undying love to Phyllis, and Sharon made an offhand remark about Nick “settling” with Phyllis, the inevitable cracks began to show in their relationship. Things were “off” between them as their bickering over his family came to a head around the time of his sister’s wedding and the inevitable break-up soon followed.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
19/22
<p>Unsurprisingly, since Jack confessed that he’d never gotten over her, Phyllis has gravitated toward her ex-husband since the split from Nick. While Jack has warned that he won’t go down the road of reconciliation without acknowledging the pain caused the various times she’s cheated on him in the past, it seems a foregone conclusion that they will get back together.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
20/22
<p>It was very exciting to see Noah Newman turn up at his aunt Victoria’s wedding and announce that he was considering a move back to Genoa City from London. Noah did, in fact, return with his dad, and has since settled in a bit. It’s his reconnection with Tessa, who cheated on him with Mariah and admitted to using him when they were involved, that has left many viewers scratching their heads and wondering where exactly the writers are headed with his storyline.</p> <p> </p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
21/22
<p>Abby was devastated when Chance was believed to have died in an explosion that took place at the safe house where he was on assignment in Spain. Refusing to believe her other half was gone, Abby took off to find him and was rewarded for her efforts when a clue in his things led her to where he was healing and hiding out. Chance came home to resume his life with Abby and to meet his son Dominic for the first time, but it’s been anything but easy. Chance has been plagued with feelings of guilt and is having a hard time readusting to civilian life.</p>
Image: Howard Wise/JPI
22/22
