Billy Flynn Talks Taking Over as Cane Ashby on ‘The Young and the Restless’ and How He’s Going to Evolve (EXCLUSIVE)
Soap star Billy Flynn gets candid about joining ‘Y&R’ as nu-Cane, wooing Lily and manipulating locals
With The Young and The Restless’ Nick and Sharon locked up over Damian’s stabbing and Cane “Aristotle Dumas” Ashby insisting he was—and still is—the target, portrayer Billy Flynn gets candid with Woman’s World about what it’s been like to join a new soap opera after over a decade playing Days of Our Lives’ Chad DiMera.
Flynn reflects on the pressures of being a recast and recreating the magic of Cane and Lily with Daytime Emmy-winner Christel Khalil. Plus, as his character loses control of his well-laid plan, why does Flynn say Lily and The Young and the Restless fans STILL haven’t yet reunited with the real Cane?
‘Days’ star Billy Flynn on his grand entrance as Cane on ‘Y&R’–”It was intense!”
While Billy Flynn is still appearing as Chad on Days of Our Lives due to the show’s advanced production schedule, this soap opera star currently has his head in a whole different world of drama. He’s landed on The Young and the Restless as Cane Ashby, who lured Genoa City’s biggest players to Nice as the mysterious Aristotle Dumas… and then trapped them there!
“It felt like a very grand entrance,” Flynn says with a grin. “On Days, we usually had maybe two vets in a scene together, so to walk onto set and have all those amazing people staring at you was kind of terrifying. Peter Bergman, Eric Braeden, Melody Thomas Scott… it was intense! And the sets are beautiful. It was a huge undertaking that they put together for this rollout of Cane, and that didn’t get lost on me. I’d gotten very comfortable at Days, and it made me go, ‘Okay, I better bring it!’”
“I also took over for Casey Deidrick at Day, so I know how hard it is to be a recast,” he adds. “I made my mark on that character, but I was there for 11 years. It’s not easy, and that’s if you fit the description—and I don’t!”
Billy Flynn on finding his footing as nuCane on ‘Y&R’—”I wish I had the empathy for myself”
With Cane’s Aussie originator Daniel Goddard now over at General Hospital, Flynn is both younger and well, more American than his predecessor.
“I knew I was going to have a have a mountain to climb,” he admits. “I felt self-conscious and insecure, but Eric Braeden made me feel better when he told me that they were all happy I’m playing Cane and that my version would resonate and makes sense. I also had conversations with Christel Khalil and everyone I’d be working with, who assured me.
“And the day that I couldn’t say Genoa City, people were just roasting me,” he shares with a laugh. “It made me feel like part of the team. Everybody’s been so kind, congratulatory, and excited to work with me that I felt like I had something to prove.”
“I wish I had the empathy for myself that I did for Marci Miller and AnnaLynne McCord coming in and playing Abigail or a new love interest (who didn’t end up being Abigail),” he adds, referring to his former Days of Our Lives leading ladies. “But I’m hard on myself—as I’m sure Marci was.”
Even his original Abigail, Kate Mansi, can relate, since she’s been enjoying her own fresh start as General Hospital’s no-longer-so-new Kristina.
“We definitely chatted about it,” Flynn shares. “But I’d wanted to work at Y&R for a long time. I mean, at every Emmys, I talked to Peter Bergman about going over and years ago, I talked to the show about playing Chance, but it just didn’t work out. The fact that this role came when it did, it felt serendipitous. It felt like the right time, the right part. I was excited.”
Billy Flynn on whether Cane is a conman–”He’s telling half-truths”
In a soapy twist, the actor who’s replaced Flynn as Chad on Days of Our Lives is the actor who landed the role of Chance—Connor Floyd!
“Some people are sad that I’ve left, but I think Connor taking over excites everybody,” says Flynn, who will air on both shows through this year, but is focused on getting to know his new character.
“I actually came on playing two characters, Aristotle Dumas who transitioned into Cane,” he notes, and whether or not Cane’s built his fortune by being a conman as many suspect, he’s certainly hiding things now.
“Everybody thinks he’s lying and he just lets them think whatever they want, but he’s telling half-truths,” Flynn maintains. “For example, he says he wants Chancellor and he made Victor an offer… but he’s not telling them what his what his whole plan is. Cane has a secret behind everything—even down to that time Victor got in his face and demanded to speak to him. In my mind, that was exactly the reaction Cane wanted.”
‘Y&R’ star Billy Flynn talks Christel Khalil and Cane & Lily’s chemistry
Whatever Cane has in the works on the business front, this grand gesture was all about winning back Lily.
“She’s the only thing that’s flustering him,” Flynn says. “With Lily, Cane’s speaking truth, but he’s got a bit more armor on than Chad. Chad wore his heart on his sleeve from day one. He was emotional, and I don’t just mean crying with Abigail. His first scene, he came in and he hit his brother in the face!”
While Cane’s been playing it cool, he’s made his intentions clear—and Flynn and Khalil have created an awkward chemistry as his character works to win hers back.
“It’s interesting, because we have to play chemistry, but just like when Chad saw Abigail, I’m pursuing somebody who isn’t necessarily interested,” Flynn says. “Cane and Lily have a history, but her feelings are far different than his. Over the last six years, she’s removed him as a possibility. She’s not hit with romantic feelings every time she sees him. He needs to earn that. He needs to convince her that the person that she fell in love with is the person that he still is.”
‘Y&R’ star Billy Flynn on Damian’s stabbing—”It changes the game”
That’s going to be hard to do, at the moment! With Damian seemingly murdered on his property, Cane has put Nick and Sharon under house arrest and insists he was the target.
“That was unexpected, and it changes the game a bit,” Flynn concedes. “He’s having to shift. He’s trying to convince people that they are blaming him for something that was intended for him.
“But I think the idea that it affects Lily affects him more than anything else,” he adds. “Cane knows she was putting on a bit of a show with Damian, but any hopes that making her fall in love with him was going to go smoothly are going out the window—not to mention, someone is after him!”
‘Y&R’ star Billy Flynn teases that Cane may not know himself, anymore
While this latest turn is sure to expose more of Dumas’ grand plan, Flynn teases that Lily and The Young and the Restless fans STILL haven’t reunited with the real Cane.
“Being Aristotle Dumas all those years, it allowed him to distance himself and not take things too personally,” Flynn tells Woman’s World. “Cane lost who he really was, so now, I’m trying to figure out who I am in this new world. He’s going to evolve. You’ll see him have a bit more of an emotional side, because he starts getting attached to things again. Maybe I can start to show a bit more humility or a bit of a sense of humor—things that made Chad popular.
“I think it’s important for a leading man character to not take himself so seriously,” he adds. “I know that’s not how Cane’s started out and it’s going to be a very slow reveal, but a role only gets better the more time you have with it. It took a year before I felt like I was getting a handle on Chad, and I’ve felt like I’m starting to get a little handle on Cane sooner than that. I’ll probably feel a little unsettled for quite some time, but it’s been a blessing.”
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