Young & Restless Exclusive: On His Adam-versary, Mark Grossman Reflects On His Early Difficulties — Plus, the Upside of His Character’s Dark Side

When The Young and the Restless cast Mark Grossman as Adam Newman, he got a whole lot more than a part. He inherited a character with years and years’ worth of colorful history as well as ties to the CBS soap’s most prominent family. An awful lot of pressure came with the gig, too.

Considering Adam’s significance to the canvas, Grossman had to get it right — a task made all the trickier by the fact that The Young and the Restless works on such a tight schedule that it can be tough for a newbie to even catch his breath. “It really was hard for me to form my own opinion of who Adam was in the beginning,” his portrayer tells Soaps.com. “I was just trying to try to get on the train and learn how things worked on such a fast-moving show.

“Over time,” he adds. “I was able to settle into the role and try to shape who I think this character is.”

Certainly, Grossman can consider that mission accomplished. He’s managed to find and walk the fine line that allows Adam to maintain his dangerous edge while at the same time being someone for whom we can root. How’d he pull it off? “Regardless of what’s written,” he offers, “I’m always trying to stay true to who the character is at his core.”

That means finding Adam’s humanity even when he goes so very dark that he’s contemplating detonating explosives at Newman Towers. It doesn’t bother Grossman that his alter ego has a villainous streak. If anything, it affords him more freedom. “As an actor, that allows you to really open things up and try to drill down on the motivation of why he did what he did.”