The Young and the Restless star Roger Howarth speaks out on working with Eric Braeden AKA the Great Victor Newman

The Young and the Restless treated viewers to a showdown between Victor Newman and Matt Clark at The Shadow Room. The ten men had tusseled before back in Genoa City, but a different actor played Matt back then. His current portrayer is talking about what it was like to go up against Eric Braeden, who plays Victor.

The Young and the Restless, Victor versus Matt

Longtime viewers of Howarth recall just how formidable an actor he is. The performer took (what may have originally been intended) the short-term role of Todd Manning on One Life to Live, and turned him into one of Llanview's most enduring villains. (It helped a tiny bit that he was inadvertently given the surname "Manning," which just happened to be the last name of Irene Manning, the bestie of Viki Lord Buchanan, played by Erika Slezak.)

This said, Howarth recently told Soap Opera Digest that he had a case of the jitters when he found out that Matt, or Mitch as he maintains, would be going up against Victor in a scene.

"I was nervous to meet him,” Howarth shared. "I was genuinely nervous! He’s such an imposing, impressive human being."

Howarth soon realized that his nerves were for naught because Braeden was very welcoming to him. He found working with the legend to be an absolute pleasure. In fact, Howarth says that he had fun going up against the Y&R veteran in their scenes together.

Let's talk soccer

The two actors found common ground in their mutual love of soccer. Braeden played the game in the 1970s, scoring the winning goal at the 1973 National Challenge Cup, when he was a fullback for the Macabi Los Angeles soccer club.

Howarth calls Braeden "soccer royalty." Their mutual interest in the sport gave the two a common interest.

The game that Matt and Victor are playing, for now, appears to be a draw. Victor didn't get Matt to admit that he was Matt. He also didn't get him to reveal Noah's whereabouts. In fact, Matt made it sound like his wife, Sienna (Tamara Braun), was the bad guy in all this and that she could very well be turning Victor's grandson onto drugs!

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If Victor believed any of what Matt was saying, he didn't let on. His meeting with Nick and Sharon indicated that Victor is more determined than ever to make sure Matt Clark doesn't get away with hurting his family.

Catch all-new episodes of The Young and the Restless weekday on CBS and Paramount Plus.

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