A consummate professional who has done it all, theater, film and television; Vincent Irizarry (David) sat down and shared his feelings about landing a gig on The Young and the Restless, being bi-coastal, working with old friends and having the "Hollywood" experience. Get to know Vincent a little better!

What has it been like to join the cast of Y&R?

"Every set is different. Every show is different. There is a different pace to each show, a whole different vibe. Given the fact that I am here at Television City with all the other sound stages, I love that. It gives you the sense that you are in Hollywood! It is like the old movies and television series that you used to see and there is all the background noise and people bustling around, sets being moved and all this stuff is happening. Here we are, right outside The Price is Right, The Bold and the Beautiful, there's The Tyra Banks Show upstairs, Colin Ferguson, American Idol is on the other side of CBS. Everywhere you look, there is something happening and I do like that."

"The show itself is a very fast moving show. They tape very quickly but that is a trend that is happening all across the board these days. For the nine years that I was on All My Children, I thought it was one of the faster shows but it just kept getting faster and faster. They began taking away rehearsals, one right after another and pretty soon you had no rehearsal at all. And that happens on this show too. You just try and get it in the can as quickly as possible."

Now that you are on contract, what did Lynn say she had in store for you?

"Actually, it started with she called me and asked me to dinner. She shared with me that the storyline that they had initially brought me on for, the Carmen Mesta storyline, was going to end a lot faster than they had anticipated and she really wanted to optimize my time here. So they segued me into a storyline where I would be a political consultant and run Jack's campaign. That worked with my character's past as well. That is the great thing about starting with a clean slate, they can write anything and people will buy it. My name's David Chow, for crying out loud. They haven't given me any back-story on my name yet but I am hoping that I have a brother and his name is Seamus Chow (he laughs). But it is really funny to be playing another David so soon after my last role (David Hayward, AMC)."

Did you read that Michael Park (Jack, As the World Turns) quote about how he calls you Tony because you look like a Tony to him?

"Yes! Someone sent me the article. That was very funny! And I do remember him calling me other people's names and he would be so apologetic. He would say, 'I know who you are, I know who you are, but the minute I open my mouth I know I am saying the wrong name and that your name is Vincent. I am so sorry!' He is so sweet. I actually did a golf tournament with him and other people from Guiding Light and As the World Turns over on Marco Island. That is where I met him. He's a very talented man. I love his work."

How do you like working with Peter Bergman (Jack)?

I love it! He is a consummate professional. I have known Peter for over 20 years. We have never had the opportunity to work together, so it is very exciting to be able to work with him. He is someone who is very conscientious, very passionate about the work and it is always exciting to work off of somebody like that. I have enjoyed rehearsing with him, talking with him, sharing our experiences of working on All My Children and about the people that we have in common, like James Mitchell (Palmer, AMC), whom we both love dearly. He got to see James recently. So it is great to work with Peter! It is great working with some of the other cast members also. I do regret that Victoria Rowell (Dru) left because I loved working scenes with her. As a person and an artist, she is like working with a raw nerve and it is very exciting to work with someone like that because you never know what she will do next and you have to be at the top of your game. It enlivens your job. I enjoyed having the opportunity to work with her. She's a great talent."

Describe your work week. What is a work week like for you?

"There is no set pattern. I have been here for more than four months and it is amazing how quickly it has gone by. I can't believe it! And in that time, I have seen my family every week. There was only two times that I was here for 2 ½ week stretches where I couldn't get home and my wife brought my two youngest kids to LA for five days in the middle of that, so I saw them and another time, my oldest daughter came out on a break from school, and she came out for five days as well, so I have seen my family every week that I have been out her. There have been times that I have been able to go home to New York for three days and other times for a week. I am used to the traveling from New York to Los Angeles. I weather it very well."

You have done it all, film, television, theater, which do you like best?

"I like to work. It is driven by great material. If it is a play, then I want to do that. It has been a while since I have done a play. Before I did television, I did theater and that is all I did. It is a totally different sensibility. I love film as well. In film, it is light years from television. You can spend 12 hours doing a page and a half. In television, you are lucky to get five minutes on a page and a half. It is very fast. I love all the mediums for different reasons. I love having a lot of material and being able to do it and then walk away and be proud of my work. In daytime, I like that there is a beginning, a long middle and the end is far from site and everyday is a different story. You have to develop that character. You get a repertory ensemble feel with the people that you are working with in daytime, that's exciting too."

Is there someone on the show that you haven't worked with that you would like to work with in the future?

"I have worked with Christian LeBlanc (Michael), I have worked one or two scenes with him, but I love Christian. I have known him since his 'As the World Turns' days in the '80's and I would love to work more with him. Also, Tracey Bregman (Lauren). I think she is very talented and I haven't had the chance to work with her."

We can't wait to see more of Vincent Irizarry! Thanks for sitting down with us.

VINCENT IRIZARRY: Oh boy, that's a long one. Well, I just left All My Children and I had been off for less than two weeks and my manager called me and said that Y&R had a character that they wanted to consider me for. And the role initially was for a long term role. At that time I had just finished AMC for nine years and we had just moved. We sold our house right before that not knowing that I was leaving the show but we sold it and we were moving anyway. So, the thought of relocating my whole family out here to Los Angeles for a long term role really wasn't attractive to me at the time. I told that to my manager and let them know I wanted to take this one step at a time. I'm not committing to anything but I'd be happy to meet with Lynn [Latham, Executive Producer and Head Writer] and sit with her and talk. When they came back they said, "You know that role might not be right for you anyway. There's another role we could bring on and we could tailor to you. It's a three month role and if you like it, it's yours." So, I said, "That's perfect. That's more my speed right now." That's what happened. We didn't know at the time - Lynn forgot that the character was already named, David Chow. It was supposed to be Carmen's ex-lover before she came to Genoa City. It wasn't until afterwards that she realized the name was already said on camera and even seen visually on camera on an index card with Christian LeBlanc's character, Michael and Neil. They were looking at potential suspects rather than Bryton's character. My character was on an index card, and Lynn said they had no intention of ever bringing this character on. Then all of a sudden I'm cast and they called me and told me and I said, "Wait a minute - what? I thought they were tailoring this to me?" [Laughs] And she's like, "I'm sorry. I totally screwed up." I look at it like this. I know somebody who's name is Erwin McManus. You would said McManus is Scottish, but the guy was born in El Salvador. He's 100% but his mother remarried when he was a kid and the man's name was McManus and he adopted him. It's doable. So, I made peace with it. That's how it happened.

CBS.com: Were you involved in any of the development of the character?

VINCENT IRIZARRY: Not really, only because I didn't know enough about the show. I didn't know enough about the story. I didn't even get a script until two days before I was working and I was getting on a plane the next day to come here to work. It happened so quickly. I was grabbing any little piece of information I could about the story. Thankfully I have friends who watch the show too and they were able to tell me more about it. So, it was good, but no, I didn't feel like I had a place of knowledge to come from to inform the storyline and to contribute. I was basically flying by the seat of my pants with what they were giving me and now we're starting to flush it out a little bit more which is great.

CBS.com: Do you think it's a misconception that the world of Daytime dramas is small and everyone knows about everyone else's show?

VINCENT IRIZARRY: Well, it is certainly a world unto itself. I would say that. I don't know if it's a misconception because I've been in this medium now on and off for over twenty years and I know a great majority of actors on the show. Some of them I've worked with, some of them I have not worked with. Some of them I've just known and respected from afar. We don't really sit down and watch the other shows. You just don't have the time to do that, but on occasion you might be in a makeup room and one of the shows will be on and you'll see some really nice work. Or usually, it's during Emmy time when you sit on the panels as a judge and you get to see people's work, you get to see the quality of the shows that are submitting for best show. So, that's when you get to see people's work really, but you also do personal appearances with people from other shows. I've known Christian LeBlanc (Michael) since 1983. I was on Guiding Light as Lujack and he was on As The World Turns. I've known Peter Bergman (Jack) for probably 15 of those years too and I've never worked with either of them. So [coming here] I had my first scene with Christian that I've ever had and my first scenes with Peter Bergman. And I was just so happy because they are wonderful actors and great people.

CBS.com: It must be nice coming to a new show where you already have a familiarity.

VINCENT IRIZARRY: Yeah. My first day of work everybody was so warm and very welcoming. I just felt right at home. People were great, and they are just a solid cast, really very talented actors.

CBS.com: Did it play into your decision to join this cast that Y&R is the #1 Daytime drama?

VINCENT IRIZARRY: Certainly that's a component involved in it, yeah. [Smiles] When the #1 show calls and says we'd like you to come on, the potential to having something that you get to work on that's exciting is there. So, absolutely, that had something to do with it. Knowing the quality of this show and the people that I was going to be working with, those were certainly parts of the whole equation.

CBS.com: Since you've been on several other Daytime dramas, have you noticed a difference in style in comparison?

VINCENT IRIZARRY: Yes. Certainly the pace of the show is quick. On this show it's very rare that I have anything more than a three page scene. More often than not, my scenes are two pages. Their scenes go quickly here. It's also the rapidity in how we tape the shows. We go out there, we don't really have a dry rehearsal, which is what I've had on other shows, you don't even really have a dress rehearsal. Then they tape it. So that's basically the first real run-through is to tape. On the other shows, we did have a dress rehearsal. You adjust, you do what you need to do. Then you find within a short amount of time you're accustomed to it and you don't even want to do it the other way anymore.

CBS.com: Would you have pursued projects outside of Daytime had Y&R not snatched you up?

VINCENT IRIZARRY: I don't know. I'm an actor. It depends on what's out there. Unfortunately for actors, we're sort of at the mercy of what's available and what may be there that could stimulate you, excite you and that you might want to be a part of. That's not to say that I take everything, because I don't and I never have. But, had something else come up, certainly, I would have been happy to do that. But at the time, I was very grateful that it came up when it did because it came up right before Thanksgiving and traditionally in this business if you haven't gotten a job by Thanksgiving you're not working for the next couple of months. This industry dies at that time. I got a job that was going to be paying me well straight through the most difficult, driest period of the year. I was very happy. There was no real thought about that.

CBS.com: What is it about this genre that attracts you?

VINCENT IRIZARRY: Steady work. [Laughs] Considering the fact that a great majority of actors that are in this industry are unemployed, a very small percentage of us are working, anything that's a steady job is a great job. I do have a family to provide for. The other thing I like is that you get a sense of an assemble. It's almost like a repertory company where once you start working with the actors you start to really gel. You start to feel as if you're reading each other's minds. It becomes so natural. It's a great process to be a part of when you get to that place and it's very organic and natural and I love that. I love that we have the freedom and luxury to do that because we work so much together. It's also extraordinarily challenging in ways that no other medium is. I've done films, too, and you spend twelve hours doing a page and a half in a film. People that come to this medium from other mediums, their heads are spinning. They can't imagine it.

CBS.com: Your character seems to have a calm exterior. Was it fun to play off of Drucilla's frantic moments?

VINCENT IRIZARRY: Yeah, because I don't feel like I have to match her. With my character all I had to do was drive her to that place. [Laughs] And I felt like I succeeded to get her to the place where's she's almost to the point of breaking. That's really why he came here. He doesn't have to match her intensity for that to happen. She's a raw nerve.

CBS.com: Do you feel the more mysterious you are as a character, the more interest the audience seems to have in you?

VINCENT IRIZARRY: Sure. It's good to leave some element of mystery in a character. I like to know that this character is not just a stock good guy or bad guy, that there are shades of gray. That's what I love playing.