Sean Kanan Dishes on 'Flattering' Young & the Restless / Bold & the Beautiful Crossover

Howard Wise/jpistudios.com

Sean Kanan is stepping back into a familiar world, and the actor could not be more excited about the experience — and what it might lead to down the road.

Kanan and Melody Thomas Scott are that the epicenter of the upcoming crossover between The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful that reunites Deacon Sharpe with ex-wife Nikki Newman. And they should have plenty to discuss. After all, Deacon helped Nikki's nemesis Diane Jenkins fake her death years ago, and Nikki was charged with her murder.

In an interview with PEOPLE ahead of the highly anticipated TV event, Kanan dishes on what it was like to reconnect as an actor and character with Scott. He also offers insight into some of Deacon's past struggles and possible future endeavors.

The crossovers begin with Deacon showing up in Y&R's Genoa City. The following week, Nikki arrives in B&B's Los Angeles. And from there? "You never know where it might lead," the actor tells PEOPLE.

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How are you feeling about this crossover? It must be pretty wild for you to be at the epicenter along with Melody Thomas Scott. 

Sean Kanan: It's not unheard of that characters crossover, it happens from time to time, but it's not really frequent. So it's always flattering and fun when you get to go work with another group of actors. In this case especially, actors who I've worked with before. It was a lot of fun. And I got a great little ad lib which at the end of this scene, I just looked at her and went, "Oh, Nick. One more thing: You look good." [Laughs] It's a lot of fun to work with Melody's husband, Ed [J. Scott], who's our supervising producer, who I adore.

Do you think Sheila Carter's archnemesis Lauren Fenmore knows she's still alive and causing trouble in L.A.?

Honestly, I don't know. [Laughs] My stuff was very sort of in a vacuum. I wish I could give you more interesting information.

Who's your favorite Y&R leading lady? 

Well, I have to say Melody! I mean, I really enjoyed working with her. I'll tell you a true story: I always wanted to work with Eric Braeden and Melody. And I promised myself that if I ever found myself working with the two of them, I was going to just mentally step back and say, "You know what? You're working with two of the very best in the business. And you need to give yourself a little pat on the back and recognize how fortunate you are."

And it's nice to get another bite at the apple, playing Deacon on Y&R working with Nikki again. Who knows? You never know where it might lead, whether we'll see Deacon again on Y&R. That being said, I'm extremely happy on Bold and Beautiful.

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Would you ever consider going back to General Hospital if they decided to bring A.J. back from the dead again?

I don't think so. No. Again, I'm very happy on Bold and Beautiful. For me, it has been absolutely the greatest experience I've had in daytime television. It's fulfilling on so many levels that I wasn't able to experience in other daytime collaborations.

Fair enough. But how do you feel about playing the down-and-out Deacon amid all the glitz and glamour of B&B? 

[Laughs] That's a good question. You know, I've always been interested in characters who are antiheroes and characters who operate in the shades of gray. Deacon is a guy who definitely has done some bad things, but he also has a weird sort of personal code where he demonstrates loyalty and even admirable behavior in some respects. And good people do bad things and bad people do good things. I like watching this guy struggle against all odds to try to be a better man. Having been incarcerated, almost nobody is willing to give this guy a chance. So he might want to behave in an above-the-board way, but so many doors are slammed in his face.

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Okay, but Sean, we have got to talk about "Daddy's back," which you said as Deacon was about to have sex with Sheila in disguise. Quite memorable, to say the least! 

[Laughs] I will take full credit for that! That was a Sean Kanan improv. And listen, I'm going to go further and toot my horn a little more: when I was doing a scene with Kimberlin [Brown, who plays Sheila], I said, "When you pull that mask off, say 'Mom's back,' because I knew that that would make it to a promo. [Laughs]

That's one of the things I love about Bold and Beautiful. We have terrific writers, not the least of whom is our head writer and executive producer, Bradley Bell. They're really wonderful about allowing latitude for actors to try stuff and kind of put a personal stamp on a character.

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Speaking of Kimberlin, what was it like being in a story with one of daytime's all-time greatest villains Sheila Carter? 

I adore Kimberlin. Wisely, Deacon has a healthy dose of respect and probably even a little fear of Sheila because he knows she has no limits and knows the extent she's willing to go to get what she wants. I think the interesting thing now is Deacon did not want her to show up and does not want her to stay in his place because he's genuinely trying to stay out of the trouble and be honest with his daughter. And you know, you can't really shack up with somebody in close space for so long before you don't kill them — or you start to fall for them. [Laughs]

Howard Wise/jpistudios

Is there a B&B performer with whom you haven't worked, who would you most like to work with?  

I've worked pretty much with almost everybody. Here's the thing, Deacon desperately needs a friend. I mean, he has no guy friends, and I think it'd be interesting if he formed a friendship with somebody like Lawrence Saint-Victor's character [Carter Walton]. That would be cool.

I also think it'd be interesting if Deacon started to have some kind of relationship with Katie [Logan, played by Heather Tom] because Katie just seems like she's so buttoned up, so prim and proper. I think she could use a little Deacon in her life.

And finally, just for kicks, if you play another B&B character, who would be the most fun for you? 

Well, if it could be anyone throughout my years at B&B, it would absolutely be Sally Spectra. She was just this bigger-than-life, bombastic, scenery-devouring character, who was just it's so much fun to watch. And we all miss Darlene Conley [who died in 2007] very much.

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The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful crossover is airing on CBS.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.