Sean Kanan (ex-A.J., GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Jude, SUNSET BEACH) has been cast on BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL as Deacon Sharp, the bad-boy manager of a Hollywood nightclub, who also happens to be the biological father of little Eric.

"I know very little about my character," reports Kanan. "But I've got a feeling I'm not going to be such a good guy. There's this custody battle going on about a baby, and I'm the father. I guess I impregnated a girl who's now dead." That would be Becky, who recently died of pancreatic cancer, leaving her baby in Amber's care. But Deacon's presence will also complicate Rick and C.J.'s ongoing battle about which one of them should raise little Eric.

Kanan almost turned down the part when B&B first approached him about it. "I booked a feature film, and I was supposed to leave for New York to do it," he explains. "But I thought that out of courtesy to [Executive Producer/Head Writer] Brad Bell, I would go meet with him. But I read with Adrienne [Frantz, Amber], and suddenly, I got the feeling that this was more serious than just an initial meeting.

"It was never my intention to go back to daytime at this point in my career," he confesses. "But I was very impressed with Brad, and that got me to consider the role seriously."

It was the perks that finally convinced Kanan to sign on for two years. "I have great outs in my contract, so I can still do feature films," Kanan reveals. "I will be able to work quite a bit on BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL and also do movies. So, it allows me to have the best of two worlds."

"It sounds like they're going to give me a certain amount of latitude to play this guy, and that's exciting," enthuses Kanan.

Thanks to a movie role he recently completed, Kanan will also be sporting a new look. "I dyed my hair dark, so I don't look like I normally look," he warns. "I also asked Brad if I could grow a goatee, and he said, 'Yeah, I like that.' Then I said, 'What if I have an earring in each ear?' and he's like, 'Hey, I like that, too.' The clothes are a lot of fun, too - I'll be wearing a lot of black, red and gray because they want me to look like the devil!"