Actor had more input on TV wedding than his own

McClatchy Newspapers

LOS ANGELES — “The Young and the Restless” star Daniel Goddard played it smart and let his wife, Rachael, handle most of the details for their wedding.

“I was there,” Goddard jokes.

He had more input in the “Wedding of a Lifetime” contest conducted by the CBS daytime drama. Goddard and fellow “Y&R” actor Christel Khalil narrowed down 25 semifinalists (from 2,600 applicants) to the final four for the contest. Fans voted for the winning couple, Charlene Lee and Willie Williams from the Bronx, who will be hitched Sunday in Las Vegas.

Goddard had a good excuse for not helping with his own wedding. He was in the last season of his series, “BeastMaster,” in 2002, when the wedding was planned. The syndicated series, which filmed in Australia, kept him busy between working with animals and staying in shape to wear a loincloth.

Plus, it was his bride who made the decision to tackle the big job.

Rachael planned big as the couple ended up having three wedding services, including a Celtic hand-binding ceremony. It hasn’t stopped. The couple renew their vows every year.

That gave Goddard a lot of wedding information to use when trimming the applicant field to the final few. The Aussie’s first professional work was the TV series “Home and Away” and since then has appeared in episodic TV such as “Monk” and his current job on “The Young and the Restless” as Cane Ashby.

When he is not working, Goddard is an avid photographer who plans to put together a book of his photos of homeless people.

All of the talk about weddings brings Goddard to a point about daytime acting, a job that makes actors do in one day what it takes prime-time actors eight days to accomplish.

He says working in the fast-paced world of daytime drama requires a “good acting marriage.” Actors, says Goddard, have to be able to depend on their partners to make a scene work.

“There has to be a very solid sense of trust so you can be in that dynamic moment,” Goddard adds.

“The Young and the Restless” airs at 12:30 p.m. weekdays on CBS.