Y&R Star Nathan Owens Named Performer of the Week — Holden’s Heartbreak Hits Hard!

The Young and the Restless's Nathan Owens showed some new sides to Holden Novak’s personality this week. The soap genre is primarily about dynamic women, but Owens got to flex his acting muscles in recent episodes and show that his character is capable of humor, vulnerability, and passion. Now, we’re bestowing Soap Central's Performer of the Week for Y&R honors on Owens.

The Young and the Restless Performer of the Week: Nathan Owens

There’s far more to Owens’ performances as Holden than being Damian’s (Jermaine Rivers) BFF and a man from Audra’s (Zuleyka Silver) past. Holden has feelings, wishes, dreams, and desires – just like everyone else in the world. That was evident based on Owens’s performances this week.

Owens tapped into his character’s vulnerability and opened his heart to Audra. He began his encounter with her at the Genoa City Athletic Club using a little humor, but, unfortunately, career-driven Audra can be just as humorless tough as Victor Newman is.

Holden confessed to Audra that he knew what she was up to with Victor. If he was hoping she’d open up to him, he was out of luck. Owens didn’t play Holden as coming on too strong. The businessman was hoping to get Audra to start sharing, but she wasn't nibbling. She warned him not to get in her way.

Rather than meet Audra with anger, Owens opted to play Holden with hurt. Holden was hoping to make a connection with Audra, but his plan failed. The look of disappointment and sadness was clear on Holden’s face. Many guys are afraid to show vulnerability; Owens is not.

Betrayed by his bestie

Next, Holden entered Crimson Lights at an unfortunate moment. He heard the tail end of a conversation between Damian and Lily (Christel Khalil) that led Holden to believe that Damian had no use for him.

“You really don’t want me to work with you at Winters now that you lost me my job,” said Holden. Turning his hurt feelings to Lily, he added, "He forgot about me a while ago – about the time he met you."

With the hurt building, Holden pointed out to Damian that he’d done his bidding over and over again. He recapped his origins, coming to Genoa City and pretending to be Damian on his behalf. Reciting expository information can often sound dull, but Owens delivered the backstory by playing his character's pain and anger. That made the scene dramatic.

Holden trusted Damian like he would a family member. Now, Holden feels that dynamic is threatened because Damian has his mother, Amy (Valarie Pettiford), a half-brother, Nate (Sean Dominic), and a cousin, Lily. “I’m glad you made peace with your mom,” Holden said. “I just didn’t expect to get left out in the cold in the process.”

“Have a nice life, Damian,” Holden told his former friend as he left. Who hasn’t felt the sting of rejection and betrayal from someone whom they considered a friend? The writers of The Young and the Restless handed Owens some meaty material this week, and the actor delivered. Bravo!

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