Daniel Goddard Reveals What Could Bring Him Back to Y&R!

When Daniel Goddard exited THE YOUNG & THE RESTLESS in late 2019, it marked the end of his 13-year run on the soap as Cane and left the popular actor as shocked as his fans that his time in Genoa City had come to an end. In the (almost) two years since Goddard made his final appearance — Cane left town to track down Colin in order to clear his name in the scandal surrounding Katherine’s will — he’s been asked repeatedly by his followers on social media if he would return to the soap. After all, Goddard was outspoken about his love for both his character and Y&R. So what are the chances of him returning to play Cane one day?

“That’s a good question… I would very much entertain it,” Goddard told SheKnowsSoaps, adding that there would have to be some caveats to him actually signing on the dotted line. “It would have to be some different circumstances now based on the way the whole thing came to an end. Which is like a chapter out of Eric Braeden or Jeannie Cooper’s tell-all book.”

Struggling to carefully select his next words, Goddard alluded to a messy exit from the soap that wasn’t his choice while revealing that he is still holding the door open for a potential Y&R return someday. “If there were the changes that needed to be made for that to happen,” Goddard confirmed, “it’s definitely something that I would be interested in.”

The actor went on to share that he even had some storylines in mind for his alter ego that did not include a reunion for popular couple Cane and Lily. “There were moments where [former headwriter] Mal Young, before his exit, had Cane and Victoria out of the blue just get hot and heavy and passionate in the kitchen,” recalled Goddard. “And I loved that. I would always say there’s so much stuff that could be played here. After Mishael Morgan’s character Hilary died and she came back [as Amanda], I pleaded with [co-executive producer and headwriter] Josh Griffith and [executive producer] Tony Morina that there was so much story there” for him to play as Cane.

As longtime Y&R viewers may recall, Hilary was first introduced as Cane’s seemingly innocent assistant at Chancellor Industries before the vixen made her vendetta against Neil known, blaming him for her mother’s death. As part of her scheme to ruin the Winters family, Hilary drugged Cane and tricked him into believing that they’d slept together. “I literally begged,” continued Goddard. “I said, ‘This is just pure Soap 101. You’ve got her doppelganger that comes back, she’s not the same person, Cane falls for this, and all of a sudden, you would have the Hilary fans and the Lane fans go crazy.”

Unfortunately, says the actor (who earlier this year was in the running when DAYS OF OUR LIVES was seeking to recast EJ), his storyline pleas fell on deaf ears. “They had their own agenda.”

Hopefully, Y&R will one day be able to work things out personally and professionally with Goddard to bring his beloved character back to the canvas!