Peter Bergman is better known among soap opera fans for playing his long-standing role as Jack Abbott in The Young and the Restless. His career has rarely ever gone beyond the TV genre, with Bergman making a cameo appearance in Apple TV’s Pluribus by Vince Gilligan.
His small role in the sci-fi series marks the first time the actor has played a non-soap role since his guest appearance in The King of Queens in 2001.
For Pluribus, he appears as a government official at the end of the premiere episode. The character gives a televised speech to the show’s main character, Carol Sturka (Rhea Seehorn). Due to how the scene is filmed, Bergman ended up talking for almost seven pages.
“When I got the script, the character’s name was Distinguished Gentleman, and I thought, ‘Well, Vince clearly thinks I’m a distinguished fellow,'” he joked.
“And then I read my dialogue, and I realized, ‘He knows I’ve done a soap, and I can learn copious amounts of complicated dialogue.'”
The Young and the Restless star reveals he got the Pluribus role thanks to his friend and fellow actor Brian Cranston. Cranston rose to infamy among fans for starring as Walter White in Breaking Bad and in Better Call Saul, and it just so happened that Gilligan is the creator of both series and Pluribus.
“We’ve had them in our home, and we’ve done lots of things with Vince and Holly. So, Vince texted me and said, ‘Hey, I have this thing coming up that I think you’d be perfect for.’ I said, ‘As long as it fits into my Y&R schedule, I’d love that,'” explained Bergman.
While his role in the Apple TV series may be small, Bergman reveals Pluribus has caught the interest of his fellow Young and the Restless cast. Bergman has been a part of the soap opera since 1989.
