Linden Ashby
Cameron Kirsten, The Young and the Restless

The Young and the Restless's Cameron Kirsten drove Sharon nuts believing that she had killed him. Now he and his portrayer, Linden Ashby, are back and proving that a man who's been underground has plenty of time to mastermind his revenge. Ashby dialed up TV Guide Online to talk about his character's resurrection from his not-so-final resting place, and why Cameron's newest antics might put him back in the morgue for good. - Delaina Dixon

It's the hot trend on soaps right now, bringing people back who weren't really dead. Have you always known Cameron wasn't DOA? I had no idea. I thought I was dead. And then they said, "Wow, this story really works. What do you think about coming back and not being dead?" I said, "Sure, that would be great."

Was there some serious coaxing to get you back on the canvas? Everybody has to coax me to do everything.

They say love and hate takes the same amount of passion. Is it because Sharon refused to return his love that Cameron's intent on destroying her? He's obsessed, and I think that's very much like an addiction. No one ever says "no" to Cameron, so the bar for him to get his thrills keeps getting raised. He loves her, wants her and can't stand that he can't have her. So yes, it's a very thin line between love and hate.

Cameron stood up to Victor when he told him to renege on his job offer to Nick. So, could he take Victor in a back alley? [Chuckles] Let's think about that. I think Cameron could go toe-to-toe with just about anybody out there. You don't tell him what to do. Everybody else seems to go, "Ooh, Victor" and cater to his whims. But Cameron and Victor are equals in the business world. They're men used to getting what they want.

What is the weakness that will bring Cameron down? If he can't find the body he used to play dead, that's a big problem. That he's gotten into something this insane to begin with. His obsession with Sharon is going to be his undoing.

Or Grace. She's going to be pretty peeved when she discovers his real motives. Hell hath no fury... She's not been scorned yet, but it could get interesting if this plan starts to unravel and this train looks like it's coming off the tracks. Cameron's going to have to do damage control very quickly and clean up any loose ends that are out there. And Grace is a fairly loose end.

Do you think that, with all the enemies Cameron's building up - Sharon, Nick, Grace, Michael, Nikki, Victor - he could wind up dead for real? He has built up a nice little arsenal of enemies. Nobody in that town likes him. Sometimes I think, "God, I hate this son of a bitch." Part of me hates playing him and walking around in his skin. He's so not who I am.

Is Cameron redeemable? I just don't know if Cameron has a lot of redeemable qualities, or if anyone wants him redeemed.

Your real-life wife, Susan Walters, plays Diane Jenkins on the show, but your stories don't really coincide... And that's good for Genoa City, because if Diane Jenkins and Cameron got together, we would burn that town to the ground! Susan and I carpool every once in a while and we get to share dressing rooms, so I got a good-looking girl in my dressing room. Finally, after so many years, I can say I've slept my way into a job in Hollywood.

You don't feel overwhelmed that you work in the same place? Yeah, she's cramping my style. I gotta be my own man. [Chuckles] No, it's great.

You kept yourself busy during your break from Y&R. You've made a ton of movies. One film, Shrink Rap 2, is this little comedy art film that we did for nothing. I play an alcoholic actor who stars on a Melrose Place-like show, so it really wasn't a stretch. In Wild Things 2, I play Detective Morrison, the cop who figures it out and locks up the bad guys.

And is it official that you're set to star in Mortal Kombat 3? I have been talking to the producers for the past month or so pretty intensely, and they say we are set to go. I'll be reprising my role as Johnny Cage. It's supposed to start shooting this summer.

How did you get Susan's permission to star in Wild Things 2? The first one was kind of racy. I wasn't playing the lucky guy in the middle getting all the loving!