When The Young and the Restless' Traci Abbott felt her big sister Ashley needed some serious psychiatric help, Christopher Cousins came to the rescue. Traci turned to Dr. Alan Laurent, the friend Ashley had in Paris who was also a psychiatrist. What Traci didn't realize that there is much more to Ashley's problems than meets the eye.
Alan was quickly able to see that Ashley had splintered into multiple personalities, but he has yet to find out why. With Ashley's alters coming and going at a frequent pace, Alan might need to set up shop in Genoa City longer than planned. That's exactly what Cousins said is happening.
"They're keeping me on, which I'm very grateful for," Cousins told Soaps In Depth. "I don't know for how long or what, but I'm doing at least some episodes through May, it looks like. I don't know what I can say about that, so I won't say anything."
With Ashley's alter Belle making it clear she wants Alan as more than just a friend, anything can happen. Alan knows he is dealing with several different people every time he talks to the woman who looks like Ashley Abbott, but that doesn't mean he won't be taken by surprise in the near future.
Cousins got his soap start on the now-defunct NBC drama Another World back in 1986 before moving on to play Cain Rogan on One Life to Live in 1991. Countless primetime roles followed and led him back to soaps this year.
The actor is loving every minute of tackling this pivotal role and being a part of this riveting tale.
"Eileen [Davidson, Ashley] is someone that I've always thought was amazing, so that was a great opportunity," Cousins said. "But Trevor [St. John, Tucker] and I had one small scene together... and I really enjoyed it because it was a very different scene. I'd love to work with him, just more stuff with him. But it's great working with Beth [Maitland, Traci] and Peter [Bergman, Jack] and they're all really, really cool guys. So it's great."
If Alan manages to integrate all of Ashley's alters, making her whole again, could a romance between the two be on the way? After all, Tucker seems to truly be in love with Audra now, so Ashley would be free.
Have you enjoyed Cousins' work on Y&R so far? Should the real Ashley and Alan embark on a romance? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
