The Bold and the Beautiful is known for its controversial storylines, and fans have a lot to say about the recent plot involving Will Spencer (Crew Morrow) and Luna Nozawa (Lisa Yamada). Heather Tom, who plays Will’s mom Katie Logan and is also a writer and director of the series, spoke to PEOPLE about the plot that began this summer. Luna, obsessed with Will, pretended to be his girlfriend, Electra Forrester (Laneya Grace), and had sex with him when he was drunk, ultimately getting pregnant with his baby. Many fans online have criticized how the storyline has been handled, since the show has chosen not to call the encounter “rape,” but instead has characters say that Luna “took advantage” of Will. “To be honest, if it were my son, I would view what happened as an issue of consent and that there wasn’t much consent happening in that instance,” Tom, 50, said. “And so yeah, I would view it as a sexual assault.” She continued, “I think that the terminology is what they’ve chosen to use, and I think that people can, characters can defend that or not.” As for her character, she said, “Katie does get to where she does definitely think that her son was assaulted. She definitely uses that terminology. She definitely didn’t necessarily start off there.” “But I think that for me personally, as a person, as a woman, as a mother, consent is very important to me,” she said. She welcomed son Zane in 2012 with husband James Achor. “I have talked about consent with my son from the very beginning.” She said it was “very important” for her to make sure it’s something he understood early. “It’s something that me, growing up, it was not necessarily at the forefront of how we were raised and how society saw it and how people spoke about things,” she said. “But for me it is very important . I use this terminology with my child, and I think that it definitely is not a gender-conditional thing.” She said ultimately the conversation around the plot is “complicated.” In October, Luna was arrested on the show, not for the incident with Will but for her other crimes (including a kidnapping and shooting), though Will’s loved ones were happy to see her face the consequences. Tom’s Katie tells Luna she will “never” accept her in Will’s life, even though she’s pregnant. Will tells her, “You disgust me.” Tom said that The Bold and the Beautiful has always been “at the forefront of tackling issues that maybe didn’t make their way onto nighttime television.” She thinks because the characters are “so familiar to our audience,” the writers can have them “go through something” intense and explore it in a deeper way. “I feel like soaps have always been at the forefront of that,” she said. But fans still want the show to be enjoyable. “[Executive producer] Brad [Bell] always says that in whatever scene you’re in, even if it’s an argument, it’s still a love story. It’s still a love scene. I think that’s what people want to connect with.” Tom also relishes working with Crew, who is the son of The Young and the Restless star Joshua Morrow. Tom began her soap career on Y&R 35 years ago as Victoria Newman, the sister of Joshua’s Nicholas Newman. “It’s like the craziest full circle thing ever because I remember when Crew was born,” she said. “But I love having him here. I think he’s a great addition. I’m so glad that they waited to cast Will and that they’re fleshing out Bill and Katie’s family and the Spencers.” Still, working with Crew can occasionally be a little spooky. “When he first started, he would laugh or smile and it would take me out of the scene because I’d be like, ‘Oh my God, it’s Joshua.’ He’s so his father’s son, it’s crazy.” The Bold and the Beautiful airs weekdays on CBS and streams the next day on Paramount+.
https://people.com/heather-tom-addresses-bold-beautiful-controversial-will-and-luna-storyline-11852247
Heather Tom Addresses “The Bold and the Beautiful”’s Controversial Will and Luna Storyline: ‘I Would View It as a Sexual Assault’ (Exclusive)
