The Bold And The Beautiful's Joshua Hoffman Teases The Reason For RJ's Return

Soap opera rapid aging syndrome, also known as SORAS, is an affliction that has affected several children on sudsers. Basically, a youthful soap character will be off a show's canvas for a time — whether it be living elsewhere, in a boarding school, or other explanations — and will return, sometimes much older, in only a matter of a few short years.

Across the soaps, to move stories along or have children participate in more compelling adult drama, the actor will be recast with an older one. On "The Bold and the Beautiful," Will Spencer was played by Zane Achor, and then recast with the older Finnegan George in 2018.

Another youthful character on the show is Ridge "RJ" Forrester Jr., who had been played by several actors over the years — most recently by Anthony Turpel. RJ is the son of Ridge Forrester (Thorsten Kaye) and Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang). Over the years, he has had to deal with the drama of his parents' on-again, off-again relationship, but he wasn't happy when it looked like Brooke was going to marry Bill Spencer (Don Diamont). 

Eventually, Ridge and Brooke had their eighth wedding in 2018, much to RJ's delight, and the young man happily went off to boarding school. Now that his parents are split again, the character is poised to return, but will be much older than the fans remember him.

Actor Joshua Hoffman has been working since 2014 when he played the character "Les" on "Shameless." He's also well-known for playing Rudy Rosales, Talia's good friend who became romantically involved with him, in "Talia in the Kitchen." Now, the 23-year-old has landed the dream part of Ridge "RJ" Forrester Jr. on "The Bold and the Beautiful." Fortunately for the actor, he came on board just as the show had a photoshoot to celebrate its 9,000th episode.

Hoffman told Soap Hub recently that, although he'd been in a snow storm in Big Bear Lake, California, he was able to participate in the audition and won the role. The fans haven't seen RJ for a while, and Hoffman explained that the character has, "Spent a lot of time away [because] he doesn't enjoy the drama going on." 

Hoffman further added that RJ is returning to "The Bold and the Beautiful" for a particular reason, and that he's enjoyed the evolution of his character throughout the show's run. Hoffman went on to say that Thorsten Kaye (Ridge Forrester) has become a mentor to him while working on the soap. He stated that Ridge's actor has "been giving me recommendations, little details about how to work on a soap opera, specifically." He also praised his on-screen mom, Katherine Kelly Lang (Brooke Logan) for being "amazing."