Daytime Emmy-winner Greg Vaughan will make his debut on Beyond the Gates on Monday, December 8, as Kial Rollins, an orthopedic surgeon who rolls into Fairmont Crest with plenty of backstory in tow.

The opportunity to join the cast began with an unexpected phone call from BTG‘s creator, Michele Val Jean, who had previously written for General Hospital during Vaughan’s run as Lucky Spencer from 2003 to 2009.

“She reached out, and I was blown away,” Vaughan relays. “I said, ‘Hey! To what do I owe this honor?’ And she’s like, ‘I have a role, and I want you to do it.’ And I said, ‘Well, what is it?’ And she said, ‘No. I’ll tell you more about it when you say you’re gonna do it.’ And I was like, ‘Well, you’re the magic behind the pen and the writing there, so by all means, I’d love to.’ I was just very appreciative of her thinking of me after so many years.”

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Once he signed on, Vaughan learned he’d be playing a doctor who is a widowed father of two adult sons. “I paused for a second, like, ‘A doctor, really?’” he muses. “But when Michele immediately said, ‘You’re an orthopedic surgeon,’ I was like, ‘Oh, my God, I’m a father of three boys who spend most of their time in the hospital, so I can do this!’”

But Vaughan is keenly aware that playing a doctor on TV comes with its own set of challenges. “I always look back on General Hospital — Scott Reeves [Steven Webber], Jason Thompson [Patrick Drake], and Becky [Herbst, Elizabeth Webber] and their days with the medical jargon,” he notes. “And I’m like, ‘Are they gonna throw me some difficult dialogue?’ So, I’m going to have my work cut out for me.”

Navigating the different aspects of Kial’s character also gave Vaughan plenty to consider. “He’s kind of a nomad,” previews the actor. “He’s not really rooted, and he’s trying to find his lane. He comes into Fairmont Crest, and he has an association with some of the staff there at the hospital.”

Even with years of soap experience from his previous roles as Diego Guittierez on The Young and the Restless, Eric Brady on Days of our Lives, and Calvin on Queen Sugar, in addition to GH, this project offered Vaughan something fresh. “The environment is so exciting because it’s so new,” he explains. “Everybody is so gung-ho and energetic and ready to play, and I just wanted to sit back and watch and immerse myself in this ensemble.”

As it turned out, he wasn’t walking into a room full of strangers. “I have a lot of friends there,” he notes. “Timon [Kyle Durrett], who plays Bill Hamilton, and I were costars on Queen Sugar, and Daphnée [Duplaix, Nicole Dupree Richardson] and I knew each other, like, 20 years ago, so it was great to reconnect with her. My groomer in the hair department is the first guy who cut my hair on Queen Sugar, and he got a career out of it. He went from being a barber in a salon to working on sets in New Orleans, and now his whole profession has changed from giving me my first fade.”

But that familiarity didn’t extend to the entire company. “When I came in, they were like, ‘Oh, is this your first job?’” he recalls. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, in a sense. It’s a new opening, but I’ve been around a bit.’ And Timon was like, ‘You need to leave the room. Go check yourself and check his IMDB.’ So, it was funny. But I didn’t want anybody to treat me different or act different around me. I’m excited because there’s such young, amazing talent on this show and all these great veterans from the stage, like Clifton [Davis, Vernon Dupree]. They’re a tremendous group.”

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While he’s finding his groove with his new cast, Vaughan’s Salem costars have been very supportive of his new gig. “I heard from Mr. RSW, Robert Scott Wilson [Alex Kiriakis], and Eric Martsolf [Brady Black], and just people wishing me well, and how excited they were for me,” Vaughan shares. “It’s sad to know that something was coming to an end, but with every door closing, another one opens, and I’ve welcomed this.”

And though he’s happily settled into BTG, he wouldn’t rule out a return to Days someday, even for a visit. “I’m open,” Vaughan says. “I’m not on contract. But after day two here, it already felt like a new home, a place of being embraced.”

And he welcomes that his alter ego is unlike anything he’s done before. “It’s not my norm,” he points out. “I look back and went from playing a police officer [on GH] to a photographer to a priest [on Days], so this has been a surge of excitement for me because I’m not in a corner. I don’t feel I have to be straight and narrow, which was very lovely, and I’ve welcomed that. I’m trying to create a new narrative and get people to see me in a different light from what they know.”

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As professionally rewarding as the job already is, there’s also a personal bonus. The Atlanta studio where BTG films puts Vaughan, who moved home to Texas in 2020, in close proximity to his eldest son, Jathan, who is attending the University of Alabama. “It’s a gift because I’m actually closer now, rather than being on the West Coast,” he says. “So, I see him more often than I think he wishes. I’m like, ‘Hey, I’m off work and it’s only, like, two and a half hours away. Can I drive down, hang out, go to lunch and have some father-son time?’ So, I just have to vet it with him to make sure it meets his social calendar [laughs].”

With his first episode right around the corner, Vaughan is looking forward to what’s next. “It’s just exciting,” he enthuses. “I’m stepping into this new world, this new home, this new zip code. I’m very honored to be a part of this show that Michele has welcomed me into and I’m looking forward to everybody’s response and reaction to see me in this new lane.”