His dad’s been a soap opera star for 30 years. Now Crew Morrow is ready to carve his own legacy

When Crew Morrow first told his father, Joshua Morrow, that he wanted to take up acting, the industry veteran wasn’t immediately sold on the idea.

“I don’t think he necessarily wanted me to get into this world because he knows the heartache and the trial you’ve got to go through to make it,” Crew tells TODAY.com in a recent interview.

The elder Morrow, who has starred as Nick Newman on “The Young and the Restless” for 30 years, soon realized his son was serious about pursuing an acting career, and his attitude shifted.

“I booked a couple of movies, and he saw that this is what I really wanted to do for the rest of my life. He was nothing but supportive,” Crew says about his father.

The 19-year-old recently joined the cast of another CBS daytime drama, “The Bold and the Beautiful,” as Will Spencer, the son of Katie Logan (Heather Tom) and Bill Spencer (Don Diamont). He says it’s been “incredible practice.”

Even though he grew up with a soap opera star as a father, Crew wasn’t always eager to follow in his dad’s footsteps.

“It absolutely was not a passion of mine, but I always loved to make videos. I had several YouTube channels where I would make these little vlogs, edits and films at home. So that’s where the passion sort of started,” he says.

After booking roles in two films, “24 Hours to D-Day” and “Continental Split,” Crew started to realize that he could make a living as an actor. He went on to audition for several shows, including “B&B,” and was convinced that he wouldn’t get this particular role.

“I thought they couldn’t possibly go with me, and then a month rolled on and I got the call,” he recalls.

Since he’s so early on in his career, Crew is eager to learn from his new co-stars.

“Scott (Clifton, who plays Liam Spencer) is an incredible scene partner. Just watching him the way he does it, he’s so good,” he says, adding that all of his co-stars are “so great.”

Tom, who plays Crew’s mother on “B&B,” played Josh Morrow’s on-screen sister on “Y&R” in the ’90s. When she started working with Crew all these years later, she couldn’t help but comment on his uncanny resemblance to his father.

“She could not get over how much we looked alike,” he says.

Funnily enough, Crew only visited his father on the “Y&R” set a handful of times as a child, and he’d never been to the nearby set of “B&B” before landing the role of Will.

“I didn’t grow up around it. People think I grew up around this world. I really didn’t. And that’s partly due to my dad. I mean, all he ever wanted to do was do his job and then raise his family and play sports with his sons. And that’s what we did,” he says.

Now that he’s building his own acting career, Crew has turned to his father for some pointers here and there.

“He’ll watch the show back sometimes with my mother, and he’ll come to me with these little tidbits that I absolutely appreciate. He’s been in the game for so long, and he knows this medium so well, and he knows what people want to see that it’s hard not to take his advice because you know that he’s right,” he says.

On “B&B,” Crew’s character recently returned to town and has started interning at the company where his mother works, Forrester Creations. He’s also started crushing on a co-worker named Electra Forrester (Laneya Grace).

“I’m just really nailing down who Will Spencer is as a man and what you’re going to see from him,” he notes.

Looking ahead, Crew has dreams of writing his own films and doing his own stunts.

“Anything and everything is a win for me, but this job especially is just massive for sharpening my blades and my tools,” he says.

Of course, Crew would also be the perfect candidate for the role of his father’s TV son Christian Newman on “Y&R” if the show ever decides to cast the character, who is often mentioned but never seen on screen.

“We talk to each other all the time about how it’s silly that I’m not playing that role,” he jokes. “But I’m so thankful that ‘B&B’ decided to cast me as Will Spencer because now I can sort of carve my own legacy on another television show while also being in very close proximity to my dad.”