One good look at Greg Rikaart and it’s over. With a deep pool of sea green eyes and a warm smile, it’s easy to understand how this Hollywood newcomer has taken our televisions by storm. Signed to a contract after originally auditioning for only ten episodes on The Young and the Restless, Rikaart is currently playing Kevin Fisher on the popular daytime soap. This New York native is also the 2005 Emmy Winner for Best Supporting Actor in a Daytime Series! Other TV credits include: Dawson’s Creek, As If, That’s Life, Grounded for Life, Gilmore Girls, Strong Medicine and Felicity. Rikaart has also graced the big screen in X2 and Prey for Rock & Roll. He tells Animal Fair, “Acting is an appealing creative outlet for me.”
This heartthrob is used to women lapping up his attention on-screen, but who are his favorite cuddly companions when the cameras stop rolling? “I have two cats. Zoie is a Bengal, who believes she is a dog. And Garp is a Himalayan who thinks he is a hibernating bear. Zoie and I met when she was three weeks old. I got her from a breeder. She was too small to take home, but the minute I saw her, I knew it was a perfect match. She was the size of my hand and never stopped meowing. She’s bigger now, but still never shuts up! She has a bigger vocabulary than some children. Zoie needed a playmate, so I got Garp. Zoie hated him at first, but they play a lot now. She cleans him too. It’s cute.”
There is never a dull moment with these two characters. “Zoie ran into a string of bad luck recently. She is always meowing to go outside, but because of coyotes, she is only allowed out supervised for thirty minutes a day. Last week, in the midst of chasing butterflies, she decided to pounce on a bee. The bee got the best of her and she was really adorable trying to figure out what had happened. Zoie is enormously quirky. Everybody falls in love with her immediately. I have friends that hate cats, but adore the Z. She likes to go for walks (yes, she has a leash). She is also incredibly smart. She can even open doors. She will jump at the door knob until she gets a good grip, turn the knob and push off the wall with her hind legs. I’m not kidding. I worry that one day I will come home, the car will have been hot wired, she will be gone and my bank account will be drained,” he laughs. As for any catty behavior, “Oh God! My cats are spoiled. I don’t dress them up, but Garp goes year round with a lion’s cut, and they both have soft claws on their front paws. I hate to play favorites, but it really is Zoie’s house. She’s just kind enough to let Garp and I live there.”
Zoie and Garp are two lucky cats. Rikaart purrs about their relationship, “My pets are great mates because we understand each other. Unconditional love is a wonderful thing. They both wait at the window for me to come home and greet me at the door. I think they were dogs in a former life. I’m still looking for that kind of love with a person, but I do believe it exists.” Stand in line, ladies … and take a number!
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