Thomas Forrester is a fictional character from The Bold and the Beautiful, an American soap opera on the CBS network. Created and introduced by Bradley Bell, the role has been portrayed by multiple child actors. In 2004, the role was rapidly aged with actor Drew Tyler Bell, who remained in the role until 2010. That same year, Adam Gregory was cast in the role, who remained until 2014. The following year, Pierson Fodé was cast in the role. Fodé departed the role in September 2017 and returned for a one-month guest stint from March to April 2018. In February 2019, it was announced that Matthew Atkinson had been cast in the role; he debuted on March 15, 2019.
Thomas is the son of supercouple Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss, later Thorsten Kaye) and Taylor Hayes (Hunter Tylo, later Krista Allen). He has two sisters, Phoebe (deceased) (MacKenzie Mauzy) and Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) and a half-brother, R. J. Forrester (Anthony Turpel, later Joshua Hoffman) from his father's marriage to Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang).
Drew Tyler Bell won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series in 2010, for his portrayal of Thomas. Fodé's portrayal later earned him two consecutive nominations, in 2017 and 2018, for the same category.
Character creation
Casting
Between 1998 and 2001, the character of Thomas was played by various child actors. From January 15, 2002, to August 4, 2003 (on a recurring basis), child actor Patrick Dorn was the first non-twin child actors duo to play Thomas. From 2004 to 2005, Drew Tyler Bell began playing Thomas on a contract. He shifted to a recurring character from 2005 to 2009, and was on contract from 2009 to 2010. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series in 2008. In 2010, it was announced that Drew Tyler Bell had been dropped from the part, and that Adam Gregory was to take over the role. In December 2013, following Gregory's decreased screen time and removal from the opening credits, fans began to speculate that Gregory was let go from the series. Gregory and a rep for the series confirmed he was dropped to recurring to pursue other acting jobs. A rep for the series confirmed, "Adam is recurring. [...] And, he has more scenes to tape later this week." In May 2015, it was confirmed that Gregory was no longer in the role, and a casting call seeking a "handsome, tall, Caucasian man in his 20s with a great physique" to play Thomas was released. In June 2015, it was announced that Pierson Fodé would join the cast in the role of Thomas. Fodé made his debut on July 27, 2015. On September 7, 2017, Soap Opera Digest announced that Fodé would depart the role of Thomas. He last appeared on September 13, 2017. On February 16, 2018, it was announced that Fodé would reprise his portrayal of Thomas for a short-term storyline; he appeared in episodes between March 9 and April 5, 2018.
On February 11, 2019, it was announced that Matthew Atkinson had been cast in the role, and made his first appearance on March 15, 2019. Speaking on his casting, Atkinson told Soap Opera Digest: "It was actually a long time coming. I remember this role coming around a few years ago. When it came around this time, [having worked at Y&R], I knew everyone there. I had met Brad [Bell, executive producer/head writer] before, and I couldn't say no ... There's something very comforting now about being back in the same building."
Characterization
The character is described "As the extremely attractive and charming heir of Forrester Creations" and "this wide-eyed prodigy is a visionary and famed designer in the making, fully aware that the eyes of the fashion world, as well as every single girl in town, are fixated on his every move". There was brief speculation that the character was going gay; however this was never a storyline. Bell has stated that this new Thomas will become an exact replica of how his father Ridge Forrester was when he was a young playboy at the beginning of the show.
