These days, on The Young and the Restless, Christian LeBlanc's character of Michael is involved in a key story line: the search for his father.

We already know his dad will be played by former Family Ties star, Michael Gross. It was one of a number of topics LeBlanc touched on during a recent interview with Michael Fairman:

Q: What does Michael hope to achieve when finding his father?
A:I think he wanted to be a whole person and have a point of reference. You have a whole picture, and even if it’s a bad father you get it. It’s thinking this guy will come save us one day. This goes all the way back to when I would write letters to this man thinking Gloria was mailing them, and realizing she never mailed them. She kept them just to keep this fantasy. That’s where the push-pull comes, and as long as you don’t know its fantasy, but it’s very specific things happening.

I find it with adopted people. It’s an interesting dynamic. I need to know, genetically. I am a huge genealogy freak in real life. That’s what I love about Michael. He is so complex, and it isn’t any push over to be him. The easy part is just to be myself, and the writers have stayed true to his character. You want to stay true to his dark side and his humanness, and it’s good and evil. You can reform yourself, but you cannot deny your history.

Christian LeBlanc cradles an Emmy for his work on The Young and the Restless.

Q: Were you in the audition process when they were casting Michael Gross as your on-screen dad, Lowell?
A: No. That poor man just got thrown into the Baldwin’s and this huge cast! We talked a little the first day of taping, but we were thrown into these really intimate scenes, and it kind of worked. He is the consummate professional.

Q: Will there be a big showdown between the two characters once they meet?
A: Not quite a showdown, just a discovery, and going through the myriad of emotions of when the fantasy dies and the truth stands before you.

Matt Richenthal is the Editor in Chief of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter and on Google+.