Greg In Hollywood catches up w/Brandon Beemer!

When I tell you that actor Brandon Beemer is just as nice as he is handsome, you know he must be a pretty damned nice guy.

I had a nice lunch with Brandon at a restaurant in the Valley a few months back. As he ate a healthy lunch of chicken and steamed vegetables, we talked about an array of things like Twitter, the joys and headaches of home renovation and, of course, his role as Owen Knight on The Bold and the Beautiful.

Before joining B&B, which won its second consecutive Emmy for outstanding drama at last week’s Emmys, Brandon had amassed quite a fanbase during his two years on NBC’s Days of Our Lives as Shawn Brady. It as on that soap that he also met girlfriend Nadia Bjorlin.

On B&B, Owen is involved in daytime’s hottest “cougar” relationship with Jacqueline Payne Marone Knight who is played by the lovely Lesley-Anne Down. Brandon is 30 while Down is 56 and they have shared some sizzling scenes.

But right now, things are tough for them because Owen may be the father of a baby being carried by Jacqueline’s daughter-in-law Bridget with whom Owen had a one-night affair.

“She was in pain and Owen cares about her as a person and it just happened,” Brandon told me when we chatted again last week at the Daytime Emmys. “It’s not my fault! I’m just doing my job.”

Even though he was unfaithful, Brandon’s portrayal of Owen allows us to believe that he still loves his wife AND cares about Bridget who is married to Jacqueline’s son Nick (Jack Wagner).

“Show me anybody who can go and sleep with their step-daughter-in-law and get her pregnant and walk away with everybody saying, ‘Oh, he’s so nice,’” Brandon said. “You get these scenes and you think, ‘How am I going to pull that off? But if you don’t hate me, that means I at least pulled it off somewhat.”

Brandon is loving the possibilities this brings to Owen’s storyline.

“It adds a whole new dimension and there’s always the possibility that maybe I’m not the daddy. So many possibilities. I don’t know what’s going to happen but hopefully I don’t end up with too many black eyes and too many broken noses. I don’t think Nick really likes Owen.”

At the Emmys, Brandon said he’s still working with Lesley-Anne Down and happy to be doing so even if their on-screen marriage is being tested.

“I love working with Lesley,” he said.

I remind him how cool it is that her character is a “cougar,” an woman involved with a much-younger man.

“I would love to wear my cougar T-shirt under here but I just thought it might be a bit inappropriate for the Daytime Emmys,” Brandon joked.

I remarked that it would probably also be inappropriate – but very funny – if he wasn’t wearing anything under his tuxedo jacket and went around flashing his famous abs up and down the red carpet like Mike “The Situation” Sorrento of MTV’s Jersey Shore.

I figured Brandon would get my joke but he looked confused and said: “The Situation?”

Me: “You know, that guy from Jersey Shore who has the spectacular abs and is always flashing ‘em?”

Brandon: “I don’t watch that show.”

But Brandon does take care of his amazing abs. He confessed to indulging in Vegas by eating dinner twice the night before the Emmys but had already been to the gym the morning of the show.

That’s why that cougar – and his many fans – just can’t quit him!