‘Family Matters’ Stars Reunite on ‘The Young and the Restless’

Family Matters star Telma Hopkins reunited with her on-screen son Bryton James on CBS’ long-running soap opera The Young and The Restless this month. Hopkins was cast as private detective Denise Tolliver, who digs up surprising information about Amanda Sinclair, played by Michael Morgan. This was the first time Hopkins and James acted together since Family Matters ended in 1998.

Hopkins made her The Young and The Restless debut in the June 1 episode. She later returned for another batch of episodes that aired between Aug. 16 and Aug. 27, reports Soap Opera Network. James, who played Richie Crawford on Family Matters, has played Devon Hamilton on The Young and the Restless since 2004, appearing in over 1,300 episodes.

“It is kind of like coming home,” Hopkins told Entertainment Weekly in May when her Y&R casting was first announced. “It is full circle. I don’t feel I have ever lost touch with him but certainly, it is nice to look across a room and see that smiling face that I am so used to. It feels like home, like family, like Family Matters.”

James added that acting together felt “effortless and comfortable” when they shot their scenes together. “When the scene started we had to act like we didn’t know each other but it has reminded me and made me feel really grateful about how long I have been able to do this because Telma is one of the reasons that I have enjoyed it for 30 years,” James told EW. “To step on my first stage with her and have Telma be the one to make me feel so comfortable and at home back then, it is very special.”

Hopkins starred as Rachel Crawford on Family Matters. Her other credits include Family Reunion, Dead to Me, Partners, and Are We There Yet?. She also has a role in the upcoming fourth Matrix movie. She won a BET Comedy Award for Half & Half in 2005.

In June, Hopkins was cast in the NBC drama pilot Dangerous Moms, produced by Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television, Deadline reported. The pilot is inspired by the Spanish series Señoras del (h)Ampa and was written by Janine Sherman Barrios. It centers on four mothers who accidentally kill another mother during a demonstration of a new food processor. Hopkins was cast as Fatima, who takes care of her grandson and is a full-time funeral home embalmer. The cast also features Linda Park, Vanessa Marano, Shanola Hampton, and Dascha Polanco.