Soap star Eric Braeden puts on his game face

Victor Newman is sitting on a sofa in The Dunhill Hotel’s Parlor Dining Room, and given the fact that he built his multibillion-dollar fortune by putting power and profits ahead of people, it’s strange to hear these words coming out of his mouth:

“The corporate world makes a huge mistake by de-personalizing business. Two things are important in business: service, and a good product. Period. The rest is bull----.”

Or these: “Cam Newton, your quarterback, is a hell of an athlete.”

Of course, this sturdy, handsome, refined-looking gentleman isn’t really Victor Newman. It’s actor Eric Braeden, who merely plays a ruthless businessman on TV.

But Braeden has been in the role of Newman on CBS daytime soap opera “The Young & The Restless” for so long – since 1980, when Jimmy Carter was still in the White House – that it actually can be a bit of a challenge to keep from slipping and calling him Victor in casual conversation.

And so when Twitter lit up on Sunday in Charlotte with sightings of Braeden, they often included his alias:

▪ “Victor Newman and the Carolina Panthers, doesn’t get any better than that!!” (@ladybugnc67)

▪ “Victor Newman is a Panthers fan?? Where’s Jack Abbot when u need him” (@BryanInNolaEast)

▪ “I know your mom is a Y&R fan. Tell her Victor Newman himself (Eric Braeden) was at the Panthers game today.” (@KSchwabenlender)

Braeden, a “huge football fan,” was invited to attend the game against New Orleans as a guest of Panthers communications director Steve Drummond.

During his trip, the 74-year-old actor also attended a Lowcountry boil, dined at The Palm in SouthPark and visited CBS affiliate WBTV to promote the soap. (He recently signed a new three-year contract and says, “I don’t intend to retire. Retirement to me is death.”)

In his interview with the Observer at The Dunhill on Friday, Braeden was refreshingly laid-back and affable.

He’d provided his private cellphone number in advance, just in case (celebrities almost never do this); he seemed genuinely curious about his guests, asking numerous personal questions of his own before the first was asked of him; and over the course of “one of the longest interviews I’ve ever done” – his words, with a chuckle and in his native German accent – Braeden never looked at his watch.

He also gave dozens of colorful quotes. Here are six of our favorites:

1. Continuing that train of thought about corporate America: “This morning, I flew US Airways from L.A. to Charlotte, first-class. Dismal. Dismal food. Now they merged with American Airlines. Why? To save. So the executives who instigated the merger (could make) a lot of money. That’s why.”

2. Asked if he’s ever thrown out the first pitch at a baseball game: “No. I would love to do that. Give me about two weeks of practice. Certainly I’m better than most of the spastics who try that (expletive). It’s a joke sometimes. Some politicians go out there and you think, ‘Have you ever thrown a baseball? Have you ever done a throwing motion?’ ”

3. Lamenting the decline of celebrity tennis tournaments (years ago he played in them often, in doubles matches against George H.W. Bush, Chevy Chase and others): “Now they mostly play celebrity golf. Golf bores me, sorry to say. Bores the (expletive) out of me. You don’t get a workout. I have a lot of friends who play golf, so I don’t want to say anything (too bad). But watching golf, just to quote George Carlin, is to watch two flies (expletive).”

4. “Our show was more successful than others over the last 29 years because we have tried to make it as real as possible. I hate this phantasmagoric bull----. Life is so interesting. Real life is so interesting. My God. Just ask a person about their lives, and you say, ‘Whoa.’ So why come up with all these bull---- storylines?”

5. “I don’t give a s--- about getting older. I really don’t. I feel (great). And that’s why working out is so important. That’s why this is still important: boom-boom-boom. (Braeden throws three quick jabs as he talks). ... I’m 74, I’m proud of it – very proud of it – and will compete along a lot of lines with a lot of people. The only pain in the a-- about getting older is your hips. I have one resurfaced hip.”

6. “I have met so many actors over the years who’ve said, ‘Without me, this show would be nothing.’ ... And where are they now? Don’t ever assume that without you, the show will go down the drain. Bull----. It doesn’t. Are you kidding? ‘Oh, this can’t be done without so-and-so playing the part. Then they leave and we say, ‘Well, not quite the same, but oh well.’ ”

This story was originally published September 28, 2015 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Soap star Eric Braeden puts on his game face."