SOAP ACTOR TAKES HIS CHARACTER TO THE LIMIT

Peter Bergman, who plays the slick and sarcastic Jack Abbott on “The Young and the Restless,” tosses around snide little nicknames for all of Abbott’s business foes. He calls Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) “The Black Knight,” Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) “Golden Boy” and Blade (Michael Tylo) “Flash.” But what would Bergman dub his Jack?

“Probably ‘Hot Shot,’ ” says the actor after some thought, noting that Jack, after all, does have a rather high opinion of himself.

The daytime industry, in turn, has a pretty high opinion of Bergman. During his four years as Jack Abbott, Bergman has won two Daytime Emmys for best actor, in 1991 and 1992. Last year, he lost to his close friend and former “All My Children” co-star David Canary (who plays twins, Adam and Stuart Chandler). Bergman played Cliff Warner on “All My Children” from 1979 to 1987.

“It’s funny,” recalls Bergman. “When I went to the Daytime Emmys this year, Canary warned me that if the academy called my name a third time, he and the other nominees were going to come out and kick me.”

Canary won for the fourth time. “I was ecstatic,” says Bergman. “I was just so happy for him. If I’m going to lose to anyone, I want to lose to somebody I respect that much.”

Bergman is having another stellar year as CEO of Newman Enterprises in the aftermath of Victor’s presumed death.

“I’m a great believer in actors playing the largest possible values,” he says, “so that when it doesn’t work out, you have a farther distance to fall. Throughout this storyline, I have inserted great passion and excitement into Jack’s getting his hands on the reins of Newman Enterprises. That way, when it’s all taken away, it will have a very powerful effect on him.”

Bergman looks forward to playing Jack’s downward slide, just as he has every other story he has been given.

“The truth is, when I come to my dressing room and find my scripts, I cannot wait to open them and find out what’s going to happen next,” he says. “I find it fascinating.”

While Bergman clearly loves his current role and the daytime medium, he insists that if it were all taken away tomorrow, he would fare just fine in another career.

“I can think of some jobs besides acting that I could feel fulfilled in,” he says. “I’ve always been fascinated with architecture. Some part of me always regrets that I didn’t pursue that. I have, I flatter myself to say, an eye for it and a deep interest in it.”

“I’d also love to teach acting one day,” he says with a smile. “I probably will get to do that sooner or later. Acting, at its very best, is a pretty noble profession in a lot of ways. It changes the way people look at things and the way they think. It challenges a belief they’re comfortable with and asks them to think. There aren’t many professions you can say that about.”

“The Young and the Restless” airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on CBS.