Ray Wise was the Guest Performance nominee cited for playing Ian Ward in 2026.
Wise portrayed Ian Ward on CBS’s The Young and the Restless, where the character is depicted as a manipulative former cult leader. Ian is closely connected to the show’s Newman and Abbott families and was presented as Dylan McAvoy’s possible biological father.
Wise first appeared as Ian Ward on January 23, 2014. The character later returned to Genoa City after an extended absence, bringing renewed danger and unfinished conflicts to the soap’s storylines. Wise’s performance was entered in Outstanding Guest Performance in a Daytime Drama Series.
The category distinguishes an individual actor’s performance from a series nomination. Other 2026 nominees included Jasmine Burke as June Hughes, Jeff Kober as Cyrus Renault, Eva LaRue as Natalia Rogers-Ramirez, and Christopher Sean as Paul Narita. Ian Ward is the character; Ray Wise is the actor.