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The Stacy Haiduk Interview – The Young and the Restless

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© JPI Studios

Who has been consistently captivating soap opera audiences with her mesmerizing performances of Patty Williams and Emily Peterson, and let’s not forget, when Patty was pretending to be a woman named Mary Jane Benson?  Who kept us on the edge of our seats through most of 2009, and into 2010, not knowing whether we were going to scream in horror, or cry for her sad existence?   Who got snubbed for an Outstanding Supporting Actress nomination for the 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards?  And finally, who is really the cat’s meow?  Well, the answer is quite simply, actress Stacy Haiduk from The Young and the Restless.

Now, with Patty locked up and regressed to a little girl, and Emily falling apart at the seams trying to get her own life back, and Adam’s “murder” still not close to being solved, Stacy Haiduk is still turning out riveting performances.  On-Air On-Soaps caught up with Stacy to talk about: Kitties, Emmy reels, competition, the heartbreak of playing Patty, working with her co-stars, Doug Davidson (Paul) and Peter Bergman (Jack), and how her actor husband, Bradford Tatum, was a calming and steady force during some of Stacy’s most traumatic on-set days.

And in the end, find out who does Stacy think is truly the better psychologist, Emily or the deranged Patty?  Her answer may surprise you.  It’s always great to speak with the emotionally raw and edgy Ms. Haiduk, and I hope you will enjoy her even more after reading her revealing comments below.

MICHAEL:

Ok, Stacy let’s get right to this.  Your Emmy snub is probably one of the most talked about in the history of the Daytime Emmy nominations.  Everyone was certain that you were a lock for your performance as Emily/Patty/Mary Jane this past year, and unfortunately it did not happen.  How are you feeling at this moment?  It has to be extremely, extremely disappointing for you.

STACY:

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It was shocking, and I was really disappointed.  I was excited about it because I really wanted to be a part of this group this year.  And you have to also know it is what it is.  I always have to say that I still won in my own mind because of the people I got to work with, and it’s continuing, and that is a success right now.  I know that is not the disappointing part of how I am feeling, but I try not to go into that part of it.  It’s hard.  You sit there and go, “Was my tape not good enough?  Or, what happened?”

MICHAEL:

What reel did you decide to submit for Emmy contention?

STACY:

I submitted the remote with Eric Braeden as Victor, and Peter Bergman as Jack, and I had the gun   Patty was getting upset with Jack for not seeing her as his wife and loving her, and feeling how could he do that?  I thought it had enough emotional levels to show where I could go as an actress.  It sucks that you can’t have two shows to show your work.  One show is not easy to do to choose from.  You have the build up in one, and the finale in the other, which is why I like the idea of two tapes.  However, I thought this is enough to get me in.  I am working with two leading actors, and I thought it would be a good enough tape to show people.  You just kind of go, “OK.  Or, maybe the wig scared them!”  You know, the blonde wig! (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

This whole Emmy judging process is as much of a game as about the performance itself.  Do you think it hurt you that perhaps the blue ribbon panel could not follow the story, as it is taken out of context?  They do not know what happened before or after those scenes.

STACY:

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Right.  No, they don’t see the arc, and don’t see what is going on.  A lot of times you have your friends who have been working to be nominees for so long, and they finally get in, and it’s like, you know what?  They deserve it.  Maybe next year, it will work for me.

MICHAEL:

I think you have received more emails, letters, and have certainly become talked about more than anyone ever online, about someone not getting a nod.  Somehow, the Emmy snub got you more publicity than someone who was nominated for Lead Actress!

STACY:

The publicity has been more than if I got a nomination.  It’s crazy, isn’t it?  You know what I love?  It’s when I went on facebook and just read so many people’s thoughts, and how they love the character, and you can’t beat that.  I have to go back to why I do this and the process of it all.  Yes, it would have been fun to get all dressed up, and hope you can win one of the most beautiful awards.  It’s one of my favorites, actually.  But, I have had a really good time and it continues again.  The fans see that, and that is really what this is about.

MICHAEL:

If you were to have been nominated, would Mr. Kitty have accompanied you to Vegas?  Last year, you wore him as a shoulder bag to the red carpet.

STACY:

Yes.  I would have come with Mr. Kitty, and we could put him on wheels.  It would have been awesome.

MICHAEL:

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But, let’s talk about these recent amazing scenes that aired.  Did you like how they resolved the end of the Patty/Emily final switcheroo?

STACY:

I finally ended up watching it.  Usually, I don’t because I am very critical of myself.  I finally watched it because somebody said to me, “Have you seen your scenes?”  And I said, “No, I haven’t,” and so I did.  And I was sad!  I was sad the last time Patty went to an insane asylum. I like Patty, even though she is crazy and whacked-out. The wig was scary. (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

Patty regressed back into her little childhood self.

STACY:

Didn’t it just break your heart?  Me, too.  It did also when Mr. Kitty died.  You have to understand, when they told me Mr. Kitty, in my script, gets chewed up by Zapato, I went like, “You’ve got to be joking with me?”  I mean, I literally went through withdrawals because I had been working with that cat for so long.  I know that sounds silly.  But, I get heart to heart with my co-stars, and here it was again.  I love working with Doug Davidson. He is such a joy, and Peter, also.  And, when I got to look at him in the end, my hair looked like crap, and it was all going to one side, but there was this look.  When you are in it, you don’t see what other people are seeing.  So, when I was able to see it from the audience’s perspective, I went “Oh, my God!  That poor thing, and what she went through.”  All she wanted was that man to love her, and how desperate and sad she is at the same time.  I got weepy.

MICHAEL:

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I said to Doug Davidson recently, that if you were to take your story with him, as a brother and sister, as an isolated story, you could see that as a motion picture.  It is such a beautiful story.

STACY:

I think that is why they continued it.  It taps into so many people’s relationships with family.  I look at his eyes when we work, and there is that love… that brotherly and sisterly love…and we root for each other.  So if one makes a mistake in the line, the other one of us tries to figure out what the person is going to say.  It’s wonderful!

MICHAEL:

And now on-air, Emily is having all sorts of psychological problems!  Is this now just an adjustment issue for her?  I mean, she is so pissed off that Jack can’t tell the difference between her and Patty in bed, which I think is great!

STACY:

I know, it’s so crazy.  Thank God.  I am so glad they brought that up.  I mean, how can you not?   Even Patty says it in my Emmy tape; she says to Jack, “How could you not know I was your ex-wife?  Are you that blind?” And then here, Emily says pretty much the same thing to him, “How could you not know that was not me?   How could you do that?”  Emily now has to take some time and figure this out.  She gets screwed from every which way, from all the stuff that Patty did.  She is trying to hold it together, and she is not one to just emote, while Patty is the most emotional and runs with it.  Emily is stoic and trying to hold it together.

MICHAEL:

Do you think Emily is even a good psychiatrist?  Or, is Patty a better one? (Laughs)

STACY:

I think Patty was. “Go to your Happy Place!” (Laughs)  The woman playing opposite me, who was one of Emily’s patients says to Patty, “What do you mean? Go to my Happy Place?  As Stacy, “I went, yeah; go to your Happy Place. What else do you want to do?”  That is what a therapist would say, except, maybe, “I understand.”  (Laughs)

MICHAEL:

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Will we see Patty again, perhaps more and more?  Is the doppelganger story really over?

STACY:

Maybe.  All I can say is that I love Patty, and doppelganger may not be over. We shall see.

MICHAEL:

You must have gone home to your family completely exhausted some days, after the emotional toll it takes on an actress to play very complex dual roles that border on insanity or the edge of insanity.

STACY:

When I was going through all the stuff with Patty and Emily at the end, and the whole knife thing, that was the first time Peter and I were going to get off work early.  I am referring to the scene where Patty stabs the portrait of Emily.  She goes to town. We were jamming through the scenes, and the last part where I open the dang cutter I cut my hand!  So, I had to go get stitches.  So, Peter and I are at the doctor’s office.  Even the stage manager said, “And, you didn’t stop the scene?  You kept going with it?”  And I go, “I can’t stop.”   But now the stitches are out and healing and I am fine.  But, that was the first time I had to call my husband and say, “I just want you to know, I won’t be home by ten today.  I am going to the hospital to get stitches.”  And, he is like, “What?”  I said, “Well, they had this box cutter, and you know me with props.”  I have this thing where I go with it.  And even before they gave me the prop on set, they said to me, “Are you going to be OK with this?”  You see, I have a tendency to go overboard, like when I was stabbing the little picture with the baby scissors in the hospital scene.  That time, I ended up stabbing the baby scissors into my hands.  The prop guys were like, “Um, Stace. You’ve got to know…”   I am going to be so conscious of it, but it’s hard when your adrenaline is going.  I get done with the scenes, and then I go, “Oh, God.”

MICHAEL:

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What did your husband, actor Bradford Tatum, think of all this?  Was he a big support to you during the emotionally draining material?

STACY:

He has been a big support.  I come home, and yeah, we don’t have long, long evenings because of the emotional dynamics of these two characters, Emily and Patty, and because when I come home I have to work on my script for the next day.  I mean, I would literally call home and say, “Honey, I need cuddly.  I need you to be tender with me because I am so fragile.”  But I love going to these places, and sometimes it’s really difficult, but it’s a good challenge, and I am sure you do this, too, Michael.  You like to see how far you can push yourself.

MICHAEL:

Yes, I do push myself.  But you are super competitive, right?

STACY:

Your body and your mind want to work well, and so yeah, I am competitive.  And my husband laughs at me about it.  But, I think that’s what keeps me going, and doing what I do.

MICHAEL:

Will you be on-air as Emily for a while?   Many fans are concerned of where the Y&R writing team will go next with all of this.  Could that spell the end for Stacy Haiduk on Y&R?

STACY:

Courtesy/Luis Martinez

No, you are not losing me as Emily.  I think it touches people.  It’s this beautiful balance of creating something from the writer’s point of view, the actor’s point of view, and it’s all-creative, and that is what is so amazing.  I think people feel that from the outside, too.  It’s not just watching something and going, “Yeah, that was a great performance”.  These are daily performances and I think people love to watch Emily or Patty and what she will do next.  It’s very complex.

MICHAEL:

OK, so if I was producing a Stacy Haiduk tribute reel of the best moments of your performance last year on Y&R, and I had three and half minutes to feature you, tell me what would be on that?  What would you choose?

STACY:

You have to start out with Mr. Kitty, and having that performance with a dead stuffed cat was pretty fabulous.  I really like that kind of material.  I would go in to this January with shows where Patty goes back to the switcheroo, when she puts Emily into the nut house and then looks in the mirror and dyes her hair. And still one of my other favorite scenes is the remote with Kitty Kitty.  It was with Paul and Patty.  She is turning herself in and she has to give up Kitty Kitty.  I know they are silly scenes, but they get to me sometimes.

MICHAEL:

What about the great Patty and Adam scenes?  There were so many great ones towards the end before his “murder”.  And, we still never know if Patty has something more to reveal about what went on the night Adam was “killed”.

STACY:

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Everything’s a possibility, and you just never know.  I like working with Michael Muhney (Adam).  We have a good time. Michael and I click with each other, because we were both new to the show.  I was thrilled to have scenes with him in the potting shed, and those were fun.  I even liked when I go to Adam in the hospital and Patty is pretending to be Emily and she pinches him in the hospital and says, “You know, I just want to see if you are faking it or not.” I love those scenes. I love the way Michael plays right off of me. I have a soft spot for Michael because of that.

MICHAEL:

As we end this little chat, tell me what can I relate back to the many, many fans and admirers of your work, day in and day out.  Are you really doing OK?  We all want to give you a giant hug!  So, since I am here with you now, here is a hug representing everyone’s embrace of your outstanding performance this past year.

STACY:

I am doing great.  I got through my disappointment.  I am here to support The Young and the Restless. I am thrilled that the actors I work with on a daily basis both got nominated. (Laughs).  No, really I am.  So, maybe we will see what happens next year with that, but right now when I work, I am happy.

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Thanks for another great interview MF! I got to see a side of SH that we never get a glimpse of. She really seems like a nice, down to earth, funny and all around cool person. I’m STEAMING about her Emmy snub too! Ridiculous!.

Brava for so, so many brilliant performances this past year, Stacy. You have become the one to watch on The Young and the Restless and I’m horrified that you didn’t get the Emmy nom. Shame to the academy for this outrageous snub!!!! You are a brilliant, beautiful actress!

Well, the Emmy pople blew it again. Stacy has been mesmerizing. To pull of dual roles is so demanding and exhausting, it’s a wonder the actress doesn’t go bonkers. I hope she gets the satisfaction next year at least. I don’t know how she can even top this role. An actor dies for such a role! Kudos to Stacy for convincing us she was mentally ill and then believing she was this pschiatrist who treated ill patients. I have been enthralled when she is on the screen and couldn’t take my eyes off her. So, congratulations, Stacy, for your great performances

Love, LOVE, LOVE her.
She certainly did deserve the Emmy nomination and the Emmy. Patty/Emily/Mary Jo has been one of the few reasons to stick with Y&R with all the silliness going on there.
I hope Emily and Patty are around for a while and we get to see more from Stacy.
Thanks for the great interview! It’s really interesting to hear the actor’s thoughts on the characters and the scenes and some of the behind the scenes chemistry.

Love her! Glad to hear she will be sticking around Y&R. She definitely should have been nominated. I think a lot of these award shows are more about politics than who actually deserves the award.

love her !!!!!!!!!!!!!! glad she coming back

Interviews

The Young and the Restless’ Michael Damian On Christine/Danny/Phyllis: “It’s a Fun Triangle Story That They’re Having Us Do, Because It’s Very Retro”

This week on The Young and the Restless, while Danny (Michael Damian) and Christine (Lauralee Bell) hit the sheets, and Phyllis (Michele Stafford) sets off an alarm as payback (literally!), the top-rated CBS soap opera continues to weave the tale of these three characters decades later, finding themselves in very familiar territory with each other.

We know that Christine and Phyllis are basically, mortal enemies, while Danny, who has been the man in the middle, has had a past with both women. However, it is Christine who has been, for all intent and purposes the love of his life.  But, will Phyllis’ machinations make it near to impossible for Danny and Christine to be together? Stay tuned.

Last week, Michael and his real-life wife, Janeen Damian visited the Michael Fairman Channel promoting their #1 streaming film on Netflix, Irish Wish starring Lindsay Lohan. The film was produced by the Damians, while Janeen directed it and co-wrote the romantic story. Michael is featured on the Irish Wish soundtrack performing his track, Wild Irish Heart.

Photo: Netflix

During the conversation, Michael shared what it has been like revisiting the Christine/Danny/Phyllis triangle years later. Damian addressed the fans on the livestream, who inquired. “It’s a fun triangle story that they’re having us do, because it’s very retro. And I think it’s fun to bring that nostalgia, retro thing back.”

Photo: JPI

Recalling a tender moment between Danny on the piano alone with Christine (during the standalone episode which honored Lauralee Bell’s 40th anniversary with Y&R), Michael expressed, “I think what they’re doing is so smart, and they’re reconnecting a lot of the fans to a lot of the story. I mean, we’re talking years and years of story.”

Photo: JPI

The longtime Y&R fan favorite, added, “I’m really glad they did the thing on the piano because people have been asking, ‘Why are you not doing any music? Why are you not singing? Where’s your band?’ You know what I mean? Janeen is asking the same thing, ‘Why aren’t you singing something on the show?’ The last time I sang on the show was when we thought Phyllis was dead. So, you know, that didn’t count. (Laughs)

One of the funniest moment in the revisiting of the triangle occurred when Phyllis and Christine were arguing over Danny, and he was right there in the room with them. The two women got so engrossed in their fight, they forgot he was there, and thus he walked out of the room.

Photo: JPI

Michael revealed, he liked that scene too! “They’re fighting. They’re arguing and Danny’s like, ‘Listen, I’m over here. Please stop it.” And then they don’t stop,” Damian recalled. “And so Danny just grabs his coat, picks up his sheet music, because he was working on a song. He goes to the door. In the scene, I even look back to see if they are even noticing me leave, and then I just left. That one was pretty funny. I’ll be honest. I was laughing out in the hallway when I left. I was thinking, ‘Should I slam the door? But then if I slam the door, they still have dialogue.’ They’re still talking and they would’ve turned, and then it would’ve ruined it. So, I just gently closed the door and left.

Photo: JPI

During the livestream, Damian teased he has some upcoming scenes with longtime Y&R co-star Beth Maitland (Traci), “I just worked with Beth Maitland actually the other day, and that was really fun. I can’t wait for people to see that show.”

Check out the the Michael Fairman Channel chat with Michael and Janeen Damian below.

Now, let us know, are you rooting for Danny and Christine? Do you think Phyllis will continue to be a disruptor in this relationship and somehow worm her way back into Dannys good graces? Share your thoughts in the comment section. But first check out this sneak peek for this week’s Y&R featuring the trio.

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Days Of Our Lives

Days of our Lives Star Blake Berris Chats On the Everett Lynch/Bobby Stein Mystery, Working with His New Co-Stars, and the Last Christmas Episode with Bill Hayes

On Days of our Lives, the return of Blake Berris is making for some very intriguing drama, with the audience guessing just which way the story will go.

When Berris arrived back on Days of our Lives, after previously playing Nick Fallon, he was taking on the new role of Everett Lynch, who has a past with Stephanie Johnson (Abigail Klein) and Jada Hunter (Elia Cantu). Only, as it has been revealed, the past he had with Jada was under the name “Bobby Stein,” who from what we can tell was far from a nice guy.

Blake visited the Michael Fairman Channel for a livestream interview this week, where fans in the live chat were weighing-on what could be the truth about the guy – is he a split personality suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder? Did the accident that cost him a year of his life in a coma, never happen? Recently, someone set fire to the beloved Horton house. Fans are suspecting it would have been “Bobby” who is working for Clyde Weston (James Read). Others believe that Everett/Bobby could actually be Clyde’s son. With upcoming therapy sessions with Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) about to start, things are about to get more juicy in Salem.

Photo: JPI

Here are just a few excerpts from our conversation with Blake on a myriad of Everett/Bobby subjects. Make sure to check out the full interview for more.

Did you know that they were going to make Everett Lynch a Jewish character? This is only the second time in the history of the show that they have even had a Jewish character on the canvas. Didn’t they reveal this at the Horton family Christmas episode?

BLAKE: No, they never asked me. I am half-Jewish on my dad’s side. There was never like, ‘You’re Jewish, right? We can call you Jewish on the show?’ At the Horton Christmas, “They made a real point of it, yeah.”

And now the new ‘character’ is “Bobby Stein” …

BLAKE: “Right, and that suggests more Jewish, and then Lynch must be coming from somewhere else, maybe the mother. I was so curious because I think the show has been historically, I’m gonna say, Catholic more than like Wasps. With the Bradys there’s this sort of Irish influence, and then the DiMeras, that’s Italian. So, we’ve got Catholics sort of on both sides that are dominant. Now I, “represent”.

Photo: JPI

What has it been like working with Abigail Klein?

BLAKE: I think she is extraordinary. We start off sort of frosty, or she’s frosty with me, like she doesn’t want to let me in. And then, for a while things are going really well. I just could not adore Abigail more. She’s such a good actor. I could always rely on her to bring me back into a scene and be there in this emotionally, supportive way.

Photo: JPI

Everett and Chad seemed to be becoming friend-ish, when all went awry when at the PCPD interrogation room, Everett let him know about Elia and Bobby Stein, and Chad let him have it for worming his way back in to Stephanie’s life.

BLAKE: Billy would call us the ‘disgusting brothers’ and that’s a reference from Succession, because all of a sudden they’re just so chummy with each other. It’s like all of a sudden we just had this like ‘Bernstein and Woodward’, sort of dynamic duo. I think that Everett really started to think of Chad as a friend and feels sort of disappointed, and he feels, “Oh, it’s that easy? I just needed to have some other identity and now you’re a fair-weather friend?”‘

Photo: JPI

In recent scenes, Jada sees Bobby Stein for the first time, and we see you and Elia Cantu share scenes with each other for the first time. What is it like working with Elia?

BLAKE: She’s fire, man. She comes in hot and she tells you the way it’s going to be. I think early on, we were trying to suss each other out and the more we worked together, the more comfortable you get with somebody. I think actors do this sometimes with each other; if there’s spice on screen, you like to keep some of what you have on-screen in your (real-life) interactions because it helps … it helps the work.  Eventually, we just sort of wore each other down and we’re like, ‘I actually totally get you, and you’re great.'”

Did you know that they were going to make Everett Lynch a Jewish character? This is only the second time in the history of the show that they have even had a Jewish character and didn’t they reveal this at the Horton family Christmas episode?

BLAKE: No, they never asked me. I am half-Jewish on my dad’s side. There was never like, ‘You’re Jewish, right? We can call you Jewish on the show?’ At the Horton Christmas, “They made a real point of it, yeah.”

And now the new ‘character’ is “Bobby Stein” …

BLAKE: “Right, and that suggests more Jewish, and then Lynch must be coming from somewhere else, maybe the mother. I was so curious because I think the show has been historically, I’m gonna say, Catholic more than like Wasps. With the Bradys there’s this sort of Irish influence, and then the DiMeras, that’s Italian. So we’ve got Catholics sort of on both sides that are dominant. Now I, “represent”.

Photo: JPI

You were on set and in the annual Horton Christmas episode which sadly marked the last for Days of our Lives legendary Bill Hayes, who passed away in January of this year.  What do you recall of that tape day?

BLAKE: It was the Christmas episode when we were watching Susan (Julie) and Bill, say ‘Merry Christmas.’  And there was something about it that just felt like it could be the last time. I mean, it wrecked us all on set. Bill gets so choked up and there was something really profound about the moment. They kiss each other as they have so many times before on the show. It was just beautiful. It felt beautiful to be there for that last Christmas. He’s just such an icon. Every time I’d see him, he was so with it … he knew my name, he knew his lines. What an incredible, incredible man.

Photo: JPI

Fans will get to see Everett in therapy sessions with Dr. Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall)? Would you say she is helping the guy?

BLAKE: Deidre’s always making jokes about Marlena, ‘She’s the worst therapist in the world’ (Laughs) I remember in the first therapy session, we almost couldn’t get through the scenes because it’s just so clear that Everett has a litany of very profound psychological issues that he is going to have to work through. He’ll keep coming back. This guy’s gonna pay the bills!

Photo: JPI

Viewers are waiting to see how they mystery of Everett Lynch/Bobby Stein plays out. What can you say as a tease for what’s to come?

BLAKE: As far as a tease, I would say, you have all these characters sort of, trying to wake up the ‘sleeping giant’ in a way. I think it’s safe to say that like if you poke a bear, the bear might wake up.

Watch the livestream chat with Blake in full below.

Now let us know, what do you think is going with Everett/Bobby? What has happened to him in his past? Share your theories in the comment section below, and make sure to catch Days of our Lives next week on Peacock for more to his story.

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Interviews

Y&R’s Melody Thomas Scott Talks on 45 Years as Nikki Newman, the Keys to Playing Drunk, And Those Genoa City Relationships

February is ‘Nikki Newman Month’ in soapland as the The Young and the Restless iconic Melody Thomas Scott celebrates her 45th anniversary in her leading role.

My how time flies! Nikki has had numerous marriages, and some to the same man, battled her addiction to alcohol too many times to count (and we loved it all), and faced so much heartache in the process.

Currently, on all-new episodes of the top-rated CBS daytime drama series, Nikki can’t quite get a grip as Jordan (Colleen Zenk) is out there and in the middle of her next master plot to make Nikki suffer, all the while Nikki is drinking again. Thanks to the heinous plot concocted by Jordan and Claire (Hayley Erin) that revealed itself last November.

Photo: JPI

In a special conversation for You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel, Melody shared her thoughts on a myriad of subjects including: her current story, those long tape days at Victor and Nikki’s weddings, why she plays drunk better than anyone on television, plus we take a mini-deep dive into Nikki’s past.

Y&R fans were stunned when the powers-that-be had Nikki kidnapped and then hooked her up to an IV of booze. Just how much did Melody know of the story going in? She elaborated, “I knew Nikki would be terrorized. That’s all that I knew. I thought that sounded like great fun. I didn’t know for a little bit that she was going to fall off the wagon in the process of it. And then when I heard how it would happen, I was thrilled to bits. I did kind of want to have a little leader (or crawl) down at the bottom of the screen saying, ‘Hey, people don’t put an IV with vodka in your arm because that will kill you.’ But, poetic license, I suppose.”

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Melody also weighed-in on if she thinks Nikki will stop drinking anytime soon, expressing, “She just can’t get out of this. Then of course, Jordan’s not letting her out very easily. Just when Nikki thinks she is mentally strong enough to never take another drink, well, of course she does, because something else happens. I think it’s also a learning point for people who are watching the show who may have an addiction problem. Now, I could be wrong, but I think it’d be highly unusual for somebody to be just mentally strong to be able to stop.”

If you wondered if Melody enjoys playing a drunk Nikki, look no more, “I do. That’s simply for selfish reasons,” she shared. “That’s for my enjoyment. I take great pleasure in it. It’s fun for me, and just the process of pretending to be drunk. I love the end result. I try not to do too much because there’s nothing worse when an actor is overplaying drunk. So you have to kind of keep it a little bit underneath (the surface). However, sometimes because of Jordan, Nikki does get much sloppier than I normally would play it.”

Photo: JPI

In recent episodes, it seems that Jack (Peter Bergman) and Nikki are gravitating more to each other, as both are drawn together through their shared experiences with addiction. Victor (Eric Braeden) is not happy that his arch-nemesis is helping Nikki try to stay sober. Could Melody see Jack and Nikki becoming romantic again? “I love Peter. I mean, Peter was my second favorite husband on Y&R. It would be wonderful, but I don’t know if the fans would go for that,” she explained. “They’re so invested in Niktor that I think they would really be upset about that unless Victor did something really crummy, then I could buy that.”

Photo: JPI

One of the more ‘out there’ stories during Melody’s 45-year run, was when Nikki was paired with Crazy Edward, and he took her home to meet his mother … who was in an urn! You would think maybe Melody didn’t like the story .. but think again! “Bill Bell (co-creator, Y&R) was writing the show in those days, and Bill kept that information pretty tight. I don’t remember us knowing even a week in advance. Maybe, we would get our scripts, three or four days in advance and that was it. You knew nothing about future story, but I loved the story,” she raved. “It was almost Hitchcockian, shall we say. The actor who played Crazy Edward, Paul Tulley was so magnificent and such a sweetheart. We loved working with each other so much, but man, when that red light came on the camera, he scared the you-know-what out of me. He was absolutely terrifying. But then, the minute the scene was over, we’re fooling around and laughing and everything. He was so good. So good!”

Photo: JPI

According to Melody, the pairing of Victor and Nikki was not something she, nor Eric Braeden, initially thought would made sense: “I was a little terrified when I heard that he and I would be doing scenes. I thought, ‘What, what?’ He also wondered, ‘What am I going to be doing working with that young kid, that snotty kid?’ We had no idea what Bill Bell saw. He had a vision with us and somehow knew that we would have chemistry. It didn’t take Bill long to show us in the scripts why he put us together. Then, we started to see it. Although, it was hard to imagine at first, certainly we knew it worked by the time Nikki had baby number one during the ‘Who’s the father?’ storyline. Nikki and Victor weren’t even married yet. So, we did figure it out pretty early on.”

Photo: JPI

From her early years as Nikki Reed, Melody reflected back on some major story points in her character’s history, relating, “I actually did like her in the very beginning when she was just a little brat living with her sister and her father, who of course ended up trying to rape her…  and she had hit him over the head with a lamp … and he died. I did not care for the stripping storyline at all. Only because I knew that I didn’t have the natural dancing ability. I wasn’t fluid enough to really look good up there stripping. I know they hired wonderful choreographers and everything for me, but I just didn’t feel worthy of being up there … I guess is what it was. Of course, now I look back on it and I think, ‘Oh, I guess it wasn’t too bad.’ Later, there was a strip she did in the Colonnade Room. At the time, she was married to Jack. Victor’s sitting there with some other woman and she’s drunk. I saw that scene recently, and I thought it was great. I didn’t at the time, but looking back, I thought, ‘Wow, that was good.'”

Photo: CBS

Watch the full 45th anniversary conversation with Melody below.

Now let us know, are you enjoying Nikki being back on the bottle? Would you want to see Jack and Nikki try their relationship one more time? What has been your favorite storyline of Melody’s over the last 45 years on Y&R.  Let us know in the comment section.

 

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