Interviews

The Stacy Haiduk Interview – The Young and the Restless

Published

17 years ago

July 1, 2009

zJessica

The number one rated daytime soap, The Young and the Restless, has a penchant for finding incredible actresses to fill incredible ‘psycho-babe’ characters. When Stacy Haiduk arrived on the scene as Mary Jane Benson, a woman whose look and identity has been changed, and who is harboring some very dark secrets, fans took notice of this sultry actress. Stacy has previously portrayed bad girl Hannah, on All My Children opposite Thorsten Kaye (Zach), only to have that character slip on a cliff and plummet to her death.

Now, Stacy is becoming a runaway hit with the fans and soap pundits for her performances along side her co-star…
her dead stuffed cat, Mr. Kitty. Stacy Haiduk is revealing to soap viewers a tormented character gone haywire.
She is exacting revenge on the man who wronged her, Jack Abbott, but at the same time wanting him! Just look at last week alone. She gave poor Summer Newman anaphylactic shock by kissing her on the lips with remnants of a peanut butter cookie… knowing the little one was allergic. This was all done in the hope of getting Jack Abbott away from Phyllis, and her estranged husband Nick, back with Phyllis!

A few weeks back, online reports stated that young actress Tammy Barr is set to play a young Patty Williams in Mary Jane’s dream sequence this Thursday. So, On-Air On-Soaps wanted to get the low down of the bizarre dream and what’s in store for Patty/Mary Jane, and the citizens of Genoa City. With this whack-job on the loose, everybody in town probably should take cover. Here’s the amazing Stacy Haiduk to fill us in!

Listen to the audio:

[display_podcast]

MICHAEL:

You have made this role of a whack-job so believable. Is it difficult making her realistic with the beats of the story, and going off in tangents with Mr. Kitty?

STACY:

Actually, I am really enjoying finding the levels to play her. It has been a good experience. One thing I wanted was for people to feel for her, and that she was not just a whacko. I wanted them to feel bad for her. She is in pain. I feel sorry for her.

MICHAEL:

Those scenes where you shot the bird, after watching Jack making out with Phyllis… I remember watching you through the window in the rain and the thunderstorm. You looked so evil and soooo upset. Are those scenes hard to do?

STACY:

Yes. That one specifically, was hard to find the balance, and not over-exaggerate it. I gave just a facial expression, and I remember Paul Rauch (co-executive producer, “Y&R) saying, “You have to give it a little bit more.” I am used to subtlety and sometimes that does not always play to the audience. So, when he said, “You need to go a little bit more with it,” I just said, “Ok, just find it inside.” I took a second. I found a place that was really painful for me, and put my face in the window and they shot it.

MICHAEL:

For a bit of the back-story… Mary Jane had her face redone.

STACY:

She had facial reconstruction surgery.

MICHAEL:

Victor Newman brought her to Genoa City….

STACY:

That’s right.

MICHAEL:

And he found her somewhere?

STACY:

Yes, and I don’t even know where that was.

MICHAEL:

Your job is for Victor, who wants revenge on Jack Abbott and you have got it “bad” for Jack Abbott. In recent episodes, Jack has brought up the fact that he was shot three times below the belt and he drove a woman mad at one point. Obviously, it looks to all of us that you are indeed Patty Williams!

STACY:

Sounds good! I think you hit it all right on the head.

MICHAEL:

Will we see her unravel more in the coming months?

STACY:

Yes, you will.

MICHAEL:

How is working with Peter Bergman (Jack)?

STACY:

I love him and he is fantastic! He has been so kind to me, since the audition. He has been right there for me. He is amazing; he likes to run lines and is a true professional.

MICHAEL:

What does one have to do when they go in and audition to get the part of a whack-job with a new face?

STACY:

They did not tell me what the character was going to be about. They gave her an “audition” name that was not Mary Jane. I went in and played a businesswoman. They did not ask for whack-job. They asked for a sexy businesswoman.

MICHAEL:

On Thursday, we see a young Patty Williams in a dream played by Tammy Barr. Is it going to be a painful moment or a shock for the fans?

STACY:

I hope its both…that people will be in for a painful shock as people get to know more about Mary Jane. I think it’s going to be fantastic. We are going to understand why she is the way she is.

MICHAEL:

Let’s take a stroll back to what Jack had done to Patty. He slept with all these women behind her back. And when she shot him, it was like, “Well, good for her.” It’s kind of hard to picture the young blond version of Patty now (played originally by Lilibet Stern), as you are much taller and sexier. What can fans look forward to in the dream sequence?

STACY:

Mary Jane has a dream of her past and she remembers Jack had an affair the moment she tripped and lost her child. That was another horrible thing that happened. As the dream progresses, young Patty tells Jack that she wants to die. He begs her to kill him, so he tells her to shoot him, and she shoots him three times.

MICHAEL:

So, what else is unraveling in the dream for her?

STACY:

It’s an emotional waterfall. It’s painful, and the audience is going to find it’s disturbing. All the people who remember what really happened with Jack and Patty will get it.

MICHAEL:

So, it is Mary Jane’s take on reality?

STACY:

Yes, it’s totally Mary Jane’s dream and her being able to shine some light on some things. It’s got some other surprising things in the dream, as well. Mr. Kitty is in it, and we love Mr. Kitty. Sharon and Victor are in it. So you have the entire dynamic going on of who Mary Jane wants revenge on. She wants revenge on Jack, but she wants the love from him, too.

MICHAEL:

So, she does want revenge on Jack, but she really does want him?

STACY:

Absolutely! I feel when you are coming from a sense Patty/Mary Jane is; it’s this deep, deep, past pain where she lost her baby and then she shot him, but wanted to shoot herself. Now, there is Jack and he does not want to be with her. Then, Victor says, “Hey, come to Genoa City, and in the end you will have him.” But then, Jack does not want her.

MICHAEL:

I would think Mary Jane would eventually turn a gun on Victor! He manipulated her the whole time.

STACY:

I think she is pissed off at him a little bit. He says he is done with her and washes his hands of her. And what does a kid do? They get rebellious and they do something that changes the adults mind. When I look at her, she seems child-like at times. She is as smart as can be, and she knows how to manipulate people and things, as well. That is fun to play, as well as the scenes with Mr. Kitty.

MICHAEL:

So she took Mr. Kitty to a taxidermist?

STACY:

Mary Jane hurt Mr. Kitty and killed Mr. Kitty. She killed the bird and then went back and talked to Mr. Kitty and said, “You know I did this and it’s similar to what I did to you. But you understand Kitty, right?”
I think what they are saying is when she does not get what she wants, the pain inside of her begins and the pot is boiling over, and she can’t hold it in anymore, and she does something like that.

MICHAEL:

You know what they say, “You start killing animals, and you can wind up killing people!”

STACY:

Maybe that’s where they are going.
But it does make for a good story.

MICHAEL:

Getting to watch you playing with the other great actors on “Y&R”, such as Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) and Eric Braeden (Victor), has been terrific. Fans remember you on “AMC” as Hannah. It seems like any actor who leaves “AMC” and comes to “Y&R” does amazing work. For example, look at Elizabeth Hendrickson (Chloe), and Billy Miller (Billy)!

STACY:

Well, thank you. There are a bunch of
us over here. Everyone here is pretty fabulous. I love working with actors and seeing their performances. Eric works very differently than Peter, and they all offer something different that makes it an incredible experience. Michelle is fun. We just laugh in rehearsal. Mr. Kitty is my other co-star that we laugh about here. The crew will say, “So, who do you get to work with today Stacy?” And I go, “Mr. Kitty. I get to talk to Mr. Kitty all day.”
So there is a running gag going on, and tongue and cheekiness on the set.

MICHAEL:

It has been interesting to see her reaction to Paul played by Doug Davidson. After all, it’s her brother. What does she really feel for him?

STACY:

She loves him and that’s her brother, and she would give anything to tell him who she is. She has this fantasy of telling him who she is. I don’t know when he will find out.

MICHAEL:

He will be there for her. I would think Paul would feel so god-awful for Mary Jane!

STACY:

Oh, yeah. I think so. But I can’t wait, and I am looking forward to that.

MICHAEL:

What about Patty’s mom, Mary Williams, formerly played by Carolyn Conwell? She needs to find out!

STACY:

Doug has actually told me things about her. I heard she is a very, very interesting woman.

MICHAEL:

Victor is on to Mary Jane. Coming up, is he going to send her packing for good this time?

STACY:

Yes. Victor will tell Mary Jane he is sending her away again. But this time, Mary Jane escapes and runs away from him. However, Mary Jane does not leave Genoa City. She hides somewhere and it’s good, too! It’s really good where she hides.

MICHAEL:

So when you go home and leave the set and put her behind for the night, does she ever disturb you?

STACY:

At first, when I read that Mary Jane talks to a taxidermal (stuffed) cat, my first initial thing was that people are going to hate her. I did not know that it was
going to be kind of fun, funky, and you know, ‘whack-out’. People like that.
As I was getting into the character people were laughing and having a good time with her. Now, I go home and I tell my husband, “I got to talk to Mr. Kitty today. It was a fabulous day, today!” I feel good when I go home. I really love
that I get all my inner demons out on set before I go home. (She laughs)

MICHAEL:

You are married in real life. So does your husband go, “Who is that woman on that TV screen?”

STACY:

Sometimes he does. For the most part he likes my work and has been a big fan of mine for a long time. And no, he does not think it’s strange that I am playing a whack-job. I think he’s thinking it’s right up my alley, to be honest. (She laughs)

MICHAEL:

Well, looking at it, it seems to be right up your alley.

STACY:

Thank you! (She laughs)

MICHAEL:

So, what about Mary Jane’s bizarre scrapbook that she flips through while sipping wine, after a night of passion with Jack? Who is in the scrapbook?

STACY:

She has pictures of Sharon, Phyllis, and a picture of Victor. So nobody is safe when Mary Jane is around!

MICHAEL:

In closing, give us the teaser of what can we look forward to from Mary Jane next week.

STACY:

Victor discovers what Mary Jane has been hiding from him, but it’s too late to stop her.

Related Topics:Interviews Podcast stacy haiduk The Young and the Restless

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Interviews

‘The Young and the Restless’ Eric Braeden Talks Daytime Emmy Nomination, State of Nikki and Victor’s Marriage, and His Co-Stars (Exclusive)

Published

4 days ago

July 30, 2026

Michael

Eric Braeden has been playing Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless for 46 years. The iconic star of the #1 rated daytime drama series has thus far won once for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Daytime Drama Series back in 1998 in a ceremony he did not attend. Fast-forward to 2026 and the 85-year-old Braeden is once again nominated in the category for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards.

Earlier this month, Eric, along with 4 other actors learned they were going for gold at the ceremonies on October 30. In a twist of fate, fellow co-star and also Lead Actor nominee, Christian LeBlanc (Michael, Y&R) and Braeden submitted the same scenes which centered around Victor firing his longtime attorney and friend, Michael Baldwin.

In a new interview, now on You Tube’s Michael Fairman Channel, Braeden shares: his thoughts on the nomination, if he will attend daytime’s biggest night of the year, what he thinks will happen with the current cracks within the relationship of Y&R’s Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) and Victor, his reaction to the heartbreaking scene where Nick (Joshua Morrow) admits to Victor that he has a drug addiction, and much more.

Photo: JPI

VICTOR NEWMAN AND MICHAEL BALDWIN EMMY SCENES

On his Lead Actor Emmy-nominated reel, Eric recalled, “The show submitted it for me and I said, ‘Yeah, go ahead.’ Had I known Christian was part of it, I would’ve said, ‘No!’ I’m kidding. It’s difficult to do a scene with Christian without beginning to laugh in the middle of it. Anyway, he’s wonderful to work with and he did a wonderful job, and I’m grateful for the nomination.”

Braeden also shared plans for attending this year’s Daytime Emmys with his granddaughter making it all the more special, “I will go this year. You know why? It’s an honor first of all, and secondly, my granddaughter, when she heard about it, she says, ‘Opa, can I go? I already know what dress I would buy.’ I mean, it was so sweet. But you bet. Now, I’ll really go to the Emmys!”

Photo: JPI

CAN NIKKI AND VICTOR’S MARRIAGE SURVIVE?

Over the past year, Nikki and Victor’s marriage has been on shaky ground, especially after Victor caught his nemesis, Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) alone in a hotel room with his wife. Nikki went on a bender and Jack was her AA sponsor, but in order to help her, he almost OD’d himself. Victor believes the two hit the sheets.

Now in 2026, Victor was there after Nikki woke up after surgery to save her eyesight, and she has yet to see post-procedure. However, Braeden notes ‘not so fast’ on a reconciliation.

“I would say it will be a rocky road, because you don’t get over these things so quickly. You don’t,” teased Eric. “It’s jealousy and it’s a very, very deep emotion, and every time there’s something that reminds Victor of that incident, he will feel that emotion. It’s an emotion that is not taken seriously enough by people. Relationships are very difficult because of that sometimes.”

Photo: CBS

JOSHUA MORROW DOING THE FINEST WORK OF HIS CAREER

Back in March of this year, in one of the most unforgettable in this, or any soap season, Nick Newman accompanied by his brother Adam (Mark Grossman), came to see Victor where Nick admitted he now has a drug addiction to fentanyl and how he is so ashamed of himself. In the scene, Victor goes to comfort his son, calling him, “My boy” while broken-hearted.

Eric recalled the taping of the scene: “It touched me deeply and it was one of those moments that a father and son don’t want. They’re horrified by that. I think Joshua made an enormous leap in acting in that scene. He showed what he is capable of. It was a very, very touching scene. We had some scenes after that, again, about the same thing. Now, there’s a whole deeper connection between father and son. Any father would almost have a breakdown knowing that his son is on drugs or his daughter. It was a very well-written scene.”

Photo: JPI

ERIC BRAEDEN AND MICHELLE STAFFORD MUTUAL ADMIRATION SOCIETY

The Young and the Restless led the 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Nominations with 18, more than any other series or programs. One of the nominations belongs to Michelle Stafford (Phyllis) who nabbed another Lead Actress nod.

Recently, Eric and Michelle have shared much screen-time since Phyllis took Victor’s company from him. During the Michael Fairman Channel’s Daytime Emmy Nominations Special 2026 Live!, Stafford she loved working opposite Eric in the storyline, to which Eric has now responded.

“It’s mutual because I love watching her work,” exclaimed the TV icon. “I just don’t know what she’s going to do in a scene and I love spontaneous moments. I don’t like it to be set and adhered to. I like it to be improvised as much as possible. Michelle is just so facile, so quick, so smart as an actress. She’s wonderful.”

Check out the full conversation with Eric below.

Now weigh-in: are you happy to see Eric receive a Lead Actor nomination? Do you think Nikki and Victor will continue to have issues in their marriage? Did you like the scenes with Michelle Stafford and Eric, and of course the hankie-inducing moment between Joshua Morrow and his TV dad? Weigh-in via the comment section.

Interviews

‘The Bold and the Beautiful’s’ Scott Clifton Talks His Lead Actor Daytime Emmy Nomination, and the Omission of His Scene Partner, Annika Noelle (Exclusive)

Published

1 week ago

July 25, 2026

Michael

Less than two weeks ago, The Bold and the Beautiful’s Scott Clifton (Liam Spencer) received the news he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the Outstanding Lead Actor category at the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards.

Clifton delivered what may have been the best work of his career in 2025; in a heartbreaking story arc where a believed-to-be-dying Liam tries to come to terms with his fate, and what his exit from the land of the living means, and what it would do to the daughters he leaves behind, the women he’s loved, and his father.

Going into this year’s Emmy race, Scott is already a three-time Daytime Emmy winner and a record holder for being the only actor to have won in the three acting categories throughout his career: the now defunct Younger Actor, Supporting Actor and Lead Actor.

Shortly after receiving the news of his latest nomination, Scott shared his reaction and what scenes he decided to include on his now Emmy-nominated reel when he participated in the Michael Fairman Channel’s Daytime Emmy Nominations Special 2026 Live!

During the conversation with Scott, it was very apparent that he feels his on-screen partnership with Annika Noelle (Hope) was a key to his success in 2025, and one of the reason for a key scene he chose. However, Annika’s name was left off the nomination list which disappointed Clifton as he shared below.

Photo: JPI

HOW SCOTT CLIFTON WENT ABOUT CRAFTING HIS LEAD ACTOR REEL

“They got a lot of reels to watch. So, I just picked three scenes. It’s important to create a context so that people aren’t completely lost,” explains Clifton on his best practices strategy. “I picked the scene where Liam found out the diagnosis (about his inoperable brain mass), where Finn (Tanner Novlan) and Steffy (Jacqueline MacInnes Wood) tell him which sets the stage. And then, there is a scene where Liam is saying “don’t tell anyone.”

Next, there’s the scene at Il Giardino between myself and Don Diamont (Bill) where Liam is telling his father without telling him, by saying, ‘I just want you to know how much I love you, and how grateful I am to you.'”

Then, the final scene, and I owe it all to Annika, was between Liam and Hope. This is where Hope kind of says, ‘I know,’ and then they just have a conversation about their lives and their daughter. Liam also talks about his mom. It just seemed real to me and the best way to close it out. That was it. That was the whole reel about 11 minutes long.”

Photo: JPI

ANNIKA AND SCOTT’S BITTERSWEET EMMY MOMENT

When Scott connected with his on-screen wife, Annika Noelle, following the news of his nomination, which actually came on the Monday before the full nominations were revealed on Tuesday via Extra, there were a rollercoaster of emotions.

Scott detailed, “Annika sent the most beautiful congratulations, and I was trying to figure out if they had announced her category. However, it was in the middle of that conversation that she said. ‘no.’ And then, the conversation turned into my rage for her not being recognized because that whole story was just as much hers as it was mine.”

“My, God,” Clifton continued. “The way that she had to downplay so many things and keep the secret that she knew, that I knew, that she knew. The end of that scene, I couldn’t not include it. It’s more a scene about her and how hard this is for her than it was about Liam. It blew me away that she wasn’t recognized for it this year, but she will next year.”

You can check out Scott’s segment on the Daytime Emmy Nominations Special 2026 Live! below at roughly the 25:46 mark into the show.

So, were you happy to hear what scenes Scott submitted that earned him a Lead Actor Daytime Emmy nomination? Do you think he’s one of the frontrunners to take home the gold when the Daytime Emmys are handed out on October 30? Do you feel as Scott does that Annika Noelle should have been a nominee for her work in 2025? Let us know via the comment section.

Days Of Our Lives

‘Days of Our Lives’ Christopher Sean Opens Up About His Daytime Emmy Nomination to Honor His Late TV Father, Drake Hogestyn (Exclusive)

Published

2 weeks ago

July 18, 2026

Michael

There was not a dry eye in the house when in June of 2025, Paul Narita (Christopher Sean) gets up to eulogize his father, John Black (Drake Hogestyn), after the iconic character passed away and his funeral brought Salem together for one last goodbye.

In real life, Drake Hogestyn had passed away of pancreatic cancer at the age of 70 back on September 28, 2024. When DAYS taped the funeral episode, Drake was still alive and had given his blessing to the series longtime executive producer, Ken Corday, that it was OK with him to kill off his character and to have a memorial. Sadly, shortly after the cast filmed the scenes, Drake died leaving a lasting legacy on DAYS that will never be matched.

Earlier this week on Tuesday, Christopher Sean received the bittersweet news that he had received a Daytime Emmy nomination in the Outstanding Guest Performer category for the upcoming 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards for his performances. Christopher appeared shortly after the news of his nomination on the Michael Fairman Channel’s Daytime Emmy Nominations Special 2026 were he shared his emotional reaction. Here’s part of what he expressed below.

Photo: JPI

WHAT DID CHRISTOPHER SEAN SUBMIT?

“I submitted Paul’s lowest moments in his life, and Paul’s highest moments, meaning the eulogy with John Black, his father, and for my hero, Drake Hogestyn, and Paul getting married to Andrew (Colton Little). So it was two very opposite ends of his life. But what a great culmination of 12 years of being on Days of Our Lives it was.”

ALWAYS BEING GRATEFUL TO DRAKE HOGESTYN

“Even talking about it now, I have so much love for Drake. I’ve got him here on my wall and I wake up every day and I try to make him proud. It’s hard to talk about it, but I feel that my life is on the path that I am because of him, because of him being my role model, because of him loving and guiding me, because of everything that he has taught me on and off the set.”

Photo: JPI

THE EARLY STRUGGLES WITH PAUL’S EULOGY AND HEARTFELT ADDITIONS TO THE DIALOG

“I had been texting back and forth with Drake and I was actually pretty angry, because I felt that we shouldn’t exploit this, but Drake was so attached to the fan base that when Ken Corday spoke with him and gave him the permission to allow the fans to grieve with us, that’s when I said, ‘OK, if that’s what he wants, then I’m going to go full throttle with it.’ In Paul’s eulogy and monologue I’d read it and without asking the writers, I added a few lines and they allowed me to keep them.”

Christopher continued, “One of the lines was, ‘anytime I see a rainbow in the sky’ and I said, ‘and a baseball up high, or a rainbow in the sky,’ because I wanted to attribute it to baseball and to Drake. It was already perfect the way it was written, but that was my nod to Drake. We all loved him and there’s not a person I know who didn’t love him. Drake lit up any room he was a part of. I would not be here, again, without Drake.”

You can catch Christopher’s conversation on the Daytime Emmy Nominations Special at the 2:14:25 mark below.

The 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be handed in a ceremony on October 30 from the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood California. Current plans are for the event to stream live on the National Academy Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), watch.theemmys.tv and associated apps.

So, will you be rooting for Christopher to take home the gold for his heartbreaking performance of Paul’s grief over losing John and then marrying Andrew? Were you touched by how much Drake Hogestyn had meant to his life and career? Let us know via the comment section below.