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Y&R’s Sharon Case Teases Upcoming Storyline ‘That Gets Sharon Out of Crimson Lights’, Famous Feuds and Proudest Scenes (Exclusive)

sharon case young and the restless 50th anniversary interview
sharon case young and the restless 50th anniversary interview

The TV Watercooler has had the opportunity to speak with many cast members of The Young and the Restless as the iconic series celebrates its 50th anniversary! In our latest interview, Sharon Case teases her upcoming storyline, which will finally get her character out of Crimson Lights, Sharon’s famous feuds, and shares some of the scenes she’s the proudest of.

Y&R is celebrating its 50th anniversary all year – you’ve been there for almost 30 years! I heard you were only supposed to be on for a few months.


Yes, I came on while I was on hiatus for another show, Valley of the Dolls. [The hiatus] was about 3 months and then you hear if you’re getting picked up or not [and then go back into production [for the next season]. I was assuming we were getting picked up [but we didn’t].

I think it worked out okay…

It really worked out! I’m glad I was wrong!

Let’s see if I can get this right. Sharon Collins Newman Abbott Newman Newman McAvoy Rosales! Viewers will always remember your character as just Sharon Newman. Can you speak about the epic romance between Sharon and Nick (Joshua Morrow)? There’s an entire generation who saw them as the next Victor and Nikki. Even though they haven’t been together in so long, fans are always hoping for a reunion!

Oh my God. It feels so sweet and great! The support we have for Nick and Sharon is very important.

They’re not like Victor and Nikki in the same identical sense, but they symbolically stand for the same thing and were written that way. It means a lot to me that people still view us as that because that is what they are – they are a core couple on the show in a certain respect where it doesn’t really make a difference so much that they aren’t together.

[Sharon and Nick’s] story is about their relationship and their relationship with their family. A lot of times, relationships within families are rough where you can spend years apart. I think the main message [here] is about family and that true love does conquer all – or that it’s trying to answer the question – if it can conquer all. So, we hold that hope that it is!

You got to work with Bill Bell when you joined the show. What can you share about your memories from working with him?

You know, I just felt so comfortable and at home [with him]. I’m so glad [I worked with him], in retrospect. Bill is a legend who has left us behind with these shows [both The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful].

I look back and think, “Wow!” I didn’t even realize it at the time what an honour it was working with him. Today, I can say that I worked with Bill Bell! Even at the time, he was very famous and successful. We did see him as the Aaron Spelling of daytime. That’s what a lot of people said about him, and that was absolutely true.

I was so pleased that I booked a Bill Bell show, and it was sort of how I felt when I booked an Aaron Spelling show before that. You want to work for these big names, so I was really honoured to be hired and to work with him. He was great to work with! He was a very friendly guy.

I guess with a lot of big names, you might be afraid to go and speak to them because you don’t want to bother them, but Bill was always friendly, and his door was always open.

sharon case young and the restless 50th anniversary interview

I brought a prop with me! Not sure if you remember this, but you were on the cover of ‘You Know Your Life Is a Soap Opera If…”

I’m glad I got to be on that cover because that’s just so perfectly Sharon Newman!

Definitely! She went from being a heroine to some dark times about a decade ago when they really put her through the wringer, but she’s evolved into such a stable presence on the show. Almost like a matriarch. A young matriarch!

Yeah, it kind of happened overnight! I don’t know where I was looking! Maybe I was looking the other way. It was sudden, but I’m so lucky that that happened.

I think that actors just don’t ever expect that they’re going to be on a show that long or that things would work out that way. You know, you kind of take life a day at a time, or you know, as it comes. So then to pause and go, “Wow, look how far I’ve come here.” That is hard to wrap your head around. It’s hard for me.

Sharon’s got her psychology degree and giving out advice, but she still owns Crimson Lights. Any chance she would kick Chelsea out from upstairs the coffee shop and open her psychology practice up there?

That’s my plan! Get rid of Chelsea! [Laughs]

I don’t know if she’ll one day have an office or not, I mean I wouldn’t be opposed to her doing real counselling sessions, as long as it remains interesting and cinematic!

It would depend on who she’s counselling and why. As the therapist, she may be sucked into that trauma, but as long as the stories are fleshed out and interesting because I don’t think coming in and sitting on the couch for an hour and blabbing on is really that interesting to watch!

She’s definitely come a long way!

What were some of your favourite feuds that your character has been in?

All of the Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) and Sharon fights were my favourite fights!

I recently saw a scene that someone posted on Twitter with Sharon and Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) and I had forgotten that they had a lot of really great fights, or scenes where they were spiteful toward each other. Those were very good too!

They did have the famous chocolate fight – which was a great fight – Sharon and Nikki’s fights were more frequent. I think the last one was when Sharon poured a whole pitcher of milk over Nikki’s head! That was a good one.

Sharon recently became a grandmother! A very young grandmother.

Yeah, that will happen when you have children when you’re 16 years old!

What was it like having Camryn Grimes come back to play Mariah?

Oh, that was such a joy and a bright spot in our lives. We were so glad. It just fixed something for us that had been broken for years and we didn’t know what to do about it.

What can you tease for us about Sharon and Chance (Conner Floyd)?

[Smiles] Chance and Sharon are really cute. They like each other. We’ll have to see how it develops because I don’t know what’s definitely happening.

But, what I do know is that I’ve just kicked off [filming] a new storyline that is a real whopper of a storyline!

We’re going to be telling this story for weeks, and I’m just thrilled with it! I can tell you that Chance is going to be involved in it. We’ll see what they do!

There are a lot of people that are pretty excited for Sharon and Chance to have some sort of storyline together, so we’ll see! I really love working with Conner. We’re having a really nice time.

Will this new storyline finally get Sharon outside of Crimson Lights?

Yes! This storyline finally gets Sharon out of Crimson Lights! Woohoo!

What have been some of your most memorable or proudest storylines?

I was very proud of the work I did in Cassie’s death storyline, and playing a grieving mother after that for a period of time.

I’m also proud of Rey’s death storyline. Sharon was older and stronger then and more determined to move on with her life and stay focused. I guess that was her way of getting through grief. I’m proud of the scenes where Sharon found out that Rey had died.

I liked a lot of the stuff we did! I love all the action stuff that we used to do, like jumping out of an airplane! I look back and go, “Wow, I flew out through a window!” We were on a volcano! I fell off a cliff with Drucilla (Victoria Rowell)!

You survived!

I survived!

The filming of these things, the sets that were involved, and you know just the endurance that it took as an actor to do all that, I’m like “Wow!” I’m impressed with myself when I look back at all that I did all that work. That was hard work!

Sharon might have also pushed Skye into a volcano!

I think I did, yeah!

People say that I pushed Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) down the stairs, but I think she fell. I like going along with the joke that she pushed her! [Laughs]

There was also the whole Cameron Kirsten (Linden Ashby) stuff! The affair, and then the body with Nikki.

Yes! She thought she killed Cameron with a bottle! What a great way to go! Then rolled him up into the trunk of a car and drove around for a few days, nervous. I loved all that! I mean, that’s what you did, right? After you strike someone with a champagne bottle! [Laughs]

A lot of fans say that there’s a missed opportunity with Sharon’s father. Would you like to see them bring her mother, Doris (Karen Hensel), back and have Sharon discover the identity of her father? Is that something that interests you to play?

Yes! A lot of fans have brought that up. At some point, I hope we do! You would think that it would have to happen. Every character that has stepped onto the show has ended up having a storyline about who their family was.

I’d like to think of it this way – the reason why we haven’t done that yet is because we are still developing the character of Sharon. She’s really grown and gone through all these phases of her life. Let’s finish off developing who she is before we go on and introduce her father and how that might change or impact her life, and the lives of her children.

What if Sharon were part of a bigger family? What if we find out she has a connection to the Abbotts [not blood as Sharon was married to Jack], the Fosters or the Chancellors? Something like that? So, when we do find out who her family could be, it somehow harkens back and ties in with the show’s history altogether. Otherwise, it wouldn’t really be necessary to tell that story.

There are relations to the Abbott by marriage anyway, like with Jill (Jess Walton) and John (Jerry Douglas). There could also be a lot of interesting things to think about if she had ties to the Chancellors. 

And then poor Chance!

Oh right, then what would happen to Chance?

That would be tricky, right?

Stuff happens! [Laughs] It’s a soap opera. Things happen and then they try to adjust their feelings and relationship after that.

We’ve touched on Drucilla and Doris, but are there any former costars that you wish you could work with again? I know you are still close with Jennifer Gareis who played Grace.

Yes, I am! I would say that I would love to have Grace come back but at the same time, I don’t want to say that because I know that Jennifer is happy working on The Bold and the Beautiful playing Donna. I’m happy for her!

I loved working with Victoria Rowell. I think that a lot of viewers would love to see her come back. Sharon and Drucilla had a really great friendship. It was really fun. It was an exciting and complex friendship. I would love to see Sharon have a friend like that.

I always thought they could bring back Eddie Cibrian who played Matt Clark! We did have Ric Heart play him later, he was also good. But it was Eddie when Joshua and I first started!

And they were in a boy band together!

Yes, there’s that too! Maybe they can kick it off again!

3 Deep was huge in Canada!

They did tell us that! I was well aware of it here in the States. I thought that was adorable.

There was also a loose end with Tamara Clatterbuck’s character, Alice!

Yes! Tamara’s character as well. Alice Johnson did make a return a few years back. We don’t know what happened to her after that! Alice has got to be up to something! I don’t know what!

There are a lot of other actors that I’d like to see come back and I did want to tease that some of them are coming! I can think of one in particular who is coming back. It’s going be an interesting one but I can’t say who! But you’ll see them soon! I’m not talking about a storyline that is way down the line. It’s one that is coming up! We’ve got some good stuff coming!

Will this return be involved in your upcoming new storyline?

Yes, it will! I’m excited!

The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on Global and CBS. Canadians can catch up with episodes on demand, the Global TV app, STACKTV, and at GlobalTV.com.

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