The Young and the Restless’ Sharon Case is celebrating her 30th anniversary with the series this month, and the actress gives The TV Watercooler an exclusive preview of the exciting week ahead for her character, Sharon Newman.
Case reflects on how Cassie’s death continues to drive storyline almost 20 years later, why the show keeps going back to the Sharon/Nick/Phyllis triangle and offers a tease about a potential reunion between Sharon and Nick.
Congratulations on your 30th anniversary! Did you ever think that a short-term gig would blossom into 30 incredible years?
Thank you! I know. Right? I can’t believe it’s been 30 years! I mean, I knew that actors did long stings on soap operas, but I didn’t know that I was going to be one of the long-term vets one day. I’m so pleased about it. It’s a dream come true. Really.
Sharon’s having a rough go at it at the moment with her mental state. Faith’s (Reylynn Caster) accident has brought up a lot of painful memories for Sharon from the time Cassie (Camryn Grimes) died. Did you know back then that Cassie’s death would not only change the course of Sharon’s life but keep getting such mileage for the show?
No, I had no idea. When we found out that Cassie was going to die, I felt the same way that everyone in the cast and the audience felt. What a tragic story! It wasn’t until later, in hindsight, that we realized how much more story that would bring.
Even today, [Cassie’s death] is still telling some of the most poignant and relevant stories for some of the characters – not just for Sharon, but for the others [like Nick, Daniel…] as well. This current story involves so many of the cast members.
Who would have ever thought that one storyline could have spun off so much? With Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) coming into the picture after Cassie’s death and breaking up Nick (Joshua Morrow) and Sharon. They [Nick and Phyllis] had Summer (Allison Lanier) and got married…
All three of you are celebrating your 30th anniversary this year as well.
Yes, I’m so glad that we’re doing it together and it’s not just me! It’s nice to have great company.
And it’s been almost 20 years of this triangle.
The Sharon, Nick and Phyllis triangle works. We’ve explored other things – other stories and couplings – but we come back to this and that works! We can’t do it all the time. You need to be able to branch off here and there and do other stories, but with these characters, we [always] go back to basics. There’s comfort in that!
Going back to Cassie’s death, do you think we’ll ever see a carefully crafted storyline again in daytime? One so impactful and layered that can be mined for years to come.
I don’t know. With the right writer, we should be able to. We’ve told many good stories over the years and have had great triangle. So, we’ll see!
What has it been like working with Linden Ashby again, who’s been appearing as Cameron – a figment of Sharon’s imagination? I thought his return last year was far too brief.
Oh, it’s fun! I’m loving that he’s back. And you’re right – it was too fast last time! I think that he had another project that he was due to work on, so we were lucky to have him for the amount of time that we did.
And that got to set up what we’re doing now, so that worked out! We’re telling this huge stories, which began with Sharon’s feelings over Cassie, and then Cameron comes into play. There’s a really big show that happens this week with an event that happens, which will spin off a lot of things for a lot of characters.
So, it won’t just be Sharon and Cameron, but it will feature a lot of people. There’s also Sharon’s anniversary episode, which ties into that as well! These two episodes will air back to back. The big storyline really gets going [this week!]
Who should be most of the most afraid of Sharon? Lucy (Lily Brooks O’Briant), Daniel (Michael Graziadei) or Phyllis?
Oh, all of them! They should all be afraid! And they all are! They are all Sharon’s targets. She’s going through a crisis right now, so they better look out.
Did being part of Joshua Morrow’s anniversary and seeing those flashbacks make you think of choosing your own for when the time came? Did you have a wish list of flashbacks?
You know, I’ve been so busy that I didn’t get a chance to really think of that, nor did I assume I’d have one after doing Joshua’s one-off episode. His was a standalone episode, which really had more to do with just his character and not necessarily the storylines [that were airing]. But I was really pleased to be part of it!
I was so busy with this storyline when they asked me if I had any clips that I wanted to include. I did offer them some, but some of my favourite episodes don’t necessarily tie into the current storyline that we’re telling. It was better to choose the ones that correlate and tie into the storyline at hand.
A storyline that I always say is my favourite is when Sharon broke out of prison and went on the run from the police! She stopped at a gas station bathroom and dyed her hair dark with something she bought at a drugstore.
Oh, my God! That was a dream come true scene for an actor to do that. I was like, “Wow! What a great setup!” I loved the whole thing about breaking out of prison. I loved shooting the action stuff. It wasn’t really something [that would have fit] for this episode, but you know what? You can always find them somewhere in the archives and watch them!
I remember that! She went off to live on a farm for a bit.
It was so long ago that you could easily forget that ever happened. She had her dark and hand her name was Sherry! She was on the farm with the lambs!
I’ve always got to ask… Is there any hope for the Shick fans? Could the events of the standalone episode bring Nick and Sharon closer together or rip them apart?
Throughout this storyline, Nick and Sharon are both involved it in quite heavily. Nick helps Sharon out a lot. He’s very much involved! They do get closer and closer, but what does that mean when we’re done telling the drama at hand?
Does this mean that this will lead to them getting together? They certainly bond… So, you never know!
Are there any other characters that you’d love for Sharon to share scenes with or have the show explore again? She was quite close with Jack (Peter Bergman). Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) and Sharon did end up in a sewer at one point!
That was so fun! I like working with Melody. I look forward to the day when she and I have a storyline again. We worked together to drag Cameron Kirsten’s body the first time around!
We’ll see what else can come up for us! But, you know, even just our simple catfights that we had – I loved them all! There was that scene more recently, I don’t know, maybe four or five years ago, where Sharon pours milk over her head! Something simple like that! I love their relationship.
How does it feel to have such a milestone celebrated by the show and the network? In contrast over on General Hospital, they’ve let a 20-year vet go and are getting so much backlash. Feeling appreciated at work is something so universal, no matter what your field is.
Yeah, I mean, this anniversary has shown me that because I’ve gotten so many acknowledgements, flowers, and such nice gestures – including the anniversary show and this storyline.
I never looked at it that way before, but now that this is happening, it makes me think, “Wow, this is so great to feel appreciated – and after 30 years! – I love it! But I didn’t expect it. It kind of surprised me because I am so focused right now on this storyline! It kind of blindsided me. “Oh yeah, that’s right – it’s my 30th anniversary! Great! I have to celebrate that or do something about it,” versus my 25th anniversary, where I did a lot! I went to Monte Carlo and did a big press tour. I did a lot of publicity and got a lot of great congratulations from the network and at that time, I just felt like I was just soaking it up and loving it, but this time, I didn’t expect anything! I just expect, “Hey, I work here – get to work!”
What are you watching? Have you binge-watched anything recently or is there something that you are looking forward to watching?
I’ve been watching things that are a little bit more relevant to what I’m filming – as sort of more as a study. I do [watch] popular or current television sometimes, but I tend to watch things that teach me or show me something that relates to what I’m currently doing myself. I can’t give away [what I last watched]!
I did watch [Yorgos Lanthimos’] Kinds of Kindness recently! That is a wacky film! I can’t say that that has anything necessarily to do with Sharon or the storyline, but it did for me for more as a performer. That movie is so out of the box, it’s crazy! What I study in that movie is how committed the actors are to what they are doing in this imaginary world that they are in. It’s so outrageous and sociopathic!
An actor has to really believe in what they are doing and believe in the circumstances, or believe that there’s nothing wrong with what they’re doing without a second thought! You have to be completely convinced because if the actor thinks something, then the audience will see it! You have to really sharpen those skills sometimes as a performer and I think that’s what the film helped me to do – watching those actors (Jesse Plemons, Emma Stone, and Willem Dafoe). They’re great actors!
I mean, that’s a great director, too! And the story is crazy, but those performers are just wonderful. It’s not necessarily your typical movie. It’s meant for other things, I suppose. For me, it was a study of acting because those actors are so great, and I just couldn’t get over Emma Stone’s dance at the end.
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. Stream The Young and the Restless with AppleTV.
