Interview Outtakes, Part 5

Charles Shaughnessy (ex-Shane, Days of Our Lives): The streets of Hollywood are littered with people shattered by broken dreams. If you hadn’t been so set on some point in the future and had just been there in the present and seen what opportunities are in front of you — if you could see what was there right then and there, I think you’d have a lot less disappointment and frustration.

Peter Bergman (Jack, The Young and the Restless): For the first time, Jack is realizing that he is now head of the family. It’s going to be the longer story-line arc over the next couple of years — Jack taking his seat as head of the family.

Rena Sofer (ex-Lois, General Hospital): I intend to understand that you really can’t change your children’s mind on who they are going to choose (as a love interest). If you try to get involved in those choices, you might get kicked out of their life. Unless that choice is truly a dangerous choice, even then, you want to be there in case your child falls down. You don’t want to be so disconnected that he or she can’t come to you because there is too much water under the bridge. As a parent, it’s my job to guide and not my job to control. But it’s hard because I like to be in control.”

Robert Newman (ex-Josh, Guiding Light): Ellen Wheeler really understood this need for me to go away and do theater. It’s very easy to write a character out for a month: Josh went away on a business trip. And then you come back very refreshed having been challenged in a different way. It would give me more energy to move forward with Joshua. Other producers didn’t like the idea of me going away, but Ellen was very good with that, I think because she had been an actress for so long.

I rehearsed Sessions almost exclusively on my own, because the cast wasn’t really available, and the times they were available, I was doing Guiding Light. Once the show opened, I had this commute from hell. I live about 50 miles north of Manhattan; Peapack, New Jersey, where we shot all the location stuff for GL, is about 100 miles west of where I live. So I would do that drive at 5 a.m., shoot GL all day, and then drive another 45 miles or so into the city from there, and either shoot more stuff in the studio for GL or do Sessions, and then come back home around midnight, and then repeat the next day and the next day.

Sherri Shepherd (The View): My cast (of Sherri) is a dream come true. They cast Malcolm Jamal Warner as my husband, and he’s gorgeous. Initially, when they first said Malcolm Jamal Warner, all I could think was, this is Theo from The Cosby Show. Then he walked in the room and his voice is deep and he’s been lifting weights, and I realized, this isn’t Theo from The Cosby Show anymore. He is absolutely gorgeous. Michael Boatman from Spin City plays my son’s pediatrician, and we kind of have been dating a little bit. They keep bringing me these gorgeous guys on the set, and they have my character playing the field.

Interview Y&R: Peter Bergman Celebrates a Milestone

Believe it or not, Peter Bergman is celebrating 20 years with The Young and the Restless as everyone’s favorite bad boy, Jack Abbott. I caught up with Peter recently, and he was just as astounded by the milestone as I was.

“It’s wild — 20 years! — I can’t believe it,” he tells me. “When I first think about it, it feels like yesterday. But then I realize, my daughter was 4 weeks old when I started the show, and she is now a sophomore at USC. I had been married for five years, and now I am coming up on my 25th anniversary.”

How does Peter keep his character fresh and exciting after all these years? Simple: He truly cares about what happens to Jack next. “I’ve got two scripts that they dropped off to me this morning, and I can’t wait to read them to see what Jack does next.

“I just take it scene by scene. I have a genuine enthusiasm and excitement for what I do. I am challenged by it — how do I make this interesting? How do I make this more real? I work with people who care about that stuff too. I don’t get bored. And that says a lot, because I am easily bored.”


What are some of Peter’s favorite milestones that Jack has reached in his 20 years of portraying the lovable rogue? “Through all the milestones, we’ve watched Jack evolve from an absolute cad to a more whole person than when I first got here, and I can name the reasons: Nikki, Phyllis and Sharon.

“With each one, he had to face things about himself that he’d never faced before. With Nikki, it was his falling for someone and not being able to help her. Jack can usually make things go his way every single time, and he had to watch her spiral into an alcoholic mess. And he can’t do a thing to help her, as much as he loves her and as much as he wants to help her. He’s an enabler, and it pulled Jack up short. He had to stop and examine things about himself.

“With Phyllis, the least likely of all relationships, suddenly it was perfectly wrong. The two of them were just terrific together — screaming and scratching at each other — passionate as all hell with each other. Jack got completely lost in it.

“I think the Sharon thing was, as much as anything, it was convenient for the writers. ‘We put Nick and Phyllis together — crap, what will we do with Jack and Sharon? What if they found comfort in each other?’ I think they expected that to last about six weeks. Sharon and I decided, ‘What if we gave them something to play with?’ And so we went all out to make our scenes everything they could possibly be. Jack was confronted with a type of goodness in Sharon that he’d never confronted before. It only exposed his foibles: just how much of a liar he’d been and just how deceptive he’d been.”

And while Jack’s romantic relationships taught him a lot, he also is learning every single day since the passing of his father, John. “Jack is still reeling from his father’s death. This was his conscience, his guidepost, his strength, and when he died, Jack was a rudderless ship for a while. He’s just now, three years later, finding his rudder.”

As Peter thinks about some of his favorite story line moments of the past 20 years, he has to admit that he likes it when Jack isn’t being quite so good. “There is one scene — Victor has a massive coronary episode in his office, and Jack was left with the choice of whether to call for help or to walk out. Not only did he leave, but he kicked Victor’s hand on the way out.”

Y&R Celebrates Two Milestones

The Young and the Restless reached 1,000 consecutive weeks as the #1 rated daytime drama series against regular scheduled programming, according to Nielsen ratings for the week ending February 29, 2008. The streak began more than 19 years ago in December, 1988.

ALSO

The Young and the Restless will celebrate 35 years on the air on March 26, 2008. Y&R’s 35th anniversary storyline revolves around Restless Style Magazine, a print and Web-based magazine run by Nick and Phyllis Newman (Joshua Morrow and Michelle Stafford) and Jack and Sharon Abbott (Peter Bergman and Sharon Case). In the March 26 episode, a launch party is thrown by the magazine during which surprises occur, former favorites return and old rivalries are renewed. Fan favorite Michael Damian, who played Danny Romalotti from 1981-1990, 1993-1998 and 2002-2004, returns for several episodes, and actors Eileen Davidson and Lesli Kay cross over from sister show The Bold and the Beautiful as their characters attend the Restless Style party. Tatyana Ali appears as Roxanne, Patty Weaver appears as Gina Roma and Entertainment Tonight Correspondent Thea Andrews appears as herself.

Tragedy in Genoa City!

You've seen the ads: Out of the ashes, we'll see the real tragedy. All next week on The Young and the Restless, Genoa City residents will be dealing with the aftermath of the Clear Springs parking structure collapse. Here is an excerpt from my interview with Peter Bergman about the story line:

According to Peter: “Filming this was an extraordinary thing. The actors, cameramen and crew were all working 16-17 hour days; the set was five times as big as any set we’ve ever had. We had not just the collapsed parking structure, not just a hook-and-ladder fire engine, but we had about 40 extras, we had real firemen, police cars … I was pretty awestruck to walk out on the set and see all that.”

Jack, Nick and Sharon end up being trapped together beneath the rubble. And you can bet there is going to be some friction. “From the get-go, Nicholas and I are arguing about which is the best way to get out. Sharon has to referee us quite a few times.”

Peter is most excited about this story line, because he can’t wait for the viewers to see the fruit of their labor. “The audience will have great fun with this. I think you’ll see a scale to this that is overwhelming. This is really something to see. It will be shocking to see people at their wits’ end – some deal with it better than others.”

If that build-up isn't enough to entice you to watch, how about this:

“A tragic building collapse at Clear Springs traps friends and foes, changing them forever. Enemies are forced to form alliances and bystanders become unlikely heroes. Loved ones can only wait for word as each passing hour means less hope.”

If that doesn't either, then I just don't know what to say to you! Be sure to watch all next week. You won't be sorry!