SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations: ‘The Young And The Restless’
The main cast of the long-running soap opera series The Young and the Restless sit down for a Q&A. Actors Sean Dominic, Melissa Claire Egan, Michael Graziadei, Josh Griffith, Christel Khalil, Beth Maitland, Joshua Morrow, and Brytni Sarpy share stories and insight from their performances on the show. The conversation is moderated by Jim Halterman of TV Guide Magazine. This interview is part of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation Conversations series, an essential resource for actors, filmmakers, and students of discussions with performers, exploring the process and profession of acting.
“The show really let me grow up and carve this nice niche for myself. It’s just been the job of a lifetime. I have never once thought that I should be doing something else.”
Halterman begins the discussion by asking everyone present to introduce themselves and questions Griffith about how he and the creative team for The Young and the Restless decided to celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary. Griffith answers that he and the creative team looked at where they were in the story. At this point in the narrative, many exciting events begin to reach a climax. Knowing this, Griffith felt the best way to commemorate the anniversary and bring the climaxes together was to create a big gala to celebrate the story’s fictional city, which is a character itself. Griffith explains how all these stories would sometimes pop into existence, ending and continuing plots. Griffith and the creative team made the gala a masked ball to add a sense of intrigue and mystery to the anniversary episode. Going with Griffith’s, “anything could happen” claim. Halterman asks Griffith how he brought the entire cast on stage as part of the show’s bicentennial celebration. Griffith admits that while the process was somewhat hectic, he felt the occasion went smoothly due to everyone’s efforts.
Halterman switches the discussion to Morrow. He brings up how Morrow has been on The Young and the Restless since age 20 and asks Morrow to tell everyone present and listen to his first few days on set. Halterman follows up by asking Morrow if he had any idea this would be a long-term gig. Morrow claims he didn’t know what to expect as he had no prior experience or knowledge about soap operas. Answering Halterman’s second question, Morrow admits he was unaware of how such a series could last for decades. Morrow was still a university student when he was offered the role of “Nick.” After signing a three-year deal with CBS, Morrow approached his role with a “take it one day at a time” mindset. According to Morrow, the biggest takeaway from his time on The Young and the Restless is that it has been an incredible career with job security. This is in addition to being surrounded by incredibly talented people who showed him the ropes.
The same question is asked of Graziadei. The first thing he recalls about his first day on the show was being terrified due to feeling overwhelmed by the show’s material and renown. Graziadei reveals how he was the third “Daniel” to be hired. Not only did Graziadei have to start his role immediately with new scenes, but he also had to re-tape some of the scenes done with the previous “Daniel” actors. Looking back, he sees the first few weeks on set as a trial by fire that led to a warm and welcoming environment. Graziadei, like many of his costars, sees everyone on set as a family.
“Kristoff St. John, who played my [Christel Khalil] dad, was my number one right away. He really sheltered me and helped me. He was always like a father figure.”
Continuing the discussion on the actors’ first days on the show, Halterman asks if any felt prepared for what they were about to undergo on The Young and the Restless. Khalil immediately responds, claiming that the show was an experience dissimilar to her past works. It was intimidating, but Khalil felt able to joke about her start on the show. She humorously comments on how she had to learn the “soap opera stare”—she couldn’t just do a scene and walk off-screen; she had to look and stare just before exiting. Suddenly becoming serious, Khalil talks about the late Kristoff St. John. She describes how St. John was a costar she felt comfortable leaning on for support. Not only did St. John play the father of Khalil’s character, but he also seemed to be a fatherly figure to Khalil outside of acting.
Hearing about the actors’ premiere on The Young and the Restless, Halterman promptly asks Griffith how, as a producer and writer, he and the creative team acclimate new talent. Griffith references Graziadei’s experience, agreeing the situation is a trial by fire where actors must hit the ground running. There is no easing them into the show. While an individual may be a great actor, if they can’t handle the pace, then soap operas aren’t the genre for them. Griffith feels fortunate to be surrounded by talented people who can keep up.
Maintaining the line of questioning, Maitland begins to discuss her beginnings on the show. By the time she started, the show was in a period of transition where some of the fictional families were fazing out of the storyline to make room for new ones. Maitland feels fortunate to have made it through those uncertain days. Maitland recalls how she and costar Eileen Davidson (who only started days before Maitland) were often invited by some of the senior cast to dine together, go out drinking, and socialize at different locations. Looking back, Maitland realized the reasoning for these invites was a conscious effort by the current cast to speed up the development of relationships. Better relationships lead to improved portrayals of a core family as established ties don’t need to feel forced.
“I think it’s [soap opera] a place where actors really have to have confidence and make full commitments in every minute.”
Recalling that Graziadei came into the show as an already-established character, Halterman asks Dominic what it was like going through a similar situation. Dominic had a different mindset when compared to Graziadei. Instead of feeling overwhelmed, Dominic was more conflicted since he believed he could bring more to his character, “Nate,” than the previous actor who portrayed the role. His pursuit of expanding “Nate” led him to seek out views and opinions on social media. Unfortunately, this led Dominic to slowly doubt himself to the point where he was psyching himself out in-between takes. Dominic assures the interviewer and the audience watching that he has learned his lesson and no longer seeks input from social media.
Going back to Griffith, Halterman asks Griffith how he crafts actors coming into established characters. Does he lean into the strength of the actor? Or does he hope they catch up to the role? Griffith describes his approach as a give-and-take situation. Writers see what the actor brings to the character, and after that, they can reinvent the character around the actor. Griffith praises Dominic and Graziadei for making the roles their own. He also compliments Egan for being able to come from a separate soap opera (All My Children) and seamlessly affix herself to a new “family.”
“I think Elena [Brytni Sarpy] has gone through a world of relationship drama, and we could put that somewhere in the back…I think it’s time to delve into her own inner working and her own inner demons.”
Wanting to talk more about the content of The Young and the Restless, Halterman shifts his focus to Egan. He discusses how fans of the show have seen Egan’s character, Elena, go through various circumstances that have taken her on an emotional rollercoaster. Halterman asks Egan what she wishes Elena to experience. Sarpy believes it’s time for Elena to move away from relationship drama and explore more of the character’s inner turmoil. Referencing how tired Elena is from her inability to handle the stress and strain of working in a hospital, Egan suggests Elena possibly develop an addiction to medication to cope. The setting allows easy access to drugs, and the situation is realistic.
Feeling excited after listening to Egan’s suggestions, Halterman becomes curious about which storylines are the actor's favorite. For Maitland, she views the period when her character, Traci, owned a nightclub. This allowed Maitland to sing—an opportunity, she notes, doesn’t occur often in the soap opera industry. Graziadei favored the storyline where his and Khalil’s characters run away together. To Graziadei, the experience was the moment when he and Khalil shifted from being relegated to the “kid’s storyline” and allowed more opportunities to work with talented people whom they haven’t interacted with often.
Morrow describes the death of the character Cassie Newman being the most impactful storyline of his career. It was a brutal series of events, but one Morrow believed to be the best story ever told on The Young and the Restless. Morrow describes the plot as being a collaborative effort from everyone on set that encompassed other storylines like Graziadei’s favorite. In the same vein, Newman’s death was Morrow’s least favorite and initially didn’t want to go through with it. Regarding Egan, she sees her time spent portraying her character, Chelsea, in a wheelchair as enlightening. The shift in the character was challenging and new, allowing Egan to explore new means of acting without dialogue.
“We’re never going to make everyone happy all the time. Everybody has couples they like, everybody has stories that they want to go in specific directions. I love hearing what they think, but there has to be a line.”
Referencing Dominic’s usage of social media, Halterman talks about each actor perusing various platforms and reacting to stories and posts. He questions if it is good how actors can be in touch with fans via this medium. Graziadei admits to using social media but has claimed to have learned that he doesn’t care about what other people think. When he sees something he feels shouldn’t be there, he simply blocks it. That said, Graziadei does enjoy being able to interact with fans. This is especially true when returning from long breaks, like during the pandemic. Witnessing positive responses uplifts Graziadei.
Morrow appreciates how passionate and committed fans can be. Like Graziadei, Morrow doesn’t care about everything he sees on social media. Situations cross the line when fans get personal about the actor’s abilities or performances. While he recognizes he won’t be able to please everyone, Morrow firmly believes boundaries must be made. Rather than focusing on trending topics like which character is dating whom or plot twists, Morrow wants fans to recognize how much work is put into telling a new story every day.
Maitland chimes in, stating her belief in the necessity of a balance in managing social media. She explains how damaging it can be to take things from it seriously, referencing Dominic’s experience. Everyone on set is invested to do their best each day, so anything that distracts that focus could be detrimental. That said, Maitland sees the fun side of social media as being the immediate response it provides between people. She is amazed at how the cast and crew are able to know what fans think immediately. This utility was unheard of back when she started on the show. The closest thing to it was fan mail which sometimes took weeks or months to receive. Like Morrow, Maitland also emphasizes that there will always be a negative person typing away toxic posts.
“I forgot how the other world outside of soaps is. I’m like, ‘Oh, we got time…Let’s sit here and play.’”
Delving a bit into the actors’ work outside of the soap opera genre, Halterman asks if it is hard for them to adjust to new projects since they are accustomed to the cycle of daytime drama. Is it a jolt to the system, or does the “muscles” they trained from daytime help? Before anyone has the chance to answer, Maitland cuts in to exclaim, “If you can do daytime drama, you can do anything.” Amused by Maitland’s response, Sarpy explains how she enjoys dabbling into other genres. For her, the training to keep up with daytime drama has helped immensely. Sarpy even goes as far as to say everything else is easy in comparison. She references an appearance she had on the sitcom New Girl where she was astounded by how three pages of the script took an entire day to shoot. Dominic agrees with Sarpy. To Dominic, other projects allowed him to slow down and zone out. Being able to do that felt surreal for him.
Having taken notes throughout the interview, Halterman brings up how each actor frequently jokes about having so much dialogue despite it being a part of the job. He asks how each of them kept that acting muscle solid. Khalil explains that, like any other muscle, the more you practice dialogue, the easier it gets. Starting out, Khalil took time to learn her lines a week in advance— “It’s all about repetition until it becomes second nature.” Dominic believes the process begins with understanding your character. He reasons that a better insight into portrayals allows an easier flow of the storyline.
“The one main difference with soaps and doing other projects is that we’re actually living these characters’ lives in real-time. I’ve [Christel Khalil] been Lily for twenty years, so there is no inner work I really have to dive into.”
Morrow expresses his confidence in developing an effective short-term memory regarding dialogue and typically doesn’t take his work home. He enjoys the speed and pace required of him. Morrow finds the process competitive, and if he doesn’t get the scene in one attempt, he takes it as a challenge. In his mind, soap operas are serious business. Morrow claims 80-85% of scenes are done in one take, so he feels it all comes down to one rehearsal and then going forward.
Khalil goes back to talking about her experience working on other projects. For soaps, the material is right there because she has been living it. While doing a new project, Khalil is diving into a new character that she has possibly only a few months to learn about. Khalil has been living as her character “Lily” for two decades, thereby providing a seamless shift between real life and portrayal.
Halterman closes the discussion by asking the actors about the advice they would give to talent coming into the soap opera genre. In addition, Halterman is curious how the actors would advise future soap stars to speak up when something doesn’t feel right. Graziadei’s sole advice is to speak up at the right time while not holding out until the last minute. Morrow wants to emphasize how a soap opera is a collaboration. On The Young and the Restless, the cast and crew typically meet in the morning with the director and stage managers. In Morrow’s opinion, this is the best time to lay out how you feel. Don’t feel afraid to speak up because they won’t respond with a flat-out no. The director and producers will take time to work things out. Khalil finishes things by reaffirming Morrow’s claims, assuring viewers that people on set respect those who speak up. The actors know their characters better than anyone. A lot of times, Khalil has witnessed writers rely on actors for input in developing scripts.