Eric Braeden is Back!
by Michael Logan January 11, 2010 09:01 AM EST
The most gripping drama last year at The Young and the Restless wasn't on-air-it was happening backstage where top star Eric Braeden was in a controversial contract battle that led to him quitting the show. Now, after an 11-week absence, his character, Victor Newman, is set to return in the cliffhanger this Friday, January 15-and he's ready to open up a big can o' whoop-***! Braeden, in his first interview since coming back to the set, gave us a preview of things to come.
When you were written off the show, Victor was unfairly blamed for almost every crime and calamity in Genoa City. Is he back with a hit list? Oh, yes, and he's salivating for revenge. Nothing explosive. He's angry and bitter but he's going to play it very cool, very Machiavellian. It all unfolds in a very delicious manner and I'm enjoying it enormously. [Laughs] I like to get even.
So Victor's all better from his heart transplant and his stint overseas in rehab? Yes, and to heck with that nonsense! That storyline I never liked anyway.
And he and the newly-brunette Nikki are fully committed to each other? Their relationship is a very good one right now. Committed? [Laughs] For a while. I guess as much as Victor can ever commit himself.
The uproar over your exit, from both fans and media, was astonishing. Surprised? It really was something, wasn't it? And I have to say it had a little bit to do with my decision to come back. I'm a cynic at heart-I've been doing this Hollywood shoot since 1962 and you learn a thing or two-but I was very touched by the response.
What ultimately turned things around? [Y&R head writer/co-exec producer] Maria Bell. When I realized how truly, deeply concerned she was, and how appreciative she was of my contributions, it helped sway me.
Where was Bell, and for that matter [Y&R co-executive producer] Paul Rauch, when you were going through your contract fight? They said nothing publicly, which seemed rather cowardly. It made it look like you were hanging in the wind, with no support from any of your producers. I'm sure that was done in order not to sway the negotiations one way or the other. The ball was obviously in [Y&R owner] Sony's court. Had it not been for that personal touch-the connection with Maria Bell-I don't think I would have been back.
Did she actively step in at some point to make something happen? I'm sure she tried all the time. Yeah. But who essentially stepped in was [CBS president] Les Moonves, who has always been a friend and supporter. I don't know how it eventually was solved, but in the end this sort of thing becomes a pissing contest, and there's a point where you say, "What for?"
You made it clear to the press during your contract issues that your problem wasn't taking a pay cut but rather the way in which Sony so impolitely dealt with you. Sony abruptly fired Days of Our Lives' Deidre Hall [Marlena] and Drake Hogestyn [John] without even a chance to talk about a pay cut. We keep hearing stories of shabby star treatment at ABC Daytime. Why is this so common these days? Why is civility in the soap world a thing of the past? This is perhaps an over-arching, over-reaching statement but let me venture a guess: During the eight years prior to [the Obama] administration, and probably over the last 20-30 years, the power of corporate America has grown bigger and bigger. The corporations are run essentially by people who are graduates of MBA programs, from Wharton and Stanford and Harvard or wherever, and what is lacking in all their courses is the human factor, and now people across the country are experiencing and suffering the result of that. Specifically in Hollywood, the huge corporations have taken over what used to be small entities. Back when the great producers like Quinn Martin and Jack Webb and [Y&R creator] Bill Bell ran TV, you dealt with real guys, real personalities, you dealt with people you could say hello to on the lot, they knew you and appreciated you, and you knew them.
So you don't know the people at Sony who gave you so much grief? I don't know who the heck controls things now. We're in merger mania. I'll tell you this: Many a morning you could find Bill Bell at his office at CBS at 4am working like the devil. His day began and ended with him wanting to produce something he was proud of. He thought of his shows as a family business. Sure he made a lot of money, but he cared deeply about the quality of his programming. The encroaching of corporate America has changed the landscape in Hollywood, and not for the better. Perhaps someday things will swing back. Perhaps we will come to see that bigger isn't necessarily better.
After you agreed to return, Sony leaked it to the press that you'd taken a half-million dollar pay cut. Weren't you mad? Of course, but there's a point at which you have to put all that behind you.
Not to cut Sony any slack, but is it possible they were afraid to sit down with you ? Let's face it, you can be one scary son of a witch. [Laughs] Look, the business as a whole has taken a hit and I'd have to be deaf and dumb not to know that, so obviously one is willing to make concessions. But approach me. Talk to me. Sit me down. Eye to eye. And then we can talk business. Anyway, we finally came to a conclusion and here I am.
How was it to have nearly three months away from the show? What did you reflect upon? It was rather strange. I read a lot. I was dallying with the notion of writing an autobiography. There were some offers from here and there that I was entertaining. I spent a lot of time with my granddaughter. I hadn't settled on what I was going to do next, but I need to be active, all the time. I realized that I'm still so full of piss and vinegar that I don't feel like stepping down. I take enormous joy in the process of acting. It still fascinates me to take something that someone wrote-whether I like it or not-and turn that into something that is real. I love that process and have never tired of it, not after all these years. I still find it challenging!
Was it weird to step back on that soundstage after all the fuss? For about half an hour. But the reaction, from the security guard at the front door of CBS to the Y&R crew, was very warm and that meant a great deal to me.
What about your co-stars? Some got pretty mouthy after you left and seemed jealous of all the attention your departure stirred up. Melody Thomas Scott [Nikki] was very supportive throughout the whole thing. So was Sharon Case [Sharon] and Michael Muhney [Adam].
And the rest? We aren't very close on the set, and anyone who tells you otherwise is spreading a myth. The nature of the beast is that you do your scenes and you go back to your dressing room. Some people you get along with better than others, but in the end I don't give a darn, and in the end it doesn't make any difference. What's important-the only thing I care about-is what comes across on screen.