Melody Thomas Scott tells all!
Next week, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS will celebrate its 30th anniversary. For the last 24 years, Melody Thomas Scott has played Nikki Reed (later Newman), the stripper with a heart of gold who went on to win Victor’s heart and become one of the most popular characters on daytime. But while Nikki is an open book by now, her portrayer, Melody Thomas Scott, isn’t. Did Scott really hire a moving van and clear out her dressing room when her contract expired in 2001? How did she deal with her husband, executive producer Ed Scott, leaving the soap later that same year?
Scott has never talked about any of that — until now.Soap Opera Weekly: Did you ever think 24 years ago that it would last this long?
Melody Thomas Scott: Heavens, no! I don’t think any of our actors thought that when we started. No matter what the duration of your contract, there’s always that 13-week option where they can say, “See ya.”So as an actor, particularly a young actor, you’re just happy to be working. The week that I got this job I also got a sitcom pilot, and I, of course, could only do one. I wanted to do the sitcom; I thought it was the funniest thing on earth. I don’t even remember the name of it now. It did not get picked up. My agent was the one who advised me, “No, do the soap. It’ll be fun for a while.” So, thanks to her, my life was changed forever.Weekly: I know you love comedy…
Scott: I do, and I try to do it as often as I can. It’s hard to find the time with our schedule. This show is very enduring, as it turns out. I met my husband through it. I have my children because of it…it altered my life in a tremendous way, more than most actors. God obviously had something in mind for me, and I’m very grateful.Weekly: Can you imagine if you didn’t pick Y&R? Where your life would be?
Scott: God knows. Probably drunk in a gutter somewhere! Only God and my guardian angels know that.Weekly: Did you get any inclination from Bill Bell in the beginning that Nikki would become such a major character?
Scott: No. At that time, he was still living in Chicago, so we rarely saw him. Most of the writers at that time were based in Chicago. There were no such things as e-mails or faxes yet. They actually would have to get overnight deliveries of videotapes to view the episodes because there was no other way to communicate with them, other than Old Ma Bell (no pun intended)! I don’t think I met Bill until months after I started, and I certainly had no idea how things would turn out. I don’t think he did either. A few years into the run, when he decided to put Nikki with Victor, everybody was scratching their heads thinking: What? This is a bizarre pairing. But apparently Bill saw something that he thought would work. That was part of his genius. Weekly: Does it amaze you how they still make it new and exciting?
Scott: Absolutely. How many times can a daytime television couple marry without it becoming boring? The writers have a very difficult job. I wouldn’t want to write a soap for any amount of money! They have found ways to do it that keep it young and fresh, and that’s part of our jobs as actors, too — to keep it fresh.Weekly: Has Nikki changed a lot? Obviously, she has a better job…
Scott: Nikki came from a very poor, uneducated background, and in that respect she has learned a lot about the world. She’s become cultured and very wealthy. But, in her heart, she’s still that same lost girl who is often ruled by her heart and not her mind. As Victor would say, she was his “diamond in the rough.” And it gets her into a little bit of trouble from time to time. Weekly: They’ve kept her core.
Scott: Oh, yes! She’s very different, and yet she’s not. The writers keep that in mind, I think. I hope. That’s just my interpretation. Or maybe a little bit of both.Weekly: How have you changed?
Scott: Oh, my. When I started Y&R, though I was professionally seasoned, having started in this business when I was 3, I was still a young, wild kid. You have a whole different lifestyle when you’re young, naive and you don’t have any children. You have no responsibilities. This show forced me to become centered and responsible and organized, all those things that I knew nothing about. Particularly once you have children, you must do that. I hope it has changed me for the better. I think it has. You’ll have to ask my friends!Weekly: Do you have a favorite storyline?
Scott: Everybody asks me that! It’s so hard; there have been so many. I still love the alcoholism storyline. I’m always waiting for that to come back. Damn it, I want Nikki to take another drink!
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