This interview originally appeared in the August 1, 2000 issue of Soap Opera Digest.
She’s had her job as YOUNG AND RESTLESS’s Sharon for six years, is linked to the show’s core family and nabbed an Emmy and a Soap Opera Digest Award, yet Sharon Case doesn’t take her job security for granted. “I’m not Newman blood,” she points out. “I’m just married to one.”
It’s not wonder Case is cautious — she’s been through soaps’ revolving door twice before. The actress joined GENERAL HOSPITAL as Dawn in 1989 and was gone by the next year; she didn’t fare much better when she played AS THE WORLD TURN’s Debbie, a job that lasted from 1992-93. “When I started on Y&R, I expected to be her six months, max,” Case sighs. Now, as she watched Y&R castmates come and go, the actress says, “I guess the question for me is, ‘Will I ever be the one who goes?’”
Not that Case is anxious to leave. “I’ve never really had a burning desire to get out and do other things,” she admits. “I guess that’s because I was already working for five years when I started on the show. With a lot of the actors, this is their first acting job.”
No Case is a veteran — and she’s got that Emmy (for Best Supporting Actress) to show for it. The bad news? Case’s victory precipitated a slide to the back-burner last summer, after Sharon finally gained full custody of her 8-year-old daughter, Cassie. Case says she enjoyed her transition. “Sharon was happy for an extended period, which was a first,” she explains. “She and Nick got to be silly and laugh. So I felt comfortable trying a variety of different things with Sharon. In the past, I was very careful about the choices I made, because the character was being established. Later, when I tried to add [humor] to my performance, I wasn’t really allowed. Sharon would never crack and joke or laugh. Now, it’s easier for Sharon to be whoever she wants and enjoy things.”
We’ll see how much Sharon enjoys things not that her villainous ex-boyfriend, Matt Clark, is back in Genoa City. “Sharon and Nick have been at a pretty high place,” Case offers. “So now, there’s even further for them to fall.”
Whatever strain befalls the Newman marriage, you can bet the tension between Case and her co-star, Joshua Morrow (Nicholas), is all an act. “It’s hard to describe our relationship because it’s so unique,” smiles Case. “We’re married on the show, and we’re very [demonstrative]. You’re not normally that affectionate with somebody you work with or who is a friend. I know there are [examples of] soap couples, where the actors fall in love and marry, and then there are the ones who don’t even like each other. Joshua and I fall somewhere in the middle,” she laughs. “We’re far, far away from not liking each other, but then again, I don’t see us ever getting married, either!”
How A Girl From The Wrong Side Of The Tracks Became The Wife Of A Billionaire’s Son
1994: Sharon falls in love with Nick Newman while still in high school. Later, she survives a rape by ex-boyfriend Matt Clark (Eddie Cibrian).
1995: Sharon is engaged to Nick Newman. The wedding is postponed when Nick is charged with shooting Matt.
1996: Nick is cleared, and they wed. Sharon gets pregnant.
1997: Nick and Sharon’s son, Noah, is born prematurely. Soon after, Sharon is introduced to Cassie (Camryn Grimes), not realizing the girl is the daughter she gave up for adoption.
1998: Sharon learns that Cassie is her daughter. Tension erupts when Nick can’t accept Cassie. Later, Sharon discovers that Nick slept with her best friend, Grace (Jennifer Gareis). They separate.
1999: Sharon and Nick reconcile. Sharon meets Cassie’s adoptive mom, Alice, who wants the child back. Sharon seeks full custody of Cassie and wins. Nick adores the little girl. Sharon and Nick buy Crimson Lights, precipitating a battle of wills between independent Nick and his controlling father, Victor.
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