Y&R’s Hayley Erin and Michael Mealor on Victor’s Approval and Claire and Kyle’s Future (Exclusive)

Claire and Kyle are determined to make their relationship work on Young and Restless, despite the fact that she’s a Newman and he’s an Abbott. Although most people are supportive of the pairing, there’s one person in particular who is vehemently opposed to it — Victor Newman. With the young couple attempting to use Nikki’s birthday party to win Claire’s grandfather over, Soap Opera Digest sat down with Hayley Erin and Michael Mealor to find out what Claire and Kyle have planned, whether or not they think it’ll actually work, and what the future holds for the pair… maybe even a wedding?

Soap Opera Digest: Claire has convinced Kyle to make a grand gesture at Nikki’s party in an attempt to win Victor over. What is Kyle planning, and do they think they can actually change Victor’s mind?

Hayley Erin: Claire’s all-in [laughs]!

Michael Mealor: Yeah, Claire is convinced that it’s going to work, that’s for sure. It’s funny, I think Kyle is anything but convinced, which makes for fun storytelling, because you have these two people that love each other, and one is so far on one side of the fence and one is so far on the other. And from Kyle’s point of view, he knows Victor very well from… forever, basically. He knows that when Victor makes up his mind, it’s in stone, and so I think Kyle is really trying to come up with some inventive new way to show his love to Claire. A way that he hasn’t been able to express thus far. But Hayley, correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t know if Claire and Kyle have come up with an idea at this point.

Erin: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s definitely off-screen, because by the time Kyle picks up the mic to chat, I know Claire is definitely cheering him on. Claire knows like, “Okay, there’s going to be a gift and it’ll be presented in some way.” I don’t think she necessarily knows exactly the details, the nitty-gritty of what Kyle’s going to do, but I think there’s a loose plan, probably. And what you said — just to expand on it — was so well put that Claire is looking for this kind of commitment from Kyle to show that he is all-in, and that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to convince Victor, and she definitely doesn’t see it as being set in stone. She’s had a history of manipulation — and I think not even in a negative sense of the word. She’s just convinced that you can make people feel a certain way about things. So from her point of view, it’s only a matter of time before they change Victor’s mind. But it’s definitely her perspective alone [chuckles]. It’s not a shared perspective.

Digest: Are either Claire or Kyle concerned that their plan could potentially ruin Nikki’s big night?

Erin: Not Claire [laughs]! Not to paint her in a negative light, but it is a master manipulation. The whole party idea came about because of this plan. So I don’t think it’s entered Claire’s mind that it might backfire. I think she sees this as a surefire success.

Mealor: That’s one of the things that I think Kyle loves about Claire. It’s not that she’s naive or anything like that, but she has this kind of unfiltered optimism that is so attractive and it’s so alluring and endearing to Kyle that I think it’s what convinces Kyle to make this grand gesture and to kind of throw the Hail Mary at Nikki’s party to convince Victor. But at the same time, I think because of Kyle’s stance that he believes that Victor’s opinion is set in stone, he does have this little bit of fear that if he does something and Victor takes it as disrespect or it’s not the proper time and place, that maybe he will completely ruin Nikki’s party, which will probably ruin Kyle and Claire’s relationship.

Erin: Different perspectives, you know [laughs]? I remember when we were filming it — again, kudos to Michael for his incredible speech, it was beautifully, beautifully delivered — I just remember glancing over at Eric Braeden [Victor] and watching Victor’s reaction to the speech, and I think Claire’s reaction in that moment is genuinely my reaction because I was so caught up in it that his take on it was definitely a surprise to Claire.

Mealor: Yeah, Claire was adorable cheering Kyle on. But I made it a point for Kyle that during it, I just couldn’t look at Victor Newman. I didn’t want to know how it was going. I couldn’t let it intimidate me, and so I just never even looked in his direction [laughs].

Erin: That is so funny! We did it a couple times, and I think every time I would look over to [Eric], there were different levels of disdain that he portrayed. So I’m excited to see what makes the final cut.

Digest: Obviously, Victor is quite an intimidating figure, but what is it like to work so closely with Eric Braeden?

Erin: I have such a special relationship with him. I just love working with him. We have such a great rapport. It’s so funny; my family, my lineage is from Germany. So I had done a little bit of research, and because Eric is from Germany, it was such a great topic to discuss. I figured out where my family had originally come from, and I was so excited to tell him… he turned to me in complete shock, and where my family is from is a stone’s throw away from where he grew up. So we have this great thing where every time he sees me, all we do is talk about how, “Oh, we could really be related [laughs].” He’s an awesome scene partner, and I just love that you never know what you’re going to get from him. It really keeps you on your toes, and it makes every day so interesting and fun.

Mealor: He’s truly so much fun to work with because you never know what you’re going to get from him because he’s always up for a good joke. He cares so much about the show, but he’s a jokester and he loves… I mean, when you get him laughing, and he can’t stop, it’s the greatest feeling in the world. It’s like making babies smile. It’s so much fun.

Erin: It’s so true. And he’s like the top dog. If he breaks and he is falling apart, we all fall down like a house of cards. No one can keep a straight face. It can go on forever.

Digest: Given that the plans for Claire and Kyle to move in together were postponed, are they still on the same page regarding their relationship?

Erin: Really good question.

Mealor: I think absolutely, they’re definitely on the same page as far as the relationship goes. I think where they differ is their opinion on how to navigate all these kinds of familial landmines that they have to deal with, given the Abbotts and the Newmans. And that makes for an interesting relationship. It makes it fun to watch on TV, and it makes it fun for us to play as actors. I think they absolutely want to move in with each other, but they also want to respect the opinions of their loved ones. But no, I don’t think it changes anything.

Erin: Yeah, I think for Claire, she’s new to being a member of a family, and she’s new to being a partner in a relationship. So, where she absolutely refuses to put her standing in the family into jeopardy, she also can’t stand the idea of losing Kyle, her first love, her best friend, and the number one person in her life, too.

Mealor: That’s so sweet [laughs].

Erin: No pressure [laughs]! But she learned so much coming from having no family and then becoming a Newman, and then also observing how the Abbotts treat each other. She has this other sense of family from the Abbotts as well, so it’s just a really difficult thing for her to navigate. And I don’t think that means necessarily that she places her family above Kyle, but because she can’t fathom the idea of losing the family that she’s always wanted, it makes it really so difficult to navigate because it might look like she’s putting Victor first, but she’s just trying to figure out how to make everyone happy.

Mealor: You make a good point with that. Claire’s kind of getting all of this at once, right? She’s getting her family and her first love at the same time, so it’s kind of a weird thing. As humans, your family is everything until you meet the one and you get married, and then you kind of move on and that person becomes your family, and that’s kind of how we continue as humans. But with Claire getting it all at once, it kind of makes an interesting dilemma as far as who is the top of the totem pole there.

Erin: So well said.

Digest: How does Harrison — and therefore Summer — factor into Claire and Kyle’s decisions regarding their future as Claire becomes more of a mother figure as opposed to the nanny that she once was to the boy?

Erin: I know that Summer definitely doesn’t factor into Claire’s decision-making. I don’t think she would ever do anything to fight Summer, but also I don’t think she’s going to look out for Summer’s best interests either, because there’s no love lost there. But Harrison, definitely. I think there was a scene that we had recently where we talked about the new dynamic with Harrison. It said something about Claire becoming a stepmother figure. I remember when I first read that, thinking that is such a huge step that I think Claire is really excited about, but it’s so terrifying, considering she’s still figuring out how to be a daughter. She doesn’t even know what a parent-child relationship is like. So I think she’s very cautious when it comes to Harrison about wanting to make sure that they make the right choices and not rushing into things and not overstepping. It’s like you said, everything coming all at once. Talk about becoming a child, a granddaughter, a girlfriend, and now a stepmother all at once… It’s like, no easy feat!

Mealor: You catch up quick in soap operas [chuckles]! It’s interesting. I think there’s a couple dynamics at play here. I think Kyle fell in love with Claire by seeing her through Harrison’s eyes and seeing what she does for his son. Because [Kyle’s father] Jack has really instilled Jack’s love of family into Kyle. I think every woman in Kyle’s life before Claire has paid for Kyle not growing up with a mother. Claire is the first woman that Kyle’s fallen in love with post reconciliation with [his mother,] Diane. So we’re getting to see what a healthy relationship for Kyle looks like. And because of all of that, I think Kyle doesn’t worry too much about Summer’s opinion. She’s not much of a consideration in his choices within this relationship. But because of Claire’s relationship with Harrison, Harrison’s relationship with Claire, and then Jack’s instillation of family bonds to Kyle, that all kind of leads into the Harrison side.

Digest: Do you think that Claire and Kyle have what it takes to go the distance?

Mealor: I love a good wedding! I mean, why not [laughs]? You know, I do. To kind of piggyback on what I just said, I think this is the first truly healthy relationship that Kyle’s been in, and so I do think it has the opportunity to go the distance. And I love having fun at weddings. I love when the cast gets to get together. I love big, sappy monologues that are vows.

Erin: Yeah, right? I think it’s got so much potential, not only for their happiness together in the future, but also, there’s no shortage of drama that can come from the relationship. So I’d love to see Kyle and Claire get married and divorced and married and divorced and married and divorced… for however long. I think the dream is to have that kind of relationship — I mean, on a soap opera, not real life — that can be full of good times and bad, and I think the characters bring out the best in each other. So I’m excited to see what is to come there.