Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
Despite her success outside of daytime, Mishael Morgan, who recurs as Y&R’s Amanda, declares that she will never distance herself from her soap roots. “I’m a very loyal person and I strive to never forget where I came from,” the actress explains. “And that’s not just in my career, but also in my life.
“I come from very humble beginnings and I appreciate all of the opportunities that I’ve had. I see the value in the soap world and in YOUNG AND RESTLESS so I will always be a champion for that show. The long-term dynamic and the longevity of the show has allowed different generations to connect. There are people I’ve met that talk to their grandmother once a month and they talk about Y&R because there’s nothing else in common. And I love that the show has that power to unite us as a people and show us all different sides of people and different characters and different cultures, and touch on different topics.”
Morgan is also proud to claim herself as a long-time fan of Y&R. “I was raised watching the soap and I learned so much and I’m sure that I wouldn’t be an actor today if it wasn’t for YOUNG AND RESTLESS,” she attests. “So I couldn’t be prouder of being a part of such a huge legacy. I mean, some of the best actors have come from soap, in some capacity. So, I think that if you really sat down and talked to these actors and really go into their psyche, I think all of them would have some pride in those beginnings in the soap world.”
Morgan points out that no genre has the level of character development like soaps. “You get an opportunity to really hone these different characters and develop them in such a deep way and show all different sides of them and really question how far one person can go because I do believe that anyone is capable of anything,” she notes.
“It’s just about the different circumstances to react in and I think that’s cool to explore how far can you push a person and see how much it takes for them to exhibit certain behaviors. We all think that we’re so different and we’ll never do this and we’ll never do that, but I think given different circumstances, we can’t say that. I think that the soap world kind of gives us that opportunity because you build these characters, but then you put them through all of these intense situations and experiences and they all react so differently at different chapters in their lives. And I think that’s a really cool thing about the show and about the characters.”
