There's never a shortage of drama in Sharon Newman's (Sharon Case) life, but The Young and the Restless is pulling out all the stops for the long-running character during May Sweeps. Still reeling from the shock of her husband, Rey (Jordi Vilasuso), barely escaping death from poisoning and her daughter Faith (Reylynn Caster, then Alyvia Alyn Lind) surviving an alcohol-induced car accident, Sharon is now dealing with the heart-wrenching news that Faith needs a kidney transplant -- and the only person who may be able to save the teen's life is Adam (Mark Grossman), her controversial ex who is currently M.I.A.
With so much going on in Sharon's life, it's a wonder that her longtime portrayer, Sharon Case, has enough energy to keep her eyes open in Genoa City. But then again, her storyline is so action-packed, who could sleep if they wanted to?! Especially because, as Case tells Soap Central, the real excitement is just getting started.
Soap Central: There's so much happening story-wise for Sharon right now, I don't even know where to begin!
Sharon Case: I know; me, too! A lot has really happened so far this year in her life. A lot of crazy stuff.
Soap Central: The big thing at the moment, obviously, is that Faith has landed in the hospital. There's no doubt that Sharon is a strong woman, but here she is again, facing another life-threatening situation with her child. How will she handle the stress of this?
Case: I don't think she knows how she's going to handle it. She's already been through so much at this point, with Rey's poisoning and thinking he was not going to make it, and then Faith and her car accident -- and that being similar to what happened with Cassie [Camryn Grimes]. There were two ordeals back to back, and she feels like she's narrowly escaped all of that. So, now, to have even more come up, with Faith having organ failure, it's all really overwhelming for Sharon at this point.
Soap Central: And then there's this added blow that Adam might be the only person able to save Faith's life, which is another wrench in an already emotional situation.
Case: Yes! Finding a donor is obviously going to be challenging, and the scary part of that really was thinking that she wouldn't find one at all and that Faith would be put on a donor list, which could take years and years. So, one by one, we find out there are no matches in the family, so this just keeps becoming more and more of a letdown and incredibly worrisome for Sharon. But I think when she finds out that Adam may be a potential donor, it's tricky, and that is complicated, but it's also a great hope. Now, all thoughts and eyes are on finding Adam so they can get that confirmed.
Soap Central: Does that revelation affect her in a different way than, say, Nick [Joshua Morrow] or Rey, who have very different feelings for Adam than Sharon does?
Case: Yeah, I mean, they have a rough relationship with him, and Sharon does not. So, that added complication for others in the family is there for them, but Sharon and Victor [Eric Braeden] are really always on Adam's side, and I don't think it affects Sharon or Victor adversely. I think they are just so relieved to know that Adam is this potential donor, and even though we don't have Adam's bloodwork, Victor does confirm he's certain that Adam is a match.
Soap Central: Could being Faith's donor potentially be something that might finally redeem Adam, or do you think that's pretty much impossible at this point?
Case: [Laughs] Well, that's the hope behind all of this! And also the question -- can he be redeemed in other people's eyes? Will other people feel that way, ultimately? That's not really a question for Sharon, but for others, absolutely. He has already risked his own freedom to save Faith after her car accident, [but will he] go through with this? It's certainly a lot to ask of someone! After finding out that he could potentially be the only donor, we're going to try to find him and try to convince him to risk his freedom once again and not only that, but "Could you donate an organ?! You don't need that one, do you?" [Laughs] It really is a lot to ask, and when we're at the point of realizing that Adam is the likely donor, we still don't know if we're going to find him, and when we do, we don't know what he's going to say or how he is going to react. It truly is a lot to ask of someone.
Soap Central: This must be an added strain on Sharon's relationship with Rey. A lot of viewers are thinking that they might not be able to make it, especially given this new challenge. Do you share the fans' fears about Sharon and Rey's marriage?
Case: Well, yes! Sharon and Rey's marriage has been in such a rough spot for so long, you really have to wonder what is going to ultimately happen with these two. Can any marriage survive that much? And now, added to that, Adam is potentially going to come back into their lives again if he agrees to be the donor, so the thought would have to cross Sharon and Rey's minds, like, "Uh-oh, Adam could be coming back into our lives in this huge way. What will that mean for us when we are barely hanging on by a string?"
Soap Central: Sharon also shares a history with Faith's father, Nick, and they're going through this terrible thing together. Does Sharon turn to him for comfort through all of this?
Case: Sharon and Nick have always been there for each other with no questions. Whenever something is wrong in the family or one of them is going through any kind of an issue, they have always been there for each other, no matter what. But their relationship definitely has its problems; Nick tends to be a little bit controlling and opinionated with Sharon [laughs], but Sharon knows he means well, and he will always have her back, and he's always just trying to do what is best, as far as he can see. So, in this situation, it's no different. Sharon absolutely knows that she's got Nick there to hang onto, and if everything were to fall apart and they were to lose Faith, they would certainly be there for each other.
Soap Central: I'm sure there will be a lot of really emotional moments in this storyline. Can you think of anything performance-wise that stands out to you, in terms of scenes from your costars?
Case: Oh, all of them! As this story progresses, there are scenes that Adam and Faith have that I think are really moving and relationship-changing. I think people are really going to be touched by them.
Soap Central: What has it been like to work with Reylynn Caster, who has taken over the role of Faith?
Case: Oh, my gosh, it's been so great. She's been doing an amazing job. She jumped right into this storyline, and it's enough to start working on a soap opera and have this heavy schedule and all of this dialogue, but she jumped into the middle of a storyline! A big storyline! And she picked it up as if she'd been doing it all along. I remember her first day, she was very confident, she had all her dialogue memorized, there was no question in her mind -- she knew all of her lines and what she was going to do. She's really impressive and a really great actress, too, beyond just being so professional.
Soap Central: Was it a bit of an emotional roller coaster to say such a sweet goodbye to Alyvia Alyn Lind, who has been playing Faith for so long?
Case: Oh, the goodbye was so sad. Gosh, that last week or so when we knew she was leaving, it was just so sad knowing that it was our last week of working with her. It was just a shock, you know? And then we had a nice [goodbye], where we called everyone to the stage, and everybody gave speeches for her little goodbye party. Many people were there and said lovely things, but it was definitely a tear-jerker! Everybody was crying.
Soap Central: Alyvia can't be replaced, I know, but have you already started to get that mother/daughter on-screen bond with Reylynn?
Csae: It was really there in the beginning. I understand as time goes by, you get to know someone -- any of your costars, really -- and you develop more of a rapport and you get your characters' relationship more and more over time, but I certainly didn't see that missing at all. Of course, I don't have the long-term relationship that I did with Aly, but still, everything went really smoothly. It feels very comfortable and very mother/daughter. I didn't feel like there were any false notes in any of it. It just feels really natural and really great.
Soap Central: It probably helped that Reylynn was thrown into the middle of the storyline, because you guys had to keep the momentum and the emotional beats going, and those bonds probably just come immediately.
Case: Yeah, I think that being thrown together in such a circumstance, when there is so much emotion, you do tend to connect faster. And then there were days or weeks of her laying in a hospital bed, and those scenes were all emotional, too. I think that all worked in everybody's favor, sharing all these intense emotions together right off the bat.
Soap Central: There's a character that I haven't mentioned yet who has played heavily into Sharon's recent fortune: Chelsea [Melissa Claire Egan]. How do you feel about Chelsea returning to her roots as a manipulative mastermind?
Case: Oh, it's been really great! Melissa Claire Egan has been doing such a great job. She is really good at playing Chelsea that way. I think she enjoys it, and it's been really fun to watch. Her faking her paralysis was a really great storyline, and she was really, really great in it. Her double-crossing people, double-crossing Adam, poisoning people, that's exciting, and I love to see her do that.
Soap Central: Do you hope that there will be some nasty confrontations between Sharon and Chelsea?
Case: Yeah, that's what soaps are all about! You've gotta have that! [Laughs] So, I hope so.
Soap Central: There really is a lot going on for Sharon storyline-wise, so is there anything that I've missed that you'd like to add?
Case: There is a great week coming up soon when Adam is finally found, and the circumstances he's found in are really exciting. It involves Nick and Adam, and it involves a lot of action, and it's really fun when the show now and then has quite a bit of action happening. So, the boys have that coming up, and it's going to be really exciting.
Soap Central: I feel like action scenes harken back to the heyday of soaps, when there were a lot of adventure-action stories that fans loved.
Case: Oh, I agree! The storylines don't usually lend themselves to [action] most of the time and we get away from it for a while, so I'm really looking forward to that part of the storyline. It's great to have a little bit of action here and there, some nasty confrontations, people poisoning each other! [Laughs] There's a lot going on. It's been really fun. And you know, besides all of the trauma that Faith and Sharon and the family is going through, there are all these other aspects to the storyline involving other characters that are tied into it, actually, so it's a really fun story.
Photo Credit: Lesley Bohm
What do you think about our interview with Sharon Case? Do you think Adam will risk his freedom to help Faith? What do you think will happen between Sharon and Rey? What about Sharon and Adam? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
