Is Amber Moore As Essential To The Y&R Cast As Victor Newman?
Adrienne Frantz seems to think so. Okay, well, let me not put words in the woman’s mouth. On Air Soaps‘ Michael Fairman caught up with a few Y&R cast members at the 2009 World Magic Awards, and he asked them about Eric Braeden’s much publicized contract dispute. He chatted with Kristoff St. John, Daniel Goddard, Sharon Case, and Adrienne Frantz. But it was Adrienne’s words that caught my eye:
Eric Braeden has, for the moment, left Y&R during a contract dispute with SONY and the show. What are your thoughts on the hold-out and the stalemate between actor and the powers-that-be?
ADRIENNE:
They are cutting contracts all around. I mean everybody has to bite the bullet. It’s not like anyone gets special treatment. If you don’t want to play fair with everyone, then don’t play. If you want to step out…. everybody is dealing with the same stuff. So if anybody thinks they are better than anyone else, then they should leave if they want to. It’s a cast. We are all working together. We are all working our hardest to make it go, and if you don’t want to work with everyone than you are not helping.
To a certain extent I get what Adrienne is saying. But can anyone out there name one company for me where everyone gets paid the same salary, even when people are doing the exact same job? To say that all the actors are on the same playing field, and that no character is more important than another is a straight up lie. No matter how unfair or unsettling that may be. In any company, people are paid based on what they can bring to the company, how long they’ve been with the company, how valuable they are to the company, what kind of experience/education they have, etc. Say what you want about Eric Braeden and Victor Newman, but both have been with this show for nearly 30 years, and are very valuable to the brand that is The Young & The Restless. Victor Newman is nowhere near my favorite character on this show, but there’s a reason Eric Braeden/Victor Newman has been on so many soap magazine covers. He sells! And is probably one of the most recognizable faces in this genre, both in it, and out of it. It’s ludicrous to think that this character is on the same level as say, Daniel Romalotti.
Eric Braeden Gives His Most Candid Interview Yet to the NY Post
I know y’all are probably tired of hearing about Eric Braeden, and his showdown at the O.K. Corral with tiic at Y&R. But this shit is more entertaining than the show. In his latest ‘tell all,’ Braden gets his most candid yet with the NY Post.
Some colorful quotes from the article:
“If I signed a three-year f***ing deal, you honor it!”
“Let’s call a spade a spade. Management always gives the impression that all [soap] actors are the same, but it’s bulls**t to claim that. They aren’t.”
“You expect to be talked to in a sensitive way, not suddenly hit over the head by invoking a clause that was never invoked before and to say ‘What the f*** happened?’”
I can’t wait to see how this one ends.
Diva Tour ‘09 Is On, Eric Braeden Gets (More) Real with Entertainment Weekly
Eric Braeden is MAD y’all. He is not letting Victor Newman go down without a fight, and honestly, I can’t blame him. The 30-year Y&R veteran continues his ‘Candid Interview 09′ tour, this time speaking with Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly.
For those who think all this drama is just Braeden’s way of getting tiic to bend to his will, and that this is all a big bluff (even I can’t accept that Victor Newman is really gone) this is what he had to say about Sony’s current contract offer (warning, there are a lot of ‘dollar’ words in his answer, get out your dictionaries, LOL):
As of today, are you willing to take what Sony offered?
No. There is no appreciation of the fact that I’ve been an important part of the show for 27 years that has been no. 1 in the ratings. That’s extraordinary. So to be dealt with in a perfunctory matter as if you had just known these people for a few months is what is most offensive. This is a certain corporate culture now that is very deleterious.
I’ll say it again, HE MAD, lol. The Mustache makes his last on screen appearance November 2nd, and as for the way he’s written out, Braeden isn’t feeling that either:
You taped your last episode on Sept. 23. Was that the way you wanted Victor to go?
No. It was rushed. It was obviously meant to intimidate. It was obviously done with enormous forethought to coincide with the end of the 26-week cycle. Essentially that is what the business is doing now and has been doing for a while. And quite frankly, it’s outrageous. When I sign a three-year deal, I’m obligated to fulfill that deal. The producers, however, can come to me after a half-year and say, “We’ve changed our minds.” Where in the world of business does this kind of contract exist? Do I blame the people for wanting to squeeze as much out of us as they can? I do not. The question is, when do you squeeze too much?
Just like the mistake they made with killing off legacy character Colleen Carlton, tiic at Y&R are idiots if they believe Adam Wilson is the future of this show, and can replace Victor Newman.
The interview is a good read, but Braeden lost me with this one:
Can you see the genre still existing in 10 years?
Yes I can. How many reality shows can you watch? They’re so obviously phony [my personal note: Like Y&R isn't]. Our show deals with adult problems in a long continuous manner, and very much like the way things are dealt with in real life. In that sense I think there will always be a need for (soaps). They’re almost novelistic in their approach.
Two words: YOU LIE!
