‘The Bold and the Beautiful’: Jacqueline MacInnes Wood Reflects on Steffy for Episode 9,000

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The Bold and the Beautiful is celebrating a major milestone on April 18: The CBS soap opera is airing its 9000th episode! To honor this achievement the show is shining a well-deserved spotlight on Steffy Forrester Finnegan, the character played by Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, a two-time Daytime Emmy winner for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

B&B holds a special place in the actress’s heart. She and her late grandmother were devoted viewers of the show back in the late 1990s. TV Insider recently chatted with Wood about the show honoring her with this Steffy-centric episode. Read on to get the actress’s thoughts on Steffy and B&B hitting the 9000^th mark. (Note: After this interview was conducted, Wood announced on The Talk that she and her husband Elon are expecting their fourth child! No word yet on if the pregnancy will be written into the show.)

How did you feel when you learned that the 9000th episode would focus on you and Steffy?

Jacqueline MacInnes Wood: It really is such an honor. I grew up watching the show. It was — and remains — a constant in my life. I used to cut class to watch. I’d watch with my grandmother. I’d go to her place and we’d watch Bold and the Beautiful. This was around 1997. B&B is something I could always go back to. It was familiar and nostalgic. Fast-forward to now, I still feel like “Little Jacqui” who watched with her grandmother. To be a part of the 9000th episode is a special honor. I get to work along such talented people. It’s challenging and rewarding at the same time.

We’ll see flashbacks from over the years, highlights from Steffy’s life.

Yes. It’s going to be a nice walk down memory lane with Steffy. My family in real-life is excited to see this episode. There are going to be some great memories. When I was a viewer, B&B was like a second family to me and now, it truly is a second family. Sadly, my grandmother passed away before I was cast on the show. But my mom meeting Susan Flannery [ex-Stephanie] took her breath away because [Susan] is so much like my [real] grandmother. Being on this show is something I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to. I’m always going to continue to be grateful.

Did you get to see the flashbacks on a monitor as the show was being taped so you could have a clearer reference to what Steffy is talking about?

Our show is very fast-paced, but between takes [we’d] talk about certain flashbacks that the show was cutting to. They asked me for some real-life baby pictures. I’ll be with the viewers watching this show as well.

Sonja Flemming/CBS

How have you seen Steffy evolve over the years?

I couldn’t pick just one thing. I feel like she is such a complex character. I get to exercise all my emotions at B&B and with Steffy because she’s such a fun alter ego. She’s had many shifts throughout her life including the opioid addiction [in 2000]. She’s strong, independent, fierce, and determined. She also is a little broken from her trauma, the things she’s gone through. But she’s tried never to be a victim. She’s had so many challenges. I never get tired of playing Steffy.

Last year, her parents were about to get remarried under false pretenses – Ridge (Thorsten Kaye) had split with Brooke (Katherine Kelly Lang) falsely believing she’d called Child Protective Services on Ridge’s son Thomas (Matthew Atkinson) and grandson (Henry Joseph Samiri). Steffy knew the truth and decided to speak up even though that stopped Ridge from remarrying her mother Taylor (Krista Allen).

I totally like that she did that. That was a transformative moment for Steffy. She stepped outside of herself in that moment and saw beyond her own wants and needs. She had to think about her family as a whole and not just about her mom and dad getting back together.

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B&B recently celebrated 36 years on the air and now, 9000 episodes. Do you have a shoutout to the fans who have been so devoted to the series over the decades?

We wouldn’t be here without the viewers and their loyal support — not only here in the U.S. but throughout the world. The show is iconic to me and to many viewers worldwide. I’m with them. I completely get it. I’ll continue to [feel] grateful and humble. I truly do appreciate all the love viewers have [for both me] and the show [as well as] our storylines, shocking plot twists, and the universal themes that resonate with our viewers. There’s a reason we have such long-running popularity. I’m right there with our fans. I’m thrilled to be a part of this and I thank them for their continued support.

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