‘Y&R’ Returns: Sharon Case Previews Adam Learning of Sharon’s Cancer
Q&A
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Young and the Restless is back with new episodes starting Monday, August 10. One of the storylines that the show will be picking up on is Sharon’s (Sharon Case) battle with cancer. While she’s received support from love interest Rey (Jordi Vilasuso) and ex-husband Nick (Joshua Morrow), there’s one man in her life – Adam (Mark Grossman) – who has yet to weigh in with a reaction, mostly because Adam and Sharon haven’t shared much screen-time since her diagnosis.
Watch for that to change starting Monday, August 10 as Adam learns what his ex-wife has been enduring. Ahead of the episode, TV Insider spoke with Case about her current storyline, what she’s been doing while self-quarantining, those classic Y&R rebroadcasts, Sharon’s relationships, and more. Read on for the scoop!
A lot of fans have been asking when is Adam going to learn about Sharon’s cancer. Will we finally get to see that when new episodes are back?
Sharon Case: Yes. Right out of the gate, that’s what the fans are going to be able to see. Sharon and Adam haven’t seen each other and hasn’t learned about her cancer. People have been pointing out that they haven’t been in touch.
Do you play that Sharon may not have told Adam about her cancer because she wanted to protect him?
I have tried to. It was never spelled out why [they hadn’t been in touch]. Actors come up with their reasons and infuse the material with that. The way I’ve nuanced it, I took a cue from the scripts that Sharon didn’t want anyone to know she was sick. It was a big deal sharing it with Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott). Maybe the reason Adam is the last to know is because he was the person she didn’t want to know. Sharon has this fear that people will look at her like she’s less of a person or they’ll put a mark on her. These are the fears that go through people’s minds.
If it was never obviously clear why Sharon was staying away from Adam, I think it will be when you see how Sharon feels about Adam knowing about her condition. You’ll see all of her emotions, features and panics. We go from that to a very unexpected turn.
How is it being back at work?
We can’t hug when we all see each other for now. It took us a few weeks to break the habit of hugging. We adjusted very quickly, but the first few times I’d run into someone, particularly another actor, my instinct was to hug. It’s not that way, I don’t’ think, in other professions. You don’t go into a law office and start hugging your co-workers. But I’ve noticed that actors tend to hug. Now, we don’t do that. We feel more comfortable now waving hello [from a distance]. I was doing a scene with Camryn [Grimes, Mariah] recently, and she said this is the first time we’ve been in the same room since March. But I feel like I see her all the time, which I do thanks to all the Zoom calls. It feels like we’ve never lost touch.
What else is different in this new normal?
We don’t have public spaces to hang out in anymore. We generally spend time only with our scene partners. We don’t see [other co-stars] as much, but it’s certainly quieter. There’s something nice about that. I was back the first day and it was ‘pin drop’ quiet on the set. I love how quiet it was. It gave a different spin to my acting process. I had zero distractions. My job is a thousand times easier. One day, that will change as more people come back to set. Having everybody around is fun and it’s fun to see everyone, but they bring a lot of noise! That’s part of the fun of it.
In addition to Sharon/Adam scenes, where do we pick up with episodes next week?
When we come back, Sharon has just had the surgery [a lumpectomy]. Finally, having the surgery is helping her do well. Her attitude and energy is good. Getting that out of her body is a big step forward. It helps with the healing even though there’s a long road ahead. She had to have treatment before the surgery. That’s got to be a mental setback, while you’re waiting. It’s a huge, positive hurdle for her to have had the procedure. A lumpectomy is a much more minor surgery, of course. That’s been good news.
Mark Grossman as Adam (Monty Brinton/CBS)
What are you doing physically to show the effects of the cancer?
We’ve done paler makeup on days that Sharon’s been sick from her treatment. Other days, she’s not. We’ve done both, shown the effects of the treatment and then, on days that she’s done well. We’ve shown both sides. Not everybody gets sick from the treatment. There is someone in my family who has gone through this, but he did not have a sick day [during the ordeal]. He was very lucky. This happens. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen for everybody. We’ve told the story showing some good days and bad.
How is her cancer affecting her relationships with people in her life? Let’s start with Rey.
It has had all kinds of affects. He’s been there for her. It’s affected their relationship in that they’re together all the time. They can’t get out and do things – going to work, going out to eat. None of those things happen. That can affect a relationship. It can change it for better for worse. We’ll see what happens.
What about her relationship with her children, specifically Faith (Alyvia Alyn Lind) and Mariah?
Mariah’s proven to be a loving, caring and nurturing person, who loves her mom. They have a great relationship. This may have brought them closer to together. Sharon’s insisted that her kids move on with their lives and not worry about taking care of her all the time. The kids gradually do a balancing act of keeping their own lives going on. They have great communication. They talk about when they’re scared. This illness got them all to deepen and enrich their relationships.
Nick’s been attentive to Sharon like when he brought her the old MP3 player. Can you talk about the pull between them?
Nick and Sharon are characters that are definitely ingrained in each other’s lives. That MP3 scene showed that. You can’t erase that or change it. No one can come along and really compete with it. You can move on, fall in love, get married again, but that’s never going to erase the life you’ve lived. Our family, our parents, how we grew up will never be erased. Our pasts are a part of our lives. Nick and Sharon are for life. They can be very forgiving of each other. They are actually quite easy on each other.
Could this illness Nick pull back to Sharon?
That’s definitely something you wonder about, especially in the beginning. But it didn’t. Nick’s been there for her, but he went back to Phyllis (Michelle Stafford). Sharon had to learn about that while she was sick. I thought her reaction to the news was funny. At first, she was shocked, she threw her hands up and said she doesn’t care. Sharon has bigger things to worry about. Her ordeal has put things in perspective. That’s a great example of how her illness has affected her relationships.
What was keeping you busy while Y&R was out of production?
I cleaned out my closets. I did some gardening and got my flowerbeds together. I relaxed a lot. I watched a lot more TV. I cooked a lot. I caught up on projects at my house that I always wanted to, but never did. I got rid of a lot of things. I made donations to different donation centers.
Did you watch the classic re-airings?
Yes. There were a lot of great reruns. I watched the ones with Cassie’s (Camryn Grimes) death. I watched all of them when they first began. I really liked the Winters week. It was fun to go back to that time. I’d forgotten about that time in Sharon’s life. She was working at Newman Enterprises. The Winters week really reminded me of that. That was a nice refresher.
You were both amazing in Cassie’s death episode; what did you think of Joshua in that episode?
Joshua is amazing. All the actors and production did a great job. But I do think that Joshua, to some extent, ‘took’ that scene and that was his scene. I don’t know if it was the singing [of the lullaby to Cassie] or what…it gave everyone pause. It was one of the first times I can remember seeing him really break down. All eyes were on him. It was great. I was glad that it was his scene. I mean, yes, it was our scene, but I always look at scenes and I see how one person is kind of driving the scene a little bit more. That’s how conversations can be in real-life. Joshua was so beautiful in that. To see Nicholas be so destroyed over losing Cassie…having him go on the journey of falling in love with her after Nick and Sharon got together. Sharon had been so nervous to tell him about her past and how she’d had a daughter. Look at where it all ended up!
Joshua Morrow and Sharon Case on Y&R (Everett Collection)
Any shout out to the fans who’ve hung in there during this time and are looking forward to new shows starting Monday?
Yes. I took a break from not only the show, of course, but also from being on social media a lot. However, when I did check in with Twitter, I saw a lot of terrific comments about the classics. I’d still get to hear people’s thoughts on the episodes even if I hadn’t seen them. People loved them because it showed a lot of back story. I love that people were so engaged with the show and making the best of it till we came back. I’m very grateful that people have hung in there with us. We can’t wait to hear the reactions when our first new shows start airing again.
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