Eric Braeden has been portraying the iconic Victor Newman on “The Young and the Restless” for more than 42 years, garnering a Daytime Emmy Award for his portrayal in 1998 in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor. With that many years under his belt and eight nominations overall in the same category, along with countless other accolades, the daytime legend commands respect without uttering a word. In fact, Braeden went viral last August when Twitter user @chris_notcapn tweeted, “If you’re a millennial and know who this white man is, you spent a lot of time with your grandmother as a child.” So, it’s disheartening to learn that there was a time not too long ago in which Braeden could’ve stopped playing the character had the show’s previous regime gotten its way.
Photo by Howard Wise/JPI Studios
In an interview with Soap Opera Digest, on newsstands now, Braeden told the publication, “What the last regime really wanted, to be frank with you, was to get rid of me and get rid of Melody [Thomas Scott, Nikki], if you want to know the truth.” The actor was speaking on how the Newman empire is one of the show’s cornerstones after he was asked “When are we going to see Victor be Victor?”
In response, Braeden said, “The last regime introduced things that no one gave a damn about, okay? Let’s call a spade a spade. No one gave a damn about some of those storylines, no one, because they were not part of the history of that show! I hate to say it, but obviously, the Newman empire is one of the main cornerstones of the show.” It’s understood Braeden was referring to the Mal Young regime (former executive producer/head writer) which preceded the current team led by executive producer Anthony Morina and co-executive producer/head writer Josh Griffith.
Asking for more information from Braeden, the actor said, “You must remember that people who come onto the show as new executive producers have their own egos, and they think they can rewrite it, they can redo it all. What they don’t understand is that [Co-Creator/Former Head Writer] Bill Bell was a brilliant man who laid a very sound foundation, and if you want to veer away from that foundation, it will begin to flounder. That’s all I’m going to say.”
While being asked about retirement again, which Braeden previously stated was something he’s not interested in doing, saying to PEOPLE last year, “I intend to stay as long as I can. I love my life. I love my colleagues. I love my family and friends. So do I see myself retiring anytime soon? Hell no!” He told Digest, “The notion of retirement makes me fall asleep [laughs]. No, keep on going! Keep on going, man, keep on going and fighting. I can’t do it. I’m too restless. I’m young and restless! I couldn’t do that. I would have to find something new that would absorb me. Beyond that, I love my job. I love to communicate with people.”
Braeden joined TikTok in November, posting 11 videos thus far and garnering nearly a quarter of a million followers. Two of his videos have since amassed 2.9 million and 2.5 million views, respectively. When asked about people getting to see a more lighthearted side of him on the platform, Braeden said, “If there’s one thing that we fortunately have on our show, and that I enjoy very much, it’s that we laugh a lot about this stuff. What people don’t understand is that you have a lot of dialogue to learn, and that process is its own world. I love to laugh.”
@ericbraeden Rapping on set!
♬ original sound – Eric Braeden
As for what’s next for Victor, Braeden notes his current storyline is one of the best he’s had in years. “It’s all very real, meaning, one understands that Victoria [Amelia Heinle] would fall for a good-looking guy like that with a lot of money; one would understand how she, being Victor Newman’s daughter, would have certain Machiavellian tendencies, meaning she sees the possibility of a merger between Locke’s company and Newman,” comments Braeden. “She sees all that and at the same time, he’s a good-looking guy with a lot of money and she fell for him. But the real Machiavellian, of course, is Victor [laughs]! Victor, on one hand, has very paternal, fatherly feelings, wants his daughter to be happy, is happy that she’s out of Billy Boy’s clutches, yet he, too, is beginning to smell a rat. He doesn’t quite trust him and is very aware of it and of course, his fatherly instincts of wanting to protect his daughter are stronger than almost anything. And to protect his business. So, he’s not stupid! Victor is a chess player. He’s about two, three, four moves ahead of everyone else. So it all makes sense, psychological sense. Sound sense. That’s why I think it’s such a brilliant storyline because it’s where you can do long–term planning.”
For more from Braeden’s interview with Soap Opera Digest, which features the actor on the cover, pick up the latest issue, on newsstands now.
Below are some Twitter comments from last summer where fans of Braeden took note of the mark the actor has made on fans around the world since making his 1980 debut on “The Young and the Restless.”