As the Walls Close In On The Young and the Restless’ Chelsea, Melissa Claire Egan Recalls the Day She Thought She Would Be Fired: ‘You Have to Be Redeemable!’
“That’s the kind of thing that’s tough for a character to come back from!”
When The Young and the Restless’ Chelsea admitted her recent sins to Chloe, her gal pal wasn’t the only one shocked. Hearing the lengths to which Adam’s wife had gone in order to frame her spouse for Rey’s attempted murder left some audience members fearing Chelsea might have gone too far this time.
Portrayer Melissa Claire Egan, however, knows a thing or two about bringing a character back from the brink. After all, this ain’t her first time playing a woman pushed to the point of no return.
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“It’s a lot of fun to play someone who’s a little evil,” admits the actress, who took All My Children‘s Annie from America’s sweetheart to Pine Valley’s nightmare. “When they made Annie a bad girl, it was the best thing that ever happened to my character!”
There was, however, a moment which gave her pause. “I’ll never forget when they sat me down and told me that Annie was going to stab Erica Kane,” she recalls. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m done! I guess I’m going to be fired.’ Because no matter how good an actor you are, there are certain things you just can’t bring a character back from. And stabbing the iconic queen of soaps?
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“Yeah,” she laughs, “I assumed I was toast.” (You can watch Egan’s stunning work in the fallout from the stabbing in the video below.)
That, as you may recall, was not the case. “People loved Crazy Annie!” enthuses Egan. “She got sent to Oak Haven [sanitarium], and for years after that, I got to do some wild stuff. As an actor, that’s a blast. Bad girls really do have more fun!”
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Meanwhile, now that it seems pretty unlikely that Adam and Chelsea will be able to repair their relationship, we’ve got a few ideas about whom she might be paired with next. Check out our suggestions below, then visit the comment section to share your thoughts on Chelsea’s future, romantic or otherwise!
Video: YouTube/All My Children
