On November 16, Heather Tom celebrates the 35th anniversary of her career in soaps, which began when she was cast as Victoria Newman on Young and Restless. After starring on the show from 1990-2003, the actress went on to play Kelly Cramer on One Life to Live (2003-06) and, since 2007, she has starred as Katie Logan on Bold and Beautiful – earning six Daytime Emmy Awards over the years for her work on both Y&R and B&B. She looked back on the milestone in a new interview with TV Insider.
In the Beginning
At just 15 years old, Tom was already an experienced young actress when she first auditioned for Y&R, though she admitted that she was surprised when she actually landed the role. “I had no idea what I was getting into,” she recalled. “I had worked a lot, so it was just another audition. It was for [Co-Creator and Head Writer] Bill Bell, and I remember at the end, he said, ‘Oh, thanks for coming in,’ which is like the kiss of death. That basically means, ‘Thanks for wasting your time,’ so I put it out of my head.
“Then they offered me the role, but they didn’t put me on contract for about three months,” she continued. “Bill later said to me that he knew the moment I walked in the room that I was his Victoria, and it was sweet of him to share that.”
Tom found herself thrown in the deep end as the on-screen child of Genoa City legends Eric Braeden (Victor) and Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki), but was happy to be a sponge and learn from all of the veteran actors around her. She even immersed herself in the world of soaps, checking out the other shows and watching powerhouse, Daytime Emmy-winning performers who later became co-stars, like Erika Slezak (ex-Viki, OLTL) and Susan Flannery (ex-Stephanie, B&B).
Actors tend to move from job to job, never landing anywhere for a lengthy period of time, so the idea of signing a long-term contract with a soap like Y&R was an entirely new experience for Tom. “I remember when I signed a three-year deal, I was like, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to do for three years? This is an eternity,'” she shared. “I remember Lauralee Bell [Christine] was in the makeup room, and it was her ninth year of being on the show. I was like, ‘Nine years?! That’s insane.’ It just seemed like such a long time, and then, cut to 35 years later, here I am. It just goes by really fast.”
The 13 years that Tom spent at Y&R kept her busy with plenty of memorable stories, and she cited the death of Victoria’s baby, Eve – who decades later was revealed to be alive and going by the name of Claire (Hayley Erin) – as well as Victoria’s love story with Ryan McNeil (Scott Reeves) and her exit as Victoria as highlights of her time in Genoa City. And her daytime adventure is far from over as the soap star looks forward to playing Katie on B&B for many years to come.
