The remarriage of Christine “Cricket” Blair (Lauralee Bell) and Danny Romalotti (Michael Damian) is slated to take place on Young and Restless on Friday, November 21 and Monday, November 24, and Daytime Emmy-winner Tricia Cast is returning as Nina Wesbter for both episodes of the splashy nuptials. The Nashville-based actress spoke exclusively with Soap Opera Digest about her Genoa City comeback — and the long-awaited confrontation Nina will have while she’s in town.
You Can Go Home Again
Cast, whose Y&R roots date all the way back to 1986, agrees that it would have been “unthinkable” for Nina not to be on hand for bestie Christine’s latest walk down the aisle — after all, she’s served as her maid or matron of honor at all three of her prior nuptials (one to Danny, two to Paul). Nina’s participation in this week’s ceremony was locked down when the show’s casting department reached out to check on her schedule. At the time, Cast didn’t know what Y&R had in mind for Nina. Recalls the actress, “They said, ‘Are you available?’ and I thought, ‘Okay… So what’s going on?’ And then I said to Lauralee [Bell], ‘It looks like I’ve got a day [of taping]. What’s up?’ She said, ‘Oh, uh, Cricket and Danny are getting married!’”
The news came as quite a shock to Cast. “I just about fell over in my chair!” she reports. “I’ve always thought that that should be a thing, that Danny and Cricket should probably reunite and get back together and that would be wonderful, but you never know what’s going to happen, and I don’t really pay attention [to the show] all that much, so I didn’t know what was going on. And so when she said they were getting married, I was like, ‘How wonderful!’ I was just so excited about it and so happy that they found Nina to be an indispensable part of the party — and just so thrilled to be getting on a plane and going to play with my friends.”
The actress has fond memories of getting on a different plane and flying out to Hawaii with cast and crew to film Danny and Cricket’s original wedding back in 1990. “I think it was in October that we were there, which is just a beautiful season there on Maui,” she notes. “I remember the flowers that they did for the wedding were outstanding. I remember this very cute dress that I wore — I loved it — and I remember getting up at 4 o’clock in the morning so that we could be ready for a sunrise [taping]. And I remember having a lot of fun at night, too, after we wrapped! We put the hurt on some tequila [laughs]! We had a very good time. It was magic.”
While this wedding was shot inside the studio, it was also a blast for Cast to be a part of, starting with walking through the doors of her old workplace. “Arriving there and feeling like I’m home, it gives me a feeling of being part of something that is a little bit bigger than me,” she says. “And I can contribute here, so that’s kind of the feeling I get when I arrive there. Memories come back, maybe like if you went back to your college campus or something like that, you know? It’s like, ‘Yeah, man, I remember this! I ruled here!’
“I guess the biggest, most distinctive memory I have from those couple of days that I spent there just now,” Cast continues, “is being on in the same room on stage with all those very talented people, pulling together to make a show that is going to last the test of time. It was a really good couple of shows and I’m very proud to have been a part of it. From the offices upstairs, to the stage to the makeup and hair [crew], everybody was pulling together and putting all they have into making these wonderful shows. It was [done] with an extra bit of special love…. There was a special feeling about it, and it was a really good feeling to be around that sort of professionalism and creative genius.”
However, she chuckles, there was a lot less tequila involved in this taping than the one from 25 years ago! “Way less,” she confirms. “We can’t handle our liquor like we used to. I think there was a drop of champagne instead — just half a glass after everything was all over. We’re much more sophisticated now [laughs].”
Making her trip to Los Angeles even more fun was that, as she has done on previous visits, she was hosted by her longtime co-star and friend, Lauralee Bell. “She put me up and I’m very happy for it,” reports Case. “We drove to work together and it was like a sleepover!”
In the storyline, Nina is, of course, there to support her dear friend Christine as she and Danny make their love official once again, and has no reservations about whether her pals’ marriage can go the distance this time. “Nina was there maybe a year ago or something like that, when they were just sort of starting to get back together, and Nina was all for it,” Cast reminds. “So she was pushing for this, I think!”
Chance Encounter
As happy an occasion as the wedding is, there is a pall hanging over Nina: As fans of the show are all too aware, the character’s son, Chance (Conner Floyd), was killed in Nice, France in July, taking his last breaths in the arms of Cane Ashby (Billy Flynn) after he was shot by Cane’s assistant, Carter (Vincent Stabla). The actress reveals that she found out about Chance’s demise from an unusual source. “I heard about it from a waiter!” she says. “I was at a steak joint in Nashville and he goes, ‘Oh, they killed your son.’ I said, ‘No, of course they didn’t. He’s fine.’ He goes, ‘No, they really did.’ And so I had to look it up!”
When she got confirmation on the tragic twist online, “I was just floored,” she recalls. “So, when they did call me to say that they were bringing me back for this wedding, I was like, ‘Oh, they’ve got to address this.’”
Cast was not disappointed. “Luckily, they did a really nice job of addressing it,” she declares of what will unfold over the course of Nina’s time in Genoa City. “And I’m happy for the people who care about this to see these scenes because I think they were written and delivered by all with the care that they deserved. I don’t think Nina could leave town without having her say,” she asserts.
Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
The scenes between Nina and Cane are ones that many fans have been waiting for, and according to Cast, “I think they’ll be happy — I mean, not happy, but satisfied” by how they turned out. For her part, she walked away a fan of Billy Flynn’s. “What a wonderful actor!” she praises. “It was really, really nice to go on that stage and everyone is so prepared and good, just flat-out talented, and I’m so pleased and privileged to be a part of it.”
Cast, who exited Y&R as a full-time cast member back in 2001, says that she is deeply touched that viewers still care so deeply about Nina all these years later, and advocated for the character to have the chance to respond to her son’s passing on screen. “I get a swelling in my chest,” she declares. “It is so nice to be remembered … It is such a warm feeling. I’m so grateful for them sticking by Nina even though she’s been so absent from the scene.”
Though her visit wraps on November 24, Cast says that she would certainly be open to subsequent appearances. “Of course I would!” she says. “Being back was a joy all the way around.”
