Michelle Stafford and Sharon Case Tease ‘Y&R’s Sharon-Phyllis Kidnapping Episode
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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the February 24 episode of The Young and the Restless.]
At the end of the Monday, February 24 episode of The Young and the Restless, longtime nemeses Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) and Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford) found themselves in a place they’ve never been before — kidnapped together — and their predicament will be the focus of a special episode airing on Tuesday, February 25.
For Case, who had just completed the dramatic arc of Heather Stevens’ (Vail Bloom) murder, where her beleaguered alter ego was put through the emotional wringer, it was a surprise to learn there was more in store. “Before we went on Christmas break, someone told me, ‘Oh, Michelle Stafford said that when you guys come back, you have a storyline together, something about being abducted, maybe,’” Case recalls. “And I’m like, ‘Wait what? I was just abducted. Maybe somebody misheard her.’”
“That’s so funny,” adds Stafford, “because that’s what I said when I heard that — ‘Oh, again? Sharon was just kidnapped.’”
But Sharon’s past experience will come in handy as the tale unfolds. “It’s my third or fourth abduction, and I really know the ropes now,” quips Case. “Sharon knows her way through this kind of thing. She’s sort of like, ‘You know, I’ve been here, done that, follow me. I know what I’m doing in this abduction.’”
Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
Kidding aside, the turning point comes at a fractious time in the Sharon and Phyllis relationship, where they’re still trying to work through the fact that Sharon, who thought she killed Heather — thanks to some manipulation by Ian Ward (Ray Wise) and Jordan Howard (Colleen Zenk) — let Phyllis’s son, Daniel Romalotti (Michael Graziadei), take the rap for it.
“I appreciate the story because there was nowhere for Phyllis and Sharon to go; it was the apex of their discord,” points out Stafford. “Something had to happen from that. There’s no way Phyllis is ever going to say, ‘Oh, it’s OK that you hid the bloody towels. I’m over it.’ And no way that Sharon is going to be OK with not being forgiven and just moving on. When they see each other, it would be difficult. So, I think this story that we’re doing really fixes that.”
Working so closely together over a concentrated period was something new for the actors, who have shared scenes for decades. “We were doing all of these shows together, just Sharon and me, and I said to Josh [Griffith, executive producer/head writer], ‘It’s like we’re doing our own little movie over here,’” recalls Stafford. “I think it will be very interesting for our viewers to watch because it’s nothing they’ve ever done on the show before. And we went into a very easy work rhythm. Sharon is very easy to work with.”
Even though the scenes were filmed very early in the morning. “Oh, I was really grumpy,” admits Case. “Everyone out there knows I hate being first up in the morning. And not because it’s early. It’s because you have to come up with a lot of emotion and scream and cry and it’s eight in the morning.”
“No one is going to feel sorry for us,” muses Stafford. “But hey, it’s challenging. When you get up in the morning, you’re like, ‘I need my coffee.’ Now imagine if someone said, ‘Cry right now.’”
Timing issues aside, Case reports that the actual filming was seamless. “Everything seemed so easy and fell right into place,” she relays. “Maybe we’ve been working together for so long, but we just slid into it without questions; we didn’t even have to discuss it. It’s like we read each other’s minds, or we’re just on the same page. As storylines go, I love this one. I had a lot of fun doing it. I love working with Michelle. It was very challenging, but every day she and I got in there and we just did it. We did the impossible some days.”
Preparing for the special episode, which will exclusively feature Case and Stafford — something done only once before in May 2024 with Peter Bergman (Jack Abbott) and Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki Newman) — took a lot of work. “I actually didn’t realize it at first,” reveals Stafford. “I was going over the dialogue and was like, ‘This is a lot.’ And then I realized, ‘Oh, wait, we’re the only two in the show.’ So, I didn’t know it until a couple days beforehand. I was just memorizing it.”
Case appreciates that they broke up the shooting schedule. “They cut it into three days; it’s hard to shoot that all in one day,” she notes. “I did tell Owen [Renfroe, the director] afterwards, ‘OK, Owen, we have done this enough times now where I’m never going to call you on the weekend panicking again. I know we can do this now.’”
Howard Wise/jpistudios.com
The focus of the hour will be on the two trying to piece together where they are and who put them there. “They’re figuring out what the what the hell is going on,” previews Stafford. “I kept on trying not to get too literal about it but really imagine if you were kidnapped and put in a room and you had been drugged. You probably think the next thing is you’re going to be raped and murdered or tortured and chopped up, so I kept on being like, ‘Don’t we think we’re gonna die?’ So, we were playing that it is our last moment of life.”
Case offers, “We felt like the characters thought, ‘Maybe we are supposed to work together.’ And sometimes they feel the opposite, that this is an every-man-for-themselves situation, which is very real. Over the course of the entire storyline, we’re put in a lot of rough situations, we go through every different kind of emotion and our relationship changes over and over.”
Case shares she came up with a unique name for this new chapter. “I like to call this story ‘Asylum,’ ” Case explains. “The first one [Heather’s death] was ‘Murder.’ Everyone saw the first episode of ‘Asylum’ today, but this carries on and it does take some interesting turns and arcs. It changes the characters and propels them forward. This is really going to be fun and interesting and a great ride for the audience. When Josh Griffith writes this way, it’s a treat. You have to tune in for this one.”
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Comments are closed on this story.
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O
Don't really care for either of these actors but still should be fun to watch But seriously,how many times can Sharon be kidnapped?
23 6
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J
Im intrigued because they never share this much time together.
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R
I think a few more times. Ha ha
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G
Monday's show was the worst hour lve ever spent watching TV
18 4
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J
im listening and im bored.
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G
I figured this out from the beginning. Ian is not dead. He abducted both of them. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this out. Ridiculous.
16 3
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R
I wonder if this kidnapping brings Sharon and Phyllis to a some what closer relationship?
14 1
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J
I hope so. Since Amanda left, Phyliss doesn't have a girlfriend. Summer and Faith are sisters, they should at least be civil for that.
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P
No... actually they're Not sisters! Different mothers & fathers! They are, however, both sister's to FAITH Because Faith & Summer shares a father!
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G
How many times is Sharon going to be kidnapped? This kind of storyline is getting old. Can't the writers come up with something new.
7
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G
I totally agree with you! This soap is going downhill fast! Get a grip writers!!
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R
Makes no since that Chase wasn't aware Ian is alive. Terrible writing. I'm dine with the Ian story.
8 1
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G
Chance not Chase
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R
Right now it’s nice to see that. These two adversaries are taking a moratorium.
8 1
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G
Eon ward back to Finnish the job
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R
Are we certain Jordan is dead?
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G
Yes. Colleen Zenk finished her last episode when Jordan dies of poison
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G
Ian *
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C
20 minutes in on Tuesday episode with Sharon and Phyllis and I'm switching to a rerun of Without A Trace on CW. Anything with Sharon and Phyllis is BORING and feels forced. I'll check in when handsome sexy Holden returns to tease Audra again. Those two along with Nate Hastings are three gorgeous humans. 🥰
6 3
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O
This is the most ridiculous storyline ever. The acting is even worse. Can we get new writers and a couple new characters?
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C
Tired of all these kidnapping give it a rest and move on with something else maybe change writter
3 1
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P
Maybe they will eat each other
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R
Please get new writer's. Storyline has been done couple weeks ago.
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C
Ian Ward certainly has an endless limit of finances to keep buildings available and kidnap ready for silly women who always manage to disappear for attention. Lol
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R
That’s enough with the kidnappings please.
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B
Yes
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C
Your soap stories are getting unreal, take them all off nothing but killings.
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O
Looking forward to seeing What's happening Next For these Two Characters 🤩 🤩 I Know it's Ian Ward Who Has Them 😳
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G
Get new writers please.Y&R has gone down the tubes. How many times can Sharon be kidnapped. I think Victor & Michael are behind the kidnapping of Phyllis & Sharon. Victor's security team needs to be retired and new younger ones brought in that know what security means. Bring Matlock & Elsbeth on board to find these two to get this storyline over & done with.Chance must be the only detective in GC and he is useless. Bring back Paul Williams. Nick needs to focus on his forgotten son Christian. Where is he? We never hear about if he's in boarding school like all the rest of the kids on Y&R.Victoria seems to have forgotten about her oldest son Reed we never hear about him at all.I think it's about time Claire meets her older half brother. Get this Damien & Amy storyline over and of course Nate's doc friend will find a cure for Amy's leukemia.
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P
I love this!! I laughed so hard @ Sharon & Phyllis!! I don't think it's Ian, I think it's someone who wants them to get along & appreciate each other, I may be wrong, after all these yrs of hating each other....I really look forward to watching them everyday!!! Their actually funny..Love them both!!
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P
I think it's Michael Baldwin & not Ian Ward who's behind bringing Phyllis & Sharen this way! I say this because, Michael & Phyllis are best friends of whom he stands to loose because he helped clear Sharon. Michael wants to STOP the hate between them so what other way to do that than to put them in an environment like this with uncertainties as to what the actual plan is for them! So creating a life/death situation for the two rivals where the NEED to rely on each other for survival is CRUEL but it maybe what's need for the two ladies to search within & trust one another for the sake of their lives! That's how Lauren & Phyllis become best friends. Unfortunately, it was Sheila who was REALLY there to kill them!! 😕 But that experience made Lauren & Phyllis TRUST each other! Just a theory... but it makes sense! 🤔 We'll soon see......
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G
How stupid is this Sharon Phyllis kidnapping. Makes me want to stop watching after watching this program since episode number one.
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B
Clearly, Ian Ward is the scrambled voice behind this kidnapping. Another stupid storyline.
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O
I think writers have lost ninds..there ruining show with kidnappings back to back..I hated today's Esposited
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O
How do Victor not know the man lived he's supposed to have people in low places
But he's to busy trying to intervene in another child affairs .
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G
I use the word that I used with my sister-in-law. Pathetic. We've watched for 50 years and this has been the worst year of all fast forwarding. And the Nate and Audra and Amie storyline has to rank up there also with the worst. There's nothing good about Y&R anymore Except Lauren
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O
I think the writers need to be replaced. This soap is getting so ridiculous and boring too. Today's episode where Sharon and Phyllis are trapped together was pitiful. It keeps getting worse and worse. Smh
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C
Phyllis did say one thing about Sharon that was true. Sharon needs to stop saying PCP made her frame Daniel and scream at Lucy. If it's true, then PCP would've had Sharon attacking or mean to everybody. People on drugs don't randomly select when they go off on ppl. Normally it's family members in the home that become their targets. So stop with the PCP explanation. 🙄
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O
I think this is stupid yall need to stop this why don't you all bring elana back with Sally baby stop all the kidnapping bring back Heather yall are getting as bad as all my children that I quite watching because of the same stuff
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P
I'm thinking phillyis son girl friend got kidnapped too
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C
Can't wait !
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B
I like it but I like it better when they used to do story lines one was cheating on the other and trying to take the other one's partner switching lovers it's starting to get a little bit too fake in the same old routine
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R
We will take the break from them we the viewers needed this 🙌🏾👏🏾 thank you. It would be good writing if only 1 made it back. Phyllis 🙏🏾 please 😆
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