Victoria Rowell TV Guide Exit interview

[Drew]

so egotistical ........ "I have bla bla bla, and bla bla, and NO emmy??" yeesh.

And I can't figure out this 16 black actors thing. I remember Dru and Olivia, Malcolm and Neil, Keesha, Maime, Nathan, Nate as being on at the same time. We then had Alex, and that woman Neil hooked up with when he was boozing. And later Lily and Devon. Who else?

[Southern Honey]

I love this. You can tell they really enjoyed working with one another. I am so going to miss the Victoria, Sharon and Michelle dynamic.

[juniorz1]

I agree with the Lead Actress thing and posted as such when it came out that's where she put herself. However, I do think an argument can be made for her as lead actress. In all honestly, who the hell did she support in her storyline.

As for the bolded statement ***Raises Hand*** I b!tched up a STORM about Case not receiving a pre-nomination. I'll state again what I stated then: no actress in 2007 gave a gutsier, more original, provocative performance than Sharon Case when she confronted Nick wearing the very lingerie he had bought for Phyllis! DYNAMITE!

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The thing with Rowell is different because she got several nominations during her first run at Y&R, before the Pre-Nom process. Once it went over to Pre-Noms the cast has NEVER voted for her despite her having stuff every year. And before she WAS in Supporting. This year it was extremely obvious that they were playing some serious hateraid games. Too many insanely good actors were left off after MAJOR years, in favor of people who did NOTHING.

The woman got flak for her last couple interviews where she focused on all she does to help keep diversity on soaps, but with her and Renee Goldsberry's exits there is NOT ONE black lead actress on soaps! That is SHAMEFUL! All the work done for minorities in the 90s has been wiped out because these mediocre writers don't care about the real world.

Look at Luke on ATWT. His gay storyline was insanely well recieved, but he was dropped like a hot potato before the story even finished! Now we haven't seen him in almost a year which is just sick. They used him for buzz and kicked him to the curb.

Soaps have got to get it together, especially Y&R. I think it's great that Eric Steinberg is on the show and I'd love for them to bring on a family for him as well.

Word to your entire post. The Y&R ballot had some serious headgames being played. I don't think it's a happy coincidence that Christel Khalil(!) received a pre-nom and Victoria Rowell did not. They've been doing it to her ever since it changed over to this system and it blows! The snubs for Sharon Case, Eric Braeden, Davetta Sherwood, Judith Chapman, and Jerry Douglas were all equally disturbing and spoke volumes about what was going on over there, especially since the actors chosen in favor of these had little to do that compared to the work of the fine actors that were left off.

Y&R's 2007 Emmy ballot is inexcusable, even if they did end up getting some nods.

She could be talking about under fives and day players, since she said recurring or contract. You had Dru, Olivia, Malcolm, Lillie Bell, Neil, Nathan, Mamie, Keesha, Nate, Lily, and the recurring/under-five stars. It's not much of a stretch. Either way, when you compare it to the 3 (and now 2) that they have now, it is pretty sad.

As for her "no Emmy" mantra- I really believe it has more to do with the fact that she's no longer pre-nommed than her deserving to win in earlier years. Every time Rowell was nominated, it was extremely competitive, as supporting actress often is. BUT had she been pre-nommed at all in the past 5 years or so, she hands down would have an Emmy on her mantle by now. What Y&R did to her this year is downright cruel, like a pack of vultures. I wouldn't want to go to work and face them every day either. I would have loved (and probably cringed) to be a fly on the wall on Rowell's first day back after the pre-noms were announced.

Talk about pearls and grit...

[DeeeDee]

She was recognized by her peers (NAACP) so much that she had to take herself out the runnin to give other actresses a chance to win.

And prior to the Emmy revamp had been submitted as a Supporting Actress several times (even though she had the material, star status & clout to go Lead then too).

She is sayin that the bottom line was that she had the material that her peers on Y&R as well as other soaps did and that she was overlooked.

Which is even more egregious since she's the biggest star ON Y&R currently (other than EB) and one of the show's most famous & successful overall almuni of all time.

And to top it all off there has NEVER been a Black Lead or Supporting Actress besides the legendary Debbi Morgan (and even she couldn't win fairly) yet when a powerhouse like VR has the material to go Lead & does and STILL gets snubbed, that's not just "industry games" that's sendin a message to an entire group of people.

Throw in the fact of the writin snub too & it's simply shorthand for "Stay In Your Place Black Girl".

Somethin an actress of Victoria's caliber does NOT deserve & was 100% right in walkin away from an industry that constantly undervalued & underappreciated her limitless talents.

[Shawn]

Why is it that when a black actress is snubbed its automatically racist but when powerhouses like Allison Sweeney and Kassie Depaiva, both white, are snubbed, its always "better luck next year"?

A snub is a snub. The race card isn't being played.

[DeeeDee]

There's a difference between bein egotistical AND bein self aware.

Kim Zimmer would be an example of egotistical. Vicky Rowell is self aware.

Amy, Jazz, Tyrone, Frank, Dru, Mamie, Walter, Lillie Belle, Malcolm, Nate, Nathan, Neil, Stephanie, Keesha, Olivia, Devon, Samurai Chemist, Callie, Alex, Serena, Wes & Lily.

Not to mention: Trent, Serena 2, Julia, Hank, Trey, Birdie, Adrienne, Vanessa, Jamal & Yolanda.

She most likely would've mentioned them but it would've been difficult (if not downright impossible) to exclude CK without comin across as unprofessional so she just left well enough alone. lol

Amen.

And she's had the material to go Lead every year too which makes it even worse.

[DeeeDee]

First of all, there is no such thing as "The Race Card". At All. Ever.

Secondly, I've always had plenty of a problem with the Y&R's actresses (other than HT, JW & MS) bein snubbed repeatedly.

I have stated plenty of times that it's an absolute crime that Alex Donnelly, Mel Scott, Jeanne Cooper, Eileen Davidson haven't won & are more than deservin of Emmy recognition.

I've also stated that it's been beyond time for a Kassie DePaiva as well as a Maura West win too.

However, I absolutely refuse to deny that race & racism is a HUGE part of the overall issue.

...Cause it is. It so is.

Especially when Debbi Morgan's the ONLY WOC Lead OR Supporting Actress winner in the ENTIRE history of The Daytime Emmys & Daytime in general.

[crc]

In 2004, there were at least ten black characters on the show at the same time. I remember there would be episodes with most of them on the same day. There was Dru, Neil, Lily, Devon, Olivia, Det. Weber, Damon, Vanessa Lerner, Mamie, and Lorena Davis. Not to mention some other recurring characters. I believe the judge who was on regularly at the time (Victor's probation, Devon's troubles, etc.) was black also. Malcolm returned at some point, but I can't remember if it was a little later after this period. And I think Wes, the guy Dru came back to town with, had left shortly before this period.

[juniorz1]

WORD! I don't find Rowell to be egotistical- more misunderstood than arrogant.

I didn't pick up on that until you pointed it out. I can't imagine she has a strained relationship with Kristoff or Bryton, but it would have been too glaring to leave out Christel.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting! I'm sure many will disagree but everything you're saying is 100% true and I also agree with your earlier post where they basically are telling Rowell to "Know your place black girl" in regards to lead actress vs supporting actress. An argument can be made for both sides of the coin, but how much can you really fault an actress of Victoria Rowell's caliber for going lead? ESPECIALLY when most actresses in the supporting actress category are, in fact, leads on their show (cough **REG** cough cough)

[Q Steph]

That's the absolute truth. You and Dee are conveying the truth even if it's not a popular one.

[DeeeDee]

Exactly.

She's self aware & confident, but not arrogant or egotistical.

And why shouldn't she be confident?

She's a legitimate triple threat & an in demand high profile mainstream star.

Yet she remains gracious & humble enough to remain unfailingly loyal to the show, the legacy of BB & her fans, as well as her peers (a majority of whom haven't exhibited the same respect or regard for her).

Yep.

She's always spoken quite highly of Kristoff (as well as Tonya) & absolutely adores Bryton (as well as Davetta) but Christel's the odd duck so it was a good move for to just leave well enough alone. lol

No problem.

My issue is that Y&R's actors/actresses have almost always (until recently) been snubbed in terms of Emmy recognition.

Braeden, Bergman, Bregman, Maitland, Walton & Tom are/were more than deservin of their wins (as were Stafford, Moore & LeBlanc) but with all due respect, Rowell is longer tenured vet & more high profile than all three of them yet they have Emmy's while she doesn't.

But Stafford had an extremely inconsistant year but is a fan favorite & popular amongst the cast (she's LeBlanc/Rikaart's Favorite Hag) so she gets a Lead nom even though she would've been better served goin Supporting (where she would've walloped the competition).

Cooper didn't do much last year but she is Jeanne Cooper (one of the most criminally underrated & underappreciated actresses in all of Daytime History).

Vicky's not a saint nor a perfect actress (no one is).

However she is an undisputed powerhouse of an actress who rightfully earned a Lead nom this year (as did Sharon Case) even with horrendous writin.

Vicky's a mainstream star.

No one on Y&R is more high profile than she is (other then Braeden & arguably Shimmy Moore).

It would be one thing if she had an inconsistent year like MS, but even without the writin she was Y&R's undisputed MVP last year (and arguably has been since her return).

And her fellow POC (her real peers) have rewarded her so much that she removed herself from the category so as to allow other actresses the opportunity to recieve some 'shine' too.

That's a class act IMO.

But Y&R has unfortunately become a soap where top priority is retainin ADRIENNE FRANTZ (an Emmy Winner herself) over such talent JD/ED/VR, etc.

...Which pretty much says it all. lol

Yep. Pretty much.

[Chris B]

Allison Sweeney and Kassie DePaiva haven't been snubbed by their cast. They are always in the Pre-Noms allowing their daytime peers to vote for them. Victoria has not been given the chance for her daytime peers to even say she sucks. That is unfair when you have actors on the Pre-Noms who did nothing. Before Pre-Noms she WAS nominated, so it can happen if she's given the chance.

And lets not forget Davetta Sherwood, Judith Chapman, Sharon Case, Jerry Douglas, Adrienne Leon and Eric Braeden were also robbed. The Y&R cast need to be ashamed of themselves.

[DeeeDee]

*cough*Christel*cough*

[R Sinclair]

What the hell is this race card, and can I smack the next person in the face with it?

[R Sinclair]

omigod! Like, whatever. Crystel is, like, totally awesome, fer sure!