Since we're also on the subject of Nina Arvesen, I'll share this retrospective story that Arvesen did with Bernews, a news organization out of Bermuda:

She played one of the most captivating and intriguing femme fatales in the history of daytime television — and the mystery of Cassandra Rawlins was finally resolved at the conclusion of what remains one of the medium’s top-rated storyline "The Bermuda Love Triangle" shot on location on the island.

With her sculpted Scandinavian features and lion’s mane of tawny blonde hair, Norwegian-American actress Nina Arvsesen was an immediate stand-out when she joined CBS’ “The Young & The Restless” in 1988 — a daytime drama never wanting for alluring actresses.

But it was the fact she was a throwback to the classic 1940s film noir anti-heroines played by the likes Gene Tierney, Barbara Stanwyck and Rita Hayworth rather than just her classical elegance which grabbed the attention of audiences — and sent the venerable soap opera’s ratings ticking upwards.

Ms Arvesen brought an edgy intensity and enigmatic quality — what’s been referred to as “beauty lurking in the shadows” – to the role of Cassandra; her impenetrable air of mystery stood in stark contrast to the actress’ super-abundance of outdoor good looks and the furlongs of toned legs which seemed to go on forever.

Born in the United States to a Norwegian career diplomat and his former actress wife, Ms Arvesen grew up all over the world as a result of her father’s international postings. “Before I moved back to the United States, I’d had my own talk show in Norway for three years and I had worked as an actress in Egypt, Brazil, Costa Rica and Norway,” she told Bernews. “I made the decision to leave Norway in 1986 to pursue my dream of pursuing an acting career in the United States .“But the casting directors in the United States refused to accept my overseas acting credits, so when I moved to the US I had to start all over again as an actress; I finally got my first US acting credit — and my Screen Actors Guild [sAG] membership card — in the 1987 movie “Dragnet” with Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks.”

Ms Arvesen — a classically trained pianist who also studied ballet as a youngster — joined the cast of “The Young & The Restless” the following year.

“I’d been testing for soaps for quite some time,” she said. “I’d read for the ABC soaps in New York, for ‘General Hospital and ‘Bold and the Beautiful’ when they were first casting.

“Then I heard ‘Young and the Restless’ was casting for Cassandra. I went to the audition and wound up getting the part.”

Originally conceived by series creator William Bell as a scheming Black Widow-type murderess, the character of Cassandra became more nuanced — and far more compelling — as her role expanded.

In the 1990 “Bermuda Triangle” storyline, haunted architect Cassandra Rawlins is meeting a mysterious stranger called Adrian Hunter who blackmails her into marriage after she tells him she is desperate to leave Genoa City and start a new life.

Having already committed the perfect crime by-framing Cassandra’s former lover — private detective Paul Williams [Doug Davidson] — for the death of her former husband George, Cassandra takes off with Adrian for a Bermuda vacation.

But things go downhill fast when she arrives on the island; Cassandra starts hearing the voice of Paul, who she believes has committed suicide.

But Paul — very much alive and actually on the island with his policeman father Carl — are in hot pursuit of the pair. Paul and his dad torment Cassandra — who they still believe may have been involved in her husband’s murder — by staging a series of ghostly visions of Paul to try and send her over the edge.

To make matter worse Adrian is plotting to kill Cassandra so he can inherit the George Rawlins multi-million dollar estate

The show made a great choice for its first shoot outside the United States,” said Ms Arvesen. “This was my first opporrtunity to get to go to Bermuda.

“The trip to Bermuda was the ultimate adventure for me — I think Bermuda is the most beautiful island in the world! And I still receive thousands of fan letters and emails from fans all over the world who want to see ‘The Young and the Restless’ return to the Bermuda to for another storyline .”

CBS Studio Centre, located in Studio City, California, shipped the cast and crew and a dozen truckloads of equipment to Bermuda for the location shoot.

“Life in Bermuda was great, I really enjoyed it,” said Ms Arvesen. “I was lucky enough to work in Bermuda for for 10 days.

“But it was hard work. The cast and crew actually worked 18 hours a day in Bermuda. After we first arrived in Bermuda, the shooting of the outdoor scenes had to be cancelled and re-arranged due to a few rainy days.”

Ms Arvesen — who speaks six languages fluently as a result of her peripatetic childhood — said she still looks back with fondness at her days in Bermuda.

“I had an opportunity to meet some of the best people in Bermuda,” she said. “Bermuda truly put me on the map I made headlines in all the newspapers in 1990 when ‘The Bermuda Love Triangle’ achieved the number one ratings status.”

Bermudian Wendi Nixon-Fiedler, whose production house Panatel helped to coordinate the local end of the daytime drama’s Bermuda shoot, said the island not only gained worldwide exposure thanks to the picturesque footage featured in the “Young & The Restless” episodes but also received a welcome boost to the economy.

“I remember this well,” she has posted. “We [ended up] employing 150-plus Bermudians for this production from personal assistants/runners, wardrobe, stylists, camera crew, gaffer, grips, caterers and some serious Bermuda on-camera talent [ranging from veteran hotel and nightclub entertainer Gene Steede to lawyer/playwright Warren Cabral].

“It was demanding and great fun!”

Ms Arvesen — who went on to appear in the NBC soap opera “Santa Barbara” after leaving “The Young & The Restless” — is now retired from acting and runs a dance studio in Santa Monica, California.

But her days in Bermuda are never far from her thoughts — or those of the legions of “Young & The Restless” fans around the world.

“The’ Bermuda Love Triangle’ storyline and the elaborate George Rawlins murder mystery seems to have made the greatest impact on ‘Young & The Restless’ viewers worldwide who still remember its vivid characters,” she said. “After more than 20 years, the Bermuda plot has demonstrated it still has remarkable staying power!”

Edited January 27, 201411 yr by soapfan770

Thanks. I wonder when that was from.

Thanks for sharing! She seems like a truly remarkable woman, it's too bad she probably won't do anymore soaps......I would leave to see a recent picture.

It's sad that all the actresses that brought this mysterious alluring presence and natural beauty to Y&R have all retired from acting Nina Arvesen, Diana Barton, even Kimberlin Brown has chosen to focus more on her designing then acting at the moment......

Edited January 27, 201411 yr by YRfan23

I am loving the classic episodes.

Cassandra is just something else. So beautiful and so intriguing. I'm digging her. I'd love to see the actress again, I'm sure she's aged flawlessly. And I didn't know Mallett from GL was on Y&R! LOL

It's nice to see Leanna acting like a human being, not that cartoonish *thing* I had gotten used to see in the last decade.

I've never cared about Don Diamont's body but I have to say... the man was sex on a stick!

Woah, David Kimble looks exactly like a former boyfriend of mine! LOL I remember thinking he was just so ugly in the past, but now I find him quite attractive. It's amazing what they did with this character.

1990 Y&R was all about the money, I see. Cassandra's. Katherine's. Nina's. There were three plots running at the same time about a woman's money about to be extorted from her.

I know I'm in the minority but I just dislike the Jack and Jill recasts. I know it's an unpopular-borderline-blasphemy opinion, but I just think it has affected the writing for the characters so much. I find it excruciating to see PB interacting with a woman/potential partner. Or even worse-- trying hard to play the bad boy, with all the smirking and hand-waggling. And about Jess- I do think she is a good actress and a marvelous human being, but she brought this 'shrewish' vibe to Jill which I feel eventually led to Jill being played for laughs (I can see how it all started when she tried to seduce Victor... say what you want about Dickson's campy robot delivery but that would have never happened with her).

I know I'm in the minority but I just dislike the Jack and Jill recasts. I know it's an unpopular-borderline-blasphemy opinion, but I just think it has affected the writing for the characters so much. I find it excruciating to see PB interacting with a woman/potential partner. Or even worse-- trying hard to play the bad boy, with all the smirking and hand-waggling. And about Jess- I do think she is a good actress and a marvelous human being, but she brought this 'shrewish' vibe to Jill which I feel eventually led to Jill being played for laughs (I can see how it all started when she tried to seduce Victor... say what you want about Dickson's campy robot delivery but that would have never happened with her).

Of the three big recasts around that time, Jill, Ashley and Jack. I would say PB was my least favourite. Lester played Jack as a arrogant, self absorbed player but had a complete rascal type charm about him that made you like his character. He could also do soft and emotional when he needed to. PB wasn't cut out for the bad boy Jack and it shows in the eps posted and Bell shifted the character accordingly.

I would say the same of Brenda Epperson's Ashley. Watching old clips of Eileen I forget how much attitude and fire she had compared with Brenda.

Jess, well I think she is a far better actor then Brenda was even in her first run, but Dickson was Jill. They definitely changed the character after Jess came on. It is only Jess' acting that I prefer, but the writing of the character and Brenda's interpretation were better to me.

Jess, well I think she is a far better actor then Brenda was even in her first run, but Dickson was Jill. They definitely changed the character after Jess came on. It is only Jess' acting that I prefer, but the writing of the character and Brenda's interpretation were better to me.

This gets said a lot and as I started watching Y&R with 1986 episodes it is definitely true that the character changed a lot as Dickson was playing a campy Jill to the hills at this time, yet with every 70s episode of Y&R you can see that her history was very different. And DIckson played it very different. And even in her last few months when Jill Foster Abbott got into business mode at Jabot with the men's line you could see dfifferent shades in her acting choices which Jess Walton continued.

Jess is very, very campy in most of what I've seen of her first few years as Jill. To me this only truly starts to change around 1989 or 1990.

Edited January 29, 201411 yr by DRW50

Of the three big recasts around that time, Jill, Ashley and Jack. I would say PB was my least favourite. Lester played Jack as a arrogant, self absorbed player but had a complete rascal type charm about him that made you like his character. He could also do soft and emotional when he needed to. PB wasn't cut out for the bad boy Jack and it shows in the eps posted and Bell shifted the character accordingly.

Yeah, it was so obvious in the episodes recently posted here. I hate how recasts change character personality (which happens 99% of the times. I know it also depends on how much you enjoyed the original portrayer but that's for another thread). In that particular case I think that they knew PB was not able to pull off TL's Jack, but at the time PB was 'hot' because of his success at AMC, he was also younger than TL and there you have it.

I would say the same of Brenda Epperson's Ashley. Watching old clips of Eileen I forget how much attitude and fire she had compared with Brenda.

Yeah, I'm not familiar with early Ashley, but I can see how the character became too soft with BE. The thing is, I think BE is so beautiful and so sweet, it's impossible not to like her!

Jess, well I think she is a far better actor then Brenda was even in her first run, but Dickson was Jill. They definitely changed the character after Jess came on. It is only Jess' acting that I prefer, but the writing of the character and Brenda's interpretation were better to me.

Yes! I could not have said it better.

Jess is very, very campy in most of what I've seen of her first few years as Jill. To me this only truly starts to change around 1989 or 1990.

Yeah. I wish she had continued her phenomenal Brenda impression. I know it's an awful thing to say. But I just hate the way she snaps at people and suddenly starts to scream in every confrontation. She just comes off as insecure IMHO.

Jess is very, very campy in most of what I've seen of her first few years as Jill. To me this only truly starts to change around 1989 or 1990.

She really begins to put her own stamp on Jill during the custody fight with Nina over Phillip.

IMO I seemed to notice more of a change to Jess's portrayal of Jill after the Victor affair and after she married John for the 2nd time and had Billy.....I feel like even after Phillip died she played Jill as more campy, but not a total imitation of Brenda like the first couple years.......Once she married John and had the affair with Jed I think Jill became just more of a bitch and less campy, which is kind of how she has played it since then (bad writing and all)

I can't say I've seen this huge fire and personality in Eileen's Ashley, in the limited 80s material I've seen. She's very brittle. It works, but I don't think it damaged the Ashley character when they changed her for Brenda. It's not as if the material got any better when Eileen returned.

I can't say I've seen this huge fire and personality in Eileen's Ashley, in the limited 80s material I've seen. She's very brittle. It works, but I don't think it damaged the Ashley character when they changed her for Brenda. It's not as if the material got any better when Eileen returned.

Yeah maybe fire is the wrong word, she just had more attitude and was more snarky. Brenda was very sweet and stoic and firm. More a classic heroine.

For the record I don't think it damaged the character and I love Brenda in the role. I do think Bell sometimes tailored characters to fit actors which is what helped these recasts.

I think what I miss about Dickson's Jill is the more playful elements that Jess had more of in the beginning.

Saw some clips of her, I noticed a difference

Edited January 30, 201411 yr by cassadine1991

February 1975 TV Mid Day Stars