Fictional Character in the Young and the Restless
Victoria Newman is a fictional character from "The Young and the Restless", an American soap opera on the CBS network. Created by William J. Bell, she is currently portrayed by Amelia Heinle. Victoria was born onscreen in 1982 and was portrayed by child actress Ashley Nicole Millan for her first eight years. Having been rapidly aged to a teenager, Victoria returned to the soap opera and was portrayed by Heather Tom. Tom portrayed the character into her early adult years and remained in the role for thirteen years. Due to creative differences, Tom left the soap opera in 2003 and Heinle, who debuted as Victoria on March 21, 2005, was cast in the role.
The daughter of businessman Victor Newman (Eric Braeden), Victoria was described as "the teenager from hell" during her early years, and as an adult she was written as a ruthless character. Her storylines have involved romances with older men, family conflicts, and difficult pregnancies. Victoria is the third member of the Newman family to appear in the program and was joined later by her younger siblings. Her early romances included long-standing relationships with Ryan McNeil (Scott Reeves) and Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck). Upon her second return to the show she had relationships with J.T. Hellstrom (Thad Luckinbill) and Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson). Victoria has four children: Claire Grace (Hayley Erin) by Cole, Reed Hellstrom (Tristan Lake Leabu) by J.T., Johnny Abbott, Billy's son whom she adopted as her own, and Katie Abbott.
Tom won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series twice for her portrayal of Victoria, and received nominations for eight other Emmy awards. Critics praised Tom's portrayal of the character, though her marriages at an early age were criticized. Heinle's portrayal later won her the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2014 and 2015.
Casting.
Between 1982 and 1990, Victoria was portrayed by child actress Ashley Nicole Millan. After Millan left the series, Victoria was rapidly aged to become a teenager, and Heather Tom assumed the role on December 12, 1990. In 1997, Tom took a nearly eight-month leave of absence from the role, departing on February 21 and returning on October 2. During Tom's absence, Sarah Aldrich was cast as her temporary replacement, appearing from April 2 to July 17, 1997.
In 1999, Carrie Genzel was in talks to replace Tom, who was experiencing "touch-and-go" contract negotiations. However, Tom signed another three-year deal with the soap opera and said she was "very excited" about her continuation. In September 2003, Tom's spokesman announced that she would leave the show because of "creative differences" with executive producer David Shaughnessy. Speaking of her departure, Shaughnessy said that it was "tough" to see her go and that "they would miss her tremendously". Tom made her final appearance as Victoria on December 17, 2003, and she later said that she left the role because "things weren't going in her best interests".
The soap opera's producers intended Victoria to return in January 2004 but auditions failed to find a suitable replacement for Tom. Amelia Heinle was later cast in the role and made her first appearance on March 21, 2005. Rachel Kimsey also auditioned for the role and Heinle had auditioned for Mackenzie Browning; Kimsey was given Mackenzie and Heinle was given Victoria. Heinle has stated on many occasions that she had "serious doubts" about taking over Tom's role. In 2013, she recalled on what intimidated her about Tom, saying: "Heather is pure backbone, and that's probably what intimidated me about following in her footsteps because that's not me naturally." In 2008, she took maternity leave and was off-screen for weeks. ;ref name="Heinle/Luckinbill Interview" ; ;/ref ; In March 2011, Heinle announced that she had signed a new contract which would secure her in the role for an unspecified period. In November 2013, it was announced that Heinle had signed another contract to continue her portrayal of Victoria for an additional two years.
Development.
Characterization and portrayal.
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"Victoria is such a rich character, so I have found the way that I want to play her and a way that the fans seem to be okay with. What I've been trying to do over the years is a mix of heroine and humor, but someone who could run a business. Sometimes, I felt I failed miserably and sometimes, it's been okay. If you're smart, you remember that somebody better can always come along, so it keeps you on your toes."
—Heinle, describing the way she portrays Victoria (2013)
According to SoapNet, Victoria is "ruthless in the board room" and "nobody's damsel in distress". The soap opera's official website describes the character as having "displayed both her father's headstrong qualities and her mother's tendency to be impulsive". While the character was a teenager, Kelly O'Sullivan of the "New York Daily News" called her "the teen from hell". Heather Tom said that Victoria had Victor's strength and the manipulative skills of her former-alcoholic mother Nikki. Of the character's determination, Tom said that "Victoria knows disappointment, yet she gets her way most of the time" and "she goes after what she wants, and wins". During Victoria's divorce from Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck), "The Orlando Sentinel" said that Victoria's behavior was "pig-faced".
Relationships.
Victoria has her first romance with Ryan McNeil, which ends when he leaves her for Nina Webster (Tricia Cast). The series' creator William J. Bell said that Victoria knew Nina still loved Ryan and suspected that the marriage would not last, and that "in Victoria's mind, the threat is still there". She is then married to Cole Howard for four years but they begin to have marital problems after Cole's affair with Ashley Abbott (Shari Shattuck). Tom said that being married on a soap opera is "short lived" and that she knew Cole and Victoria would eventually face difficulties, which she found challenging to act. While pregnant with Cole's child, Victoria has a relationship with Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) and plans to raise the child with him, but her daughter Eve Howard dies shortly after birth and she and Neil separate. After being raped by an insane man, Victoria reunites with Ryan and they plan to marry before he is shot dead by his ex-wife, Tricia Dennison (Sabryn Genet). Victoria also has brief relationships with Diego Guittierez (Greg Vaughan) and Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc).
A decade after her marriage to Cole, Victoria marries Brad Carlton (Don Diamont); their marriage ends after Brad has an affair. She then becomes pregnant with J.T. Hellstrom's (Thad Luckinbill) child and during her pregnancy becomes comatose. Heinle believed Victoria and J.T. would "stay together for a while before they wreck it". After it was announced that Luckinbill was leaving the soap opera, Victoria and J.T. drift apart and eventually divorce. Victoria next begins a relationship with Billy Abbott that their feuding families are against; Heinle described Billy as "the forbidden fruit" and compared their romance to "Romeo and Juliet". They later marry in a 1950s-styled screen wedding; her wedding dress was inspired by a gown worn by Audrey Hepburn in the film "Funny Face". Actress Elinor Donahue was cast to portray the judge that officiates their wedding, as former co-head writer Scott Hamner felt that Donahue could help them achieve the sense of a "retro-fantasy of better, simpler times". After their wedding, Billy illegally purchases a baby girl for Victoria. Heinle felt this plot was a good way to add conflict drama to the soap opera. ;ref name="Heinle/Miller Interview" ; ;/ref ; The couple lose custody of the child, Billy leaves Genoa City and Victoria divorces him, but her father hides Billy from his family. The pair are later reunited in a New York airport bar. Hamner noted that Victoria would be "absolutely furious" at her father for what he had done: "[There is a] potential for a huge rift between father and daughter, and there will be some consequences for Victor with his relationship with Victoria in light of all that he's done to keep her apart from the man she loves." ;ref name="Victoria/Billy Reunite" ; ;/ref ; He also stated that the "impact of those secrets coming to light was going to be very serious in Billy and Victoria's ability to move forward together".
Storylines.
In 1990, eight-year-old Victoria becomes upset that her mother Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott) has married Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman), even after he saves her from drowning in a swimming pool. When she continues to misbehave, her parents send her to boarding school in Switzerland. Later that year, Victoria returns as a moody teenager who is working in the mailroom at her father's company, Newman Enterprises, and becoming smitten with Ryan McNeil (Scott Reeves), who is older than her. Victor offers Ryan money to leave town but he and Victoria elope. Their marriage ends when Ryan leaves her for Nina Webster (Tricia Cast) in 1993. Victoria then falls in love with Cole Howard (J. Eddie Peck) and they marry the following year, but their marriage is quickly annulled when it is believed by their parents that they are half-siblings, as Victor is believed to be Cole's father. When this is proved untrue they wed again; this marriage breaks down four years later when in 1998 Cole has sex with Ashley Abbott (Shari Shattuck/Eileen Davidson), her former stepmother. Victoria becomes pregnant with Cole's child and chooses to raise it with Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John). Her baby girl, Eve Howard, was believed to have died a few days after birth and Victoria ends her union with Neil. Victoria briefly tries and fails to win Cole back from Ashley. In 1999, Victoria meets Gary Dawson (Ricky Paull Goldin) and they begin dating, though she soon discovers that he is stalking her and ends the relationship. Enraged, Gary kidnaps Victoria in a tree house and she is raped. She takes months to recover. She and Ryan then reunite and plan to remarry, but on their wedding day in November 2001 Ryan's ex-wife Tricia Dennison shoots and kills him, leaving Victoria devastated. She then has a brief relationship with Diego Guittierez (Diego Serrano/Greg Vaughan) in 2002, and afterward dates Michael Baldwin (Christian LeBlanc). The following year, some of Victor's crimes come to light and Victoria leaves town when these and other family problems overwhelm her. She moves to Florence, Italy, where she studies Art History.
In 2005, Victoria returns to Genoa City after Jack makes her a job offer to run Jabot. She tries to resume her relationship with Michael, only to discover he has married Lauren Fenmore (Tracey E. Bregman). She then begins dating her father's business rival Brad Carlton (Don Diamont) and in 2006 they marry, much to Victor's disapproval. Victoria becomes pregnant with Brad's child but miscarries. Their marriage ends in 2007 when Victoria discovers that Brad had an affair with Sharon Newman (Sharon Case), her former sister in law, before their wedding. During her marriage she forms a friendship with J. T. Hellstrom (Thad Luckinbill) and they have sex twice, resulting in a pregnancy of unknown paternity. J.T. is revealed as the father, and during her pregnancy Victoria is hit by falling rocks—caused by an explosion—which leaves her comatose. She recovers and gives birth to a son, Reed Hellstrom (Max Page), and she marries J. T. in February 2008. After J. T. kisses his ex-girlfriend Colleen the following year, Victoria has an affair with Deacon Sharpe (Sean Kanan), complicating their marriage, which ends in 2010 after J. T. becomes intimate with Mackenzie Browning (Clementine Ford).
Victoria then begins a secret romance with Billy Abbott. She and Billy marry while intoxicated in Jamaica, but the marriage is declared invalid and they remarry. During the ceremony, Victor has Victoria arrested in an attempt to stop the wedding. J.T. gains full custody of Reed and moves to Washington, DC with his new wife Mackenzie for her job. Victoria and her siblings pursue a lawsuit against Victor to gain control of a cosmetics line. After Victoria miscarries a child with Billy, he illegally pays $2,000,000 for a child, whom they name Lucy in January 2011. Phyllis Summers (Michelle Stafford) gains custody of Lucy and Billy leaves town without disclosing his whereabouts to his wife. Victoria later pursues divorce proceedings in Billy's long absence. After