‘Y&R’ Star Eric Braeden Reveals Pivotal Scene That Convinced Him Not to Quit After 1 Year

The Young and the Restless star Eric Braeden recently revealed why he almost quit his role as Victor Newman after just one year.

During the May 4 episode of the Still Here Hollywood podcast, the actor, 85, opened up to host Steve Kmetko about playing the iconic character on the soap opera since 1980. Victor, as it turns out, was originally supposed to be killed off. However, the show’s co-creators, William J. Bell and his wife, Lee Phillip Bell, signed him to a contract instead.

“They had gotten to a point where I wanted to leave the show after about a year,” Braden admitted. “I couldn’t stand the medium, to be frank with you. It is daunting.”

He explained, “There’s nothing harder in this business for an actor and for a writer, for that matter, than daytime. It’s the hardest medium there is. I’ve done them all. It is relentless, ruthless.”

To put things into perspective, Braden shared that he would often have to memorize 15 to 45 pages of lines for episodes. “The most I’ve done is 62 in one day,” he pointed out. “So it doesn’t leave much room for, ‘How do you think I should play this?’ Do you understand? You just do it.”

Ultimately, Braeden decided to stay on The Young and the Restless because co-creator William “humanized” Victor.

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“I said, ‘Bill, I can’t do this anymore. I’ve played bad guys for too many years. Too dehumanizing. It’s boring,’” he recalled. (He wasn’t wrong; Braeden had also played villains on other TV shows like Gunsmoke, and Wonder Woman, and the TV movie The Six Million Dollar Man.)

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A pivotal scene with Victor’s wife, Nicky (Melody Thomas Scott), offered depth to the character, convincing Braeden to stick it out on the soap opera.

“I was left at an orphanage at the age of 7 by a destitute mother who had left an alcoholic, brutalizing father played by George Kennedy,” he explained of Victor’s backstory. “And once I did that scene, I said, ‘Now I’m staying.’ Because it opened up huge possibilities.”

Today, Braeden has played Victor Newman for more than 46 years — with no intention of retiring anytime soon.

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