‘The Young and the Restless’ Actors Work With Over 70 Pages a Day, According to Eric Braeden

Soaps like The Young and the Restless have been around for decades. Since its debut, the soap has aired thousands of episodes due to its daily airing schedule. This means the actors have to go through several pages of scripts every day to get the amount of dialogue we get on screen. Y&R star Eric Braeden claims the show’s actors usually work with more than 70 pages daily.

The behind-the-scenes of daytime soaps

Actors may live glamorous lives, but that doesn’t mean their jobs are easy. Soap opera actors especially have it tough as their day-to-day experiences are full of work and grueling shoots. According to Collider, soap actors don’t get second takes because of how fast-paced soap schedules are.

The outlet also notes that soaps don’t use a split-screen model for phone call scenes as with several films and TV shows. Instead, the crew will film one actor on a phone call while playing the audio of whomever they’re talking to on the other end of the line. Afterward, they will do the same for the other actor on the line and playback the audio as the one being filmed recites their lines.

According to a piece on Medium written by a soap actor, studios can shoot up to 60 scenes in one day depending on various factors, including the actors’ preparedness, the climate conditions, and locations.

The actor stated that soap actors often rehearse in their dressing rooms, sometimes together, to establish intentions, identify cues and emotions and memorize their lines. This helps streamline shooting because once the scene’s dynamic is established, the directors can get through scenes faster without needing retakes.

Eric Braeden reveals that ‘The Young and the Restless‘ actors work with 70 pages a day

Soap actors work hard and deserve credit for their efforts, as, according to The Young and the Restless actor Eric Braeden, it isn’t a walk in the park. Speaking to TV Insider, Braeden revealed that there were times the soap would require the actors to memorize 70 pages every day. The actor shared that the amount of pages has increased in recent years.

The piece on Medium corroborates Braeden’s story as the actor said soap stars don’t get to leave their work at work because of its volume. According to the article, soap stars aren’t supposed to arrive at work without first memorizing their lines, which could be considered unprofessional.

This then results in actors needing to take their work home to ensure they know what their character is up to. Not only do actors have to remember their lines, but they also have to take note of the scene’s actions and remember the cues and the other character’s end lines to know when to deliver theirs.

Eric Braeden thinks soap actors deserve respect for their hard work

Eric Braeden told TV Insider he fails to understand why the rest of the industry doesn’t respect daytime actors because their work is hard, if not harder. “The feeling of second-class citizenship daytime actors endure compared to the rest of the industry. Why? Daytime is very hard. It’s the hardest medium. You sit around and ‘b.s’ for hours while the lighting is changed,” he remarked.

Braeden recalled his The Young and the Restless co-star Mark Grossman, who plays his onscreen son Adam Newman, coming onto the show and having to catch up with the rest. “He handled it absolutely well,” Braeden said. The actor also stated that Amelia Henle, who plays his onscreen daughter Victoria “works so hard, especially lately.” He also clarified that everyone works equally hard to deliver top-tier entertainment weekly.