As The Young and the Restless celebrates its 52nd anniversary on March 26, Woman’s World catches up with Joshua Morrow to dish on Genoa City drama and his character, Nick Newman—who’s still catching his breath after going into hero mode to rescue Sharon and Phyllis.
The soap opera star recently opened up to readers about being uprooted by the SoCal wildfires. Here, in this lighter interview, Morrow reflects on bringing the drama and romance to Genoa City for over three decades, playing the Shick/Phick love triangle with Sharon Case and Michelle Stafford, and shooting soapy love scenes.
Plus, having joined The Young and the Restless at 19 years old, Morrow gets candid about what it’s been like to watch his son Crew join sister show The Bold and the Beautiful at the same age.
Nick Newman has seen his share of drama on The Young and the Restless, but he didn’t inherit his father’s scheming darkness like his sister Victoria and half-brother Adam did nor his mother Nikki’s penchant for playing damsel—and that’s just fine with portrayer Joshua Morrow.
“My biggest compliment about Nick is, if he was a real dude, we’d be homeboys,” says the actor. “He’s the peacekeeper of the family. He’s hyper-protective of them and wants everybody to get along. He’s just a solid, good guy, so I like playing him. I feel like I was born to play him.
“I’m a pretty mellow dude,” he adds. “Zero drama. I just do my job and try to make everybody laugh. We’re in a serious medium, but while I’m out here, we’re all gonna have a good time.”
Beyond goofing around between scenes, one of the keys to ‘having a good time’ at work is making sure Nick is NOT having a great time, at all.
“I want it always to be messy,” Morrow says. “Who doesn’t? Ask anyone on the show. The fans are quick to be like, ‘Oh, you don’t work with that person’ or ‘This isn’t right.’ Well, that’s fine. Eventually, we’re gonna get around to what you want, but just know, we all want this. We want problems, we want conflict, we want it all!”
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While family squabbles and outside enemies could easily keep Nick busy, much of his conflict has involved the women in his life. In fact, when he joined his costars in sharing their most memorable The Young and the Restless stories, Morrow picked Cassie’s passing, along with his own 30th anniversary episode that traced Nick’s many romances.
“I’ve been so blessed to work with the most amazing women, so to be able to share a whole episode with all of them is pretty cool,” he said.
When it comes to Nick’s heart, however, Morrow tells us it’s all about Sharon and Phyllis.
“Nick has two great loves, and they are these two women who I believe are on equal footing,” he maintains. “The Shick people are going to hate me for saying this! But the reason Nick and Sharon always seem to have problems is because of Phyllis. She’s always going to be a part of Nick’s life, and vice versa. It’s cyclical, and I welcome both.”
‘Y&R’ star Joshua Morrow talks Sharon Case and Michelle Stafford
ctors Michelle Stafford, Joshua Morrow and Sharon Case onstage during the 33rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards held at the Kodak Theatre on April 28, 2006 in Hollywood, California
Kevin Winter/Getty
With Nick’s children connecting him to both women, he was pulled back into playing Sharon’s protector when his bipolar ex was being drugged last year. The wild, PCP-fueled story saw her talking to dead Cameron, disposing of a body, and framing Phyllis’ son for a murder she believed she’d committed.
“Sharon Case is just an incredible talent,” Morrow marvels of Sharon’s portrayer. “What this show asks her to do is bananas. The depth she had to get to, the amount of dialog, the ups and downs, the twists and turns—it’s a lot to ask of one person, and she crushed it. I’m in awe of her.”
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The story pitted Phyllis against Sharon again, but after the drugging was uncovered, they were both kidnapped—forcing Nick to shift from peacekeeper to hero mode. By the time he kicked down the door, Sharon and Phyllis had literally saved each other’s lives and even (gasp!) teamed up.
While fans are curious to see just how copacetic that relationship will become, Morrow just hopes there’s still some Phick fun and game in the cards.
“I like the conflict with Nick and Phyllis so much,” he explains. “That scorned woman thing is what Michelle Stafford does best—better than anyone on the show. She’s like a tornado of emotion.”
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With Sharon and Nick now playing with the possibility of a romantic reunion, Morrow knows there may be a love scene in his future.
“It’s been a while since Nick got naked, and he’s sort of known for enjoying all the ladies that Genoa City has to offer,” he cracks. “When it happens—and I bet a few bucks, it’s with Sharon—I’m ready. Why not? There’s nothing super sexy about them while we’re shooting, but the fans love them and again, we all just want to tell good stories, whether we’re in clothes or not.”
While Morrow has made a career out of Nick’s drama and romances, he was more than taken aback when his son Crew announced he wanted to follow in his footsteps.
“I was terrified!” the daytime vet admits. “My first words out of my mouth were, ‘Are you an idiot?’ This job is not easy. It’s just a bunch of people telling you no. It’s awful. But two weeks into this journey, he got a couple movies! They weren’t big, but he was working.”
Amazingly, it was only another few months before the younger Morrow landed on sister soap The Bold and the Beautiful, playing Bill and Katie’s son Will.
“Maybe my name got him in the door, but they’re never going to hire him just because I’m over here,” insists the dad, who’s getting a kick out of seeing—and hearing—himself in his son. “Close your eyes and listen to his voice. It’s the same. But frankly, he’s so much better than I was. Man, he is just making such strong choices and he’s so confident!”
Girl dad Joshua Morrow says his youngest is ‘formulating her plan to take over the world’
As a self-professed jock who once dreamt of going pro and coached all his kids’ teams, Morrow had been looking forward to flying around the country to watch his son compete as an elite lacrosse player. He’s not, however, holding Crew’s shift in focus against him.
“His mother and I could not be more proud of who he is as a person,” Morrow raves. “He’s been raised with Oklahoma morals and values, like I was, so he’ll look you in your eye and everything’s, ‘Yes, sir’ or ‘No, sir.’ He’s hard working, caring, and considerate, and he’s got some really big dreams.”
It turns out Crew’s not the only Morrow to inherit the bug. While his sons Cooper, 22, and Cash, 16, haven’t expressed much interest, daughter Carlie Jo, 12, also has big dreams.
“She’s formulating her plan to take over the world, and we’re all afraid of her,” Morrow cracks. “But she couldn’t be more adorable. This girl writes, scores, and edits her own movies. She’s just a brilliant little talent, so I bet she ends up in some field in this industry.”
Having spent over 30 years in Genoa City, Morrow was so moved by the support he received from The Young and the Restless during his family’s recent brush with the California wildfires that he called the show itself family.
“It’s special, man,” he says of working with the likes of Melody Thomas Scott, Eric Braeden, Amelia Heinle, Sharon Case, and Michelle Stafford—who play Nikki, Victor, Victoria, Sharon, and Phyllis. “I grew up with these people, and this journey was something I never imagined was possible for me. It’s still crazy to me.”
As The Young and the Restless celebrates 52 years, this soap opera hunk is feeling nothing but gratitude.
“Awesome achievement, man,” Morrow tells Woman’s World. “We’re just super proud of it. We have got the most loyal and amazing fans in the world. I mean, we’re nothing without them, so we’re very appreciative.”
