The Young and the Restless' Eric Braeden (Victor Newman) recently sat down for an interview with Jamil Karim for the Canadian website, Good News Weekly.
Never one to shy away from speaking his mind, Braeden touched on a number of topics -- ranging from the state of affairs in Hollywood to sports to his favorite moments on The Young and the Restless. The interview provides an intriguing look at a soap star that remains somewhat of a mystery to many soap fans.
"[A]fter about a year or two I was sick and tired of playing this rather one-dimensional bad guy and [Y&R creator Bill Bell] came up with a brilliant story of Victor Newman having grown up in an orphanage. The storyline involving that has been the most interesting for me," Braeden remarked when asked about his favorite Y&R story.
Braeden also stated that he enjoys just about any story that allows him to share on-screen time with Melody Thomas Scott (Nikki Newman).
Though he's received many accolades during his career, there are two honors that stand out as the most cherished for Braeden. No, his Daytime Emmy win is not one of them.
"The People's Choice Award meant the most to me," Braeden revealed. "It's the audience that votes for you and that meant something to me. They no longer have it anymore. They had it that one time and Susan Lucci and I won it and I'll never forget it. It meant more to me than anything else. And then the Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame meant a great deal to me as well."
Braeden also clarified his position on the legalization of marijuana. The actor appeared on a talk show last year to discuss the topic and his stance raised some eyebrows.
"We barely outlawed smoking in public places. I'm not sure what's more detrimental to your health: pot or cigarettes. Am I for people walking around high all the time? No, I didn't mean that. I simply juxtaposed it with the enormous strain on the budget in California and the ruination of so many lives because they were caught with pot. I mean, that's ridiculous," Braeden explained. "You don't get rehabilitated in prison, it gets worse. You become criminals probably, most of the time. So simply, it just does not seem like an offense worthy of criminal prosecution to me. It simply doesn't."
On another touchy issue, Braeden took issue with the treatment that independent producers receive in Hollywood.
"[T]he experience with [the film] The Man Who Came Back in terms of distribution has been a very disappointing one. It's a problem in our business. A new paradigm needs to be developed where producers can have their hands on the distribution and attain more of the profits that come in. That film, to be very honest with you, I haven't seen a damn thing yet. Nothing. It's outrageous, but it's the bane of the existence of independent producers," Braeden said. "I would have loved to have done another film already, because I enjoyed doing the other enormously. I had some of the greatest times of my life doing that film [The Man Who Came Back]. The whole distribution business has to change and I have a feeling it'll happen over the internet where you have direct access to the money coming in. It really is a problem. You talk to anyone who has made an independent film and they will all sing a terrible song."
