Jill taking Chancellor Industries away from Billy on The Young and the Restless was the spark that lit the flame of the latest Abbot-Newman war, now with Cane as a spoiler! 21st-century fans may be surprised to find out that Jill was causing trouble in Genoa City long before the Newmans and Abbots called it home. The Fosters were featured on the very first episode of Y&R. Jill was first played by Brenda Dickson, then Deborah Adair, then Dickson again. Jess Walton stepped into the part in 1987 and, in the new book, Super Soap Scenes: A Time Capsule of Daytime Drama’s Greatest Moments, she reminisces about her early days with the show… and her costars:
Jess Walton’s First Y&R Scenes
I remember my first scenes were with Brad Carlton — I still think of him as Brad Carlton; it was Don Diamont. I knew Jill had a rivalry going with this Jeanne Cooper person, but I didn’t lock into how important that was. I didn’t realize until later what an important relationship this was with Jill and Katherine. Jeanne was trying to give me all kinds of hints as to how Brenda had played it. But me being a stage actress, you don’t do what somebody else did. I played it my own way.
I remember I did ask Bill Bell one thing. I said, “How bad is she? Would she kill someone?” And he looked at me for a really long time with those blue eyes, and he said, “We hope not!” He had such a sense of humor. But it didn’t leave me much to go on.
Who Is Jill Foster Abbott?
I had the dressing room next to Brenda Dickson while I was on Capitol. I could hear her rehearsing through the walls. I basically knew what was going on with her character. Ed Scott, who was the producer then, came running down to me on set all the time, fine-tuning my scenes. He was really instrumental in me getting that character. In that very first year, I asked Terry Lester, who was playing Jack at the time, if he had any hints for me. He said, “Just enjoy the bad side of her!” It took me about a year, though, to really enjoy being as nasty as Jill can be.
Jill and I were really not the same then, but over the last 38 years, we’ve kind of melded into each other. As the years went by, when Jill was too nasty for a while, I would try to soften her. I would play her softer and a little more loving. And if she was getting too soft, which, for a while, she did — when she first became Katherine’s daughter, I think I played her too soft — then I hardened her up. I wanted to keep that edge. She used to really enjoy being cruel to people. People she hated, of course. They haven’t had me hate anybody in a long time. I’ve been a bit unreasonable at times lately, but not cruel. Maybe she’s matured a little bit. She’s a great-grandmother on the show, for God’s sake. They don’t have her doing as awful things.
What was the most awful thing Jill ever did? And which Jill/Katherine confrontation do fans bring up to Walton the most? Find out in Super Soap Scenes: A Time Capsule of Daytime Drama’s Greatest Moments!
