The Young and the Restless fans are mourning Hilary and hate watching the new rift between her widower Devon and his sister Lily, who was at the wheel during the fatal accident that claimed Hilary’s and her unborn child’s life. But did the fan favorite have to die?
Mal Young, Y&R’s executive producer and head writer, told TV Insider that he decided to write Hilary off in a final way after sitting down and talking about it with her portrayer, Emmy nominee Mishael Morgan.
“When Mishael came to me and said she wanted to move on, we talked about it,” Young told TV Insider. “She’s a very talented and ambitious actress. She has big dreams. I said to her, ‘You’re not coming back, are you?’ She went no.”
Young says he gave Morgan a great exit story and wished her well as she pursues other interests. He said he told her “I want you to be the next person we see in primetime.”
The exec says he ran his idea past both Sony Pictures Television and CBS before Morgan’s final episodes were shot.
“I said to CBS and Sony she’s not coming back,” Young shared. “I think we should kill her. Killing her sends out a message to everyone that she’s not coming back. Often soap deaths are never [final] and the viewers see through that. ”
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Young added that he feels that the role of Hilary simply couldn’t be recast!
“I said to Mishael, ‘You’ve created this amazing, sometimes monstrous, character, I think it would be really hard to recast you and also a disservice to the character if we just went here’s another….actress who’s going to play you now.’
“No. She will forever more now be Hilary. That was the best gift we gave her and she was in tears when I told her that.”
Would you like to have seen Hilary live? Or are you happy with Y&R’s decision?
The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS. Check local listings for airtimes.
Video Credit: Erulastiel
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