Tricia Cast Nina Webster The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless fans were thrilled when Tricia Cast popped up last year as Nina Webster for her son Chance’s wedding to Abby. There was more good news when Nina came back to Genoa City on a more permanent basis earlier this year. While Nina’s thrilled to have a grandchild, viewers would like her to have something else – a storyline.
Tricia Cast was still a teenager when she debuted as pregnant, unwed teen Nina Webster on Y&R back in 1986. Cricket, now, Christine (Lauralee Bell), took her under her wing and tried to help Nina get her baby back from black market baby broker Rose DeVille (the late, great Darlene Conley).
The young actress quickly emerged as a powerhouse – holding her own not only against Conley’s Rose but also Y&R leading ladies Jeanne Cooper (Katherine Chancellor) and Jess Walton (Jill Foster Abbott). Nina becoming pregnant by Phillip (Thom Bierdz) prompted the two rivals to team up for once – and they practically felt unnumbered by Nina, who was determined to land Phillip. “I’m the mother of Phillip Chancellor IV,” Nina would loudly boast to Kay and Jill.
Despite Nina’s “in your face” attitude and ballsy bravado, Cast infused her character with a great vulnerability and likeability. Nina emerged as a heroine. By the time Phillip and she wed, we were rooting for her to have a happy ending. Cast delivered a series of powerful performances after Phillip died in a car wreck (or “died,” we would later learn). Vulnerable, Nina was taken in by con artist David Kimball (Michael Corbett), who schemed to marry and murder his unsuspecting bride for her Chancellor millions.
Nina was never anyone’s victim for very long – she shot David, who survived, and was acquitted of his attempted murder in a compelling courtroom case. Tricia Cast won a Daytime Emmy for this storyline in 1992 in the category of Outstanding Younger Leading Actress.
Throughout the 1990s, Nina went on to be in a memorable love quadrangle with Ryan (Scott Reeves), Victoria Newman (Heather Tom), and Cole (J. Eddie Peck). When Nina left Genoa City in the early 2000s, she was missed instantly as viewers had grown to think of her as a treasured friend.
Cast returned for another tenure at Y&R several years later when Nina was not only reunited with her firstborn – Ronan (Jeff Branson) — but she went on an emotional rollercoaster when she found out that Phillip had faked his death so that he could live openly as a gay man in Australia.
While these two tales could have kept Cast around for a while, the stories wrapped up rather quickly by soap standards. Phillip returned to the land down under while Ronan left town. Paul (Doug Davidson) ended his romance with Nina after he realized he still loved her BFF Christine.
Tricia Cast is one of Y&R’s most gifted performers so while we love seeing her back on our screens, we’d also like to see her do more than ask Abby (Melissa Ordway) how she’s feeling and play doting, gift-giving “Nana Nina” to Dominic.
What’s Nina’s relationship with her ex, Phillip, like these days? Actually, is he even her ex-husband? Phillip and Nina were married at the time of his “death.” Perhaps, Phillip would need to return to Genoa City so that he and Nina could officially get divorced. Nina’s concerned about Chance who’s away on a mission right now but what about her dynamic with Ronan? The two made peace before he left town but is Ronan dealing with any long-term abandonment issues?
Nina’s a writer. She could fit in easily with either ChancComm or Newman Media to give her a reason to interact with more of Genoa City’s power players. Perhaps she could write Ashland Locke’s (Richard Burgi) memoir and in doing so, viewers could learn what (if any?) secrets Ashland might be keeping. Nina and Victoria’s (Amelia Heinle) quip-filled encounters back in the day were must-see TV, so if Nina were to be in Ashland’s orbit, there’d be interactions with Victoria. Let the sparring begin!
Tricia Cast is an acting gem in Y&R’s crown. We know she can deliver the goods. Let’s hope the show hands her a meaty storyline so that the actress can show us once again what she’s truly capable of doing.
The Young and the Restless (YR) airs weekdays on CBS. Check your local listings for airtimes. For more about what’s coming up in Genoa City, check out all the latest that’s been posted on Y&R spoilers, and for an in-depth look at the show’s history, click here.
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