It's safe to say that you don't want to rub Victor Newman the wrong way. The same can be said of the man who has breathed life into the character for the past 43 years. And, unfortunately, a well-known actress' recent comments seem to have done just that.
On this week's installment of Who's Talking to Chris Wallace? on CNN, the veteran newsman chatted with Eva Longoria. Longoria is perhaps best known for her role as Gabrielle Solis on the ABC primetime soap Desperate Housewives.
A lot of television viewers might not know that Longoria got her start in daytime. She appeared as a Brenda Barrett look-alike on General Hospital in 2000. The following year, she got her big break on CBS' The Young and the Restless, where she played the role of Isabella Braña. Longoria played the role from 2001 to 2003.
During the appearance on Wallace, Wallace played a clip from Longoria's days on Y&R. In the scene, Longoria's Isabella told Paul Williams that Christine was dead.
Longoria seemingly bristled at seeing her younger, less experienced self on film. It's a sentiment many people can probably relate to. "I can't believe you found that!" Longoria exclaimed as she laughed loudly.
From there, the conversation turned to discussing how Longoria worked a second job - apparently out of her dressing room at The Young and the Restless - as a headhunter for a temp agency to help make ends meet.
"I was so good at [being a headhunter], that when I got Young and the Restless it didn't pay enough for me live off being an actor so I continued being a head hunter," Longoria said.
"I would hide the fact that I was on Young and the Restless to my clients because they didn't want a dumb actress handling their accounts," Longoria continued.
Shortly after the episode aired, Eric Braeden took to Twitter to lash out at Longoria. While it's unclear exactly what Braeden took issue with, it would appear that the "dumb actress" remark was the catalyst to an epic read.
"EVA LONGORIA: you just made derogatory remarks about daytime actors! You simply weren't good enough to survive the pressures of this medium! You were very lucky to get on that 'housewife' show! You did one show in 8-12 days, with mediocre but salacious dialogue! Our actresses would run rings around you!! And they did," Braeden wrote.
The long-time Y&R star noted that many big-name stars, including Robert De Niro, got their start in daytime. "It shows a complete lack of class," he wrote.
Over the weekend, Y&R held a huge celebration in Los Angeles to mark the show's 50th anniversary. The celebration included both current and former Y&R stars. Longoria was not in attendance.
Soap Central has reached out to Longoria for comment but has not heard back. In the meantime, you can watch a snippet from Longoria's appearance below and make your own decision about what was said.
If... this is what made him so angry... I... #YR #EvaLongoria #ChrisWallace pic.twitter.com/wIblHvhRlS
— Johnathon (@soapwikijohn) March 20, 2023
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